Delaying gratification to increase productivity
You’ve got a list of projects to work on or tasks to complete. How do decide which to do first? You could use an important/urgent matrix to help you prioritise the tasks but there is a flaw with this kind of approach; it assumes that all tasks are equal. But they aren’t. Some of these tasks you are looking forward to, some you are dreading. Some you’ll enjoy, others will be a chore. Some will be exciting, others boring.
You can get more tasks complete if you understand your tendencies to procrastinate, to avoid the difficult tasks, and to convince yourself that you really should do the things that you’ll enjoy most first. Delaying the gratification you get from doing the fun things first by completing some of the tasks are aren’t looking forward to, and then using the fun/interesting/exciting tasks as rewards means that not only do you get more tasks done but you also get the things you don’t want to do done.