Things that help me some: (1) Remembering that my happiness matters. If you are very determined to achieve a goal, or if you were brought up to believe that yo

Things that help me some: (1) Remembering that my happiness matters. If you are very determined to achieve a goal, or if you were brought up to believe that your achievement and your worth as a person are one and the same, or if you have a strong sense of duty and self-sacrifice, it's easy to lose sight of this. Being happy and enjoying life is something everyone deserves some measure of, and it's should be one of your goals alongside the others. (2) Distracting myself. Intentionally. Distracting yourself may sound negative, but it's not about wasting my time with something. It's about how, just as nature abhors a vacuum, my brain doesn't really shut off and stop processing stuff; instead, it processes whatever is on hand. If I tell myself to stop thinking about work but give myself nothing else to think about, then my thoughts will quickly return to work. But if I find some engrossing activity to do, I'll have different thoughts that can out-compete work thoughts. (Incidentally, this is often better at restoring mental energy than unwinding by vegging out.) (3) Avoiding putting in hours for reasons other than productivity. For example, in a competitive environment, everyone else puts in long hours, so you'd better too. Sometimes unavoidable, but there's a law of diminishing returns. Aim for enough hours to be on par, but don't take it beyond that. Another example is impostor syndrome: if you feel that you're not as smart or talented as others, you can compensate with "dedication" (grinding). But that's actually just insecurity.