Reducing tension, or working on things you don't want to

[Bob]

I think I could be more productive without some physical tension.  I start working and I find I'm tense.  It's annoying.

Another way of looking at it is -- how to work on things you don't want to? 

I've got a few projects that will suck up time.  I don't want to work on them, but I have to, and I have to live with them for awhile. 

Then tension thing is just annoying.  I can feel it in my shoulders and neck. 

[hyrst]

I look at it this way - tension is not something to fight, it is something your body does instinctively to help you with something that is 'hard work'.  From that perspective, there are the physical and mental sides to deal with. 

The physical is handled through building and directing strength and energy.  If a task that causes you tension is a physical one, do resistance training for the muscles involved in the task and then a general aerobic or energy releasing activity.  Build your strength up over a few weeks and the tension will start to go.

The mental is handled by planning strategies and reframing.  If it will take a lot of time, break down the task elements and create smaller deadlines so you can see what you are accomplishing.  If you don't want to do it, but you must, create a reward system for yourself.  When you have achieved a certain thing, do something of a suitable and matching level of treat - but only when your aspect of the goal is achieved.

If you don't get enough relief from the tension quickly enough from exercise, get a massage.  In my experience, it doesn't work to fight tension or to 'just relax' - you have to use it.  Good luck.

[Bob]

True.  Relaxed working might not get the job done. 

I'm just becoming less and less a fan of working with intensity, if it's the intensity where you're pushing yourself and becoming tense.

It's back to the long-haul marathon type of work.  I need intensity over a long period of time.  That's what it is.  As much as I can give.  There's not really a point where you reach a goal.  Time just runs out.

[hyrst]

If time runs out, that might be the first target to keep in mind - a marathon runner has the end of the race in mind, they just work out how to use their energy effectively in the middle.  It is not possible to use 100% energy over the long haul, you have to work out where you can conserve it and where you need to give it all you have.  To do that, you have to work out a strategy to get from A to B.  There must be something, even if it is just time periods, that can give you a structure for when to apply yourself and when to reward yourself and ease off.  Those marks coudl well be arbitrary, but you need to create them and work by them.