In his book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (AKA GTD), David Allen talks about broken agreements (between ourselves as well as with others) being the cause of many of our negative feelings, and provides advice about how to prevent them. He identifies three options:
- Don't make the agreement.
- Complete the agreement.
- Renegotiate the agreement.
All of these can work to get rid of the unpleasant feelings.
Making my agreements explicit, and faithfully tracking them has made a huge improvement in my life. Here's an example: I'm currently having a slow time at work, and my motivation is terrible. For me this is a problem; when I'm motivated I'm a high performer, but take away the challenge or the creative urge and I'm in trouble [1].
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