[thijser]

This reminds me of self-determination theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination_theory) which proposes that you need autonomy, competence and relatedness to a task to be motivated.

I could see how preparing your exact steps beforehand will ensure a feeling of competence.

This makes me wonder, maybe motivation could be improved even more by also including autonomy and relatedness in the preparing questions:

  - Which steps can I take on my own, and which ones do I need help with?
  - What makes this task meaningful to me? What positive effects will completing it bring?