I’m the type that doesn’t simply leave out a deadline pressure. Every earlier attempt resulted in dullness and drowsiness. My cure was reasonable: let’s do something fun first. 

I wouldn’t call this Study Avoidance Behavior (SAB, named after the Dutch SOG). At the contrary: I was obeying my own planning, just fueling the focus I needed. So it was actually study preparation behavior. And I prepared by gaming. Not the Solitaire or Mahjong type my grandma plays though (those might actually even help), but an intense tactical game. One match would take an hour, but I rarely left it after one. Who would ever stop after a loss or when things were going so well it would be a waste to quit?

Strangely enough I felt anything but replenished to study. I adjusted my cure by watching series: just sitting back and enjoy. The result remained the same. It wasn’t that I felt like playing or watching more games or series. It was just the absence of expected energy.

You might recognize this. Luckily there is a physiological reason and alternative. Every emotion can be explained by its valence (positivity) and arousal. And although excitement is obviously the positive counterpart of stress, they have high arousal in common. Therefore the physiological state of energy drainage is similar for both these positive and negative emotions.  

From that perspective, doing something fun to refresh your focus sounds ridiculous. Imagine you are not hungry enough to eat your whole grain pasta with vegetables, so you eat some cupcakes to uplift your appetite. Yeah, obviously that won’t work either.

To boost productivity you should not aim for excitement, but low arousal calmness. This could be meditating, daydreaming or walking in the park (and of course the holy powernap). A challenge in itself, because the awkwardness of non-doing can feel more stressful than both studying and gaming together. Strolling in a green environment may be a good alternative then. But keep in mind: no phones allowed. Perhaps a dull game of Solitaire after all?