BF Skinner, entry in one of his notebooks (as cited in “A Matter of Consequences”): > Some way of controlling the strength of my own behavior. How to stop work

BF Skinner, entry in one of his notebooks (as cited in “A Matter of Consequences”): > Some way of controlling the strength of my own behavior. How to stop work before the optimal condition fades? This might be automatic if it were not for leftover compulsive effects of aversive control. Exhaust- ing avocations are a danger. No more chess. No more bridge problems. No more detective stories. When I am not working, I must relax—not work at something else! A good measure of fatigue would be helpful. I can tell how tired I am when playing the piano. Early in the morning, well rested, I surprise myself. Later in the day, I accept my errors as inevitable. My handwriting is also a gauge. It would be nice to have a shibboleth—a passage to be written in ten seconds, the errors to determine whether I work or relax. ... I must keep busy? Then relax profitably.