There are a couple of things that allow me to get past these bottlenecks. First, let it go. Then do something else, get outside, have a cup of something. Instea

There are a couple of things that allow me to get past these bottlenecks. First, let it go. Then do something else, get outside, have a cup of something. Instead of thinking about "3 hours of writing unit tests", start with "write just 1 unit test". Then get back and try to find something interesting about this depressing piece of work you need to do. Just one tiny thing, like "how fast does it take to run a test" or "how does this utility method is implemented". I do this a lot - trick myself into something small, and then let myself go with the same work, just like reading "one post in HN" leads me to write this response LOL. In my case, it is just a pure absence of motivation and interest that causes the attention to go somewhere else. And this is all right, as it's a signal that the shit I do is not worth it. I have to make it worth it in some way, worth it for my soul sake.