Honestly, pressure. Having time pressure or pressure to perform really gets me into gear. It's not always _healthy_, but it always works. But an almost opposit

Honestly, pressure. Having time pressure or pressure to perform really gets me into gear. It's not always _healthy_, but it always works. But an almost opposite thing that has been working in the last year or so in a way that seems more sustainable is accepting that I won't be 100% at the top of my game every minute of every day. Energy levels fluctuate. Some days I need to sleep in more and work a bit later. Sometimes I'm up and working by 6am and finish early (or try to) or take a longer lunch. Sometimes I just need to go for a walk. I realized I overwork by nature, so I don't need to be afraid of getting "lazy" or not being productive: the work always gets done. I realized that allowing myself to relax sometimes when my brain is just not feeling it and make that focus up later can be very effective and produce better output. Allowing this kind of fluctuation 90% of the time and going into high-pressure mode 10% of the time seems like a good balance that I can maintain.