Associate recurrent, time-consuming tasks with something appealing

Some tasks are so odious, boring and unfortunately frequent that even the prospect of a bag of popcorn can’t help you face them. These tasks call for a concurrent reward: something you do while working so that you can bear to plow through your unread emails or complete your quarterly budget report.

This type of reward works especially well for tasks that are not concentration-intensive.

How to

Set up camp in a Wi-Fi-enabled restaurant so you can eat while you work
Make a work date with a friend so you can chat while you purge your e-mail in-boxes
Store up mindless tasks to complete while watching your favorite TV show at home
Download some new music to listen to while you purge your files
Make arrangements to work from home for the day

Create a growing reward pot

For especially challenging or large projects HBR recommends creating a special-purpose account to pay into every time you complete. Set different price values depending on the size and unpleasantness of the task.

Set up...

An iTunes account
A replenishable gift card to your favorite coffee shop or store
A PayPal account you can refill with quick micro payments to treat yourself to some online shopping
A discretionary savings account that you use to fund something significant like tickets to a sports or arts event

How to trick yourself into doing tasks you dread