How are motivation and discomfort related and how to turn it to your advantage

American journalist Nir Eyal, author of the book "The Unattainable: how to manage your attention and choose your life," he admitted: he worked on the manuscript for five years, although he planned to finish much earlier. And the problem wasn't lack of experience or knowledge. Eyal simply didn't do this task because he lacked motivation.

Paradox: the book on how to stop being distracted was created for so long because the author was constantly distracted. But as soon as Eyal understood how motivation works from a biological point of view, he didn't just finish the book. The journalist has also changed various areas of his life — for example, he started playing sports, switched to healthy food, began spending more time with people he loves, and working more productively.

How motivation works from a biological point of view

Often people think that motivation is practically the same as inspiration. When it is there, our sails are filled with wind, and we are ready to move mountains. When there is no motivation, we can give up and go procrastinate — on social networks, watching TV or shopping.

But if you wait for motivation, inspiration, and even a magic pendel, you are unlikely to complete complex tasks and achieve really big goals. And when a person understands how this mechanism works, he can learn to start it manually when necessary.

Eyal suggested starting with the basics. Why did nature endow living organisms with a brain at all? First of all, to move — perhaps that is why in English the words "motion" (motion) and "motivation" (motivation) have a common ancestor.

Motivation by discomfort works even in a snail. The animal's brain cells register a feeling of hunger, and this pushes it to crawl forward in search of food. Thus, a study of freshwater snails conducted at the University of Sussex in the UK showed M. Crossley, K. Staras, G. Kemenes. A two‑neuron system for adaptive goal‑directed decision‑making in Lymnaea / Nature Communications that these creatures are capable of making complex decisions using only two neurons. One of them reports whether the clam is hungry or not, and the other determines the availability of food. Such a simple system allows the snail to understand whether it is worth moving in the direction of a potential food source.

More complex brain structures have evolved over the course of evolution to help animals avoid aversive stimuli—sensations that cause discomfort. So, bears spend the winter in dens, and birds fly to warmer climes to get rid of the cold. In such a situation, we put on a coat and a hat, and when, on the contrary, it gets too hot for us, we undress or go into the shade.

Such swings that affect our behavior are an example of homeostasis. These are physiological and psychological processes of self—regulation, within which the human body tries to stay in the same state - for example, at a comfortable temperature.

How to turn discomfort into motivation

Motivation is the desire to avoid discomfort or get rid of it, says Eyal. Of course, evolutionarily we are more complicated than a snail, but our motivation is the same: when we feel discomfort, we direct maximum efforts to eliminate it.

Our desires are, in fact, also a form of discomfort. And what looks like a lack of motivation is also an attempt to return yourself to your usual conditions, only in an unhealthy or unproductive way.

Take a teenager who spends all his free time playing computer games. It's not entirely true to think that he lacks motivation — after all, it takes hours of concentration and practice to emerge victorious from an epic battle.

Rather, the child is motivated to play video games, because in them he finds an opportunity to avoid boring school assignments, social pressure and annoying parents. This is a quick and easy way to get rid of discomfort, and people almost always follow the path of least resistance.

A similar situation with pain is one of the most powerful manifestations of discomfort. Scientists from Oxford University in the UK note K. Wiech, I. Tracey. Pain, decisions, and actions: A motivational perspective / Frontiers in Neuroscience : pain is an evolutionary mechanism that motivates active actions to reduce potential harm to the body. Often people immediately take pills so that nothing bothers them, and do not think about the long—term consequences - about the same side effects of drugs.

In addition, researchers from the University of Arizona in the USA have established F. Porreca, E. Navratilova. Reward, motivation and emotion of pain and its relief / Pain that people have a "pain memory". Because of this, the value of each new painkiller intake for the patient decreases, even if the physical sensations do not change. But the motivation to avoid it does not disappear.

So, our actions are related to the need to restore homeostasis. Based on this, you can change your thinking and plan things accordingly in order to move in the right direction.

How to implement this in practice

• Believe that discomfort is not necessarily something bad. It doesn't always need to be eliminated — on the contrary, you can use this feeling as rocket fuel to move forward.
• Do not look for the easiest way to get rid of unpleasant sensations. Instead, try to look inside yourself and understand what drives your desire. What are you avoiding and why aren't you doing what you need to do?
• Try doing something through "I don't want to". Eyal realized that he wasn't working on the book simply because he didn't want to do it. He believes that the impostor syndrome is to blame for everything: the journalist did not feel like a real writer and was distracted to avoid disappointment and self-doubt. Then the author asked the question: "Who said that I need to want to write?" After that, he managed to let go of depressing thoughts and just create page after page.
• Make a plan to get out of the state of procrastination. Think about how you will cope with unpleasant emotions next time. Look for practices that will help with this, for example the 10-minute rule.
• Focus not on feelings, but on the daily routine. Decide in advance how you want to spend your time based on your goals and values. This will pave a clear path for your future actions. As a result, you will not have to wait for motivation — instead, you will be able to look at the calendar and understand what you should do here and now.
• Set the "intent implementation". This is the practice of planning what, how and when you are going to do. A person who is distracted, waiting for motivation, and then does not understand why he fails to achieve his goals. And the one who is hard to switch knows what can prevent him. Therefore, he tries to think everything through carefully and prevent such situations.