Coaching practices for I Caught Myself the Other Day Halfway Through Something I Used to Do for the Love of it Thinking Only About the Paycheck or the Praise at the End and it Stopped Me Cold Because I Couldn't Remember the Last Time I Did it Just Because I Wanted to
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For I Caught Myself the Other Day Halfway Through Something I Used to Do for the Love of it Thinking Only About the Paycheck or the Praise at the End and it Stopped Me Cold Because I Couldn't Remember the Last Time I Did it Just Because I Wanted to, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I caught myself the other day, halfway through something I used to do for the love of it, thinking only about the paycheck or the praise at the end
- There was this hobby I genuinely loved until I started tracking it and tying rewards to it, and now the spark is just gone
- The thing I once loved most has become pure obligation
- On paper nothing’s wrong
- Everything I enjoy eventually gets turned into a side hustle or something to optimize and post about, and the moment I start measuring it the fun drains out
Practices that may help
- Notice when your self-explanation shifts from interest to reward
When you catch yourself thinking "I do this for the reward," the overjustification shift may be happening.
The Overjustification Effect: When Rewards Kill Motivation - Protect intrinsic motivation from over-justification
Be careful with rewards on things you already enjoy — they can undermine the enjoyment.
Self-Determination Theory, Made Usable - Recover intrinsic interest after it has been crowded out
Intrinsic interest that has been undermined can often be partially recovered by removing the reward and reconnecting to original reasons.
The Overjustification Effect: When Rewards Kill Motivation - Monitor intrinsic interest over time
Overjustification is a slow erosion — check whether you still find the work interesting, not just whether you’re doing it.
The Overjustification Effect: When Rewards Kill Motivation - Protect your play zone from performance pressure
Designate activities that stay purely intrinsic — never evaluated, rewarded, or tracked.
The Overjustification Effect: When Rewards Kill Motivation - Choose autotelic (intrinsically rewarding) activities
Flow comes most easily when the activity is worth doing for its own sake.
Flow: Engineering the State of Total Absorption - Find the intrinsic hook in the task
Connect to what is genuinely interesting in the work, not just the payoff.
Flow Triggers, Made Practical - Use curiosity rather than obligation as the primary action driver
Pursuing what is genuinely interesting, rather than what the goal demands, produces better work and more sustainable energy.
Goal-Free Living: When Process Beats Destination - Protect time for deep play
Maintain a serious non-work interest that demands real skill and attention.
Deliberate Rest - Examining the desire before chasing it
Before pursuing something you want, ask whether the desire serves you or consumes you.
Santosha: The Practice of Contentment
Related concerns
- The Overjustification Effect When Rewards Kill Motivation As A Parent
The overjustification effect is the finding that offering expected, tangible rewards for activities people already enjoy can undermine their subsequent interest in those activities once the reward is removed. Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett demonstrated this in children in 1973; later meta-analyses confirmed the effect is real for specific reward types, though the strong version of the claim — that any reward harms any intrinsic motivation — is overstated.
- The Overjustification Effect When Rewards Kill Motivation At Work
The overjustification effect is the finding that offering expected, tangible rewards for activities people already enjoy can undermine their subsequent interest in those activities once the reward is removed. Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett demonstrated this in children in 1973; later meta-analyses confirmed the effect is real for specific reward types, though the strong version of the claim — that any reward harms any intrinsic motivation — is overstated.
- The Overjustification Effect When Rewards Kill Motivation When Burned Out
The overjustification effect is the finding that offering expected, tangible rewards for activities people already enjoy can undermine their subsequent interest in those activities once the reward is removed. Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett demonstrated this in children in 1973; later meta-analyses confirmed the effect is real for specific reward types, though the strong version of the claim — that any reward harms any intrinsic motivation — is overstated.
- When Contingency Management Overjustification Watch
For behaviors you already find intrinsically rewarding, adding external rewards can reduce your long-run motivation.
Watch for overjustification — external rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation
- When The Overjustification Effect Recover From Overjustification
Intrinsic interest that has been undermined can often be partially recovered by removing the reward and reconnecting to original reasons.
Recover intrinsic interest after it has been crowded out
- Intrinsic Motivation Erosion
Overjustification is a slow erosion — check whether you still find the work interesting, not just whether you’re doing it.
Monitor intrinsic interest over time
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