Try Ignoring the Task at Hand In Order to Focus On It

I've written recently about several unconventional ways to boost productivity with a minimum of added effort, including procrastination as a motivator. I accidentally discovered another one today.

This tip comes from that internet cesspool known as 4chan. If you're not already familiar with 4chan, don't bother looking into it. Trust me: it's the original source of LOLcats. Gawker describes its most popular forum, /b/, as a good way to melt your brain. And for god's sake, don't click that link at work; you've been warned.

4chan is also known for The Game. The rules of The Game are simple:

1. The Game is an abstract mental game with millions of active players. In fact, everyone in the world is playing it right now.
2. The objective of The Game is to avoid thinking about The Game.
3. Play is continuous and never stops. You are either losing (when you are thinking about The Game), or not losing (when you are not thinking about The Game).
4. Players who lose The Game (by thinking about it) must tell other people that they have lost.

I lost The Game. Presumably, so did the entire psychology department at a New York college where Cory Antiel turned it into a 27 page paper. How does this help anyone be more productive?

In hindsight, a monster made of highly combustible expanded
sugar might not have been my first choice for an
apocalyptic city-destroyer. Nice job, Ray.

It's actually pretty simple. The phenomenon at play here is called ironic process theory. Remember Ghostbusters? "Don't think about anything!!" ... which of course immediately leads Ray to think of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Sometimes this is an annoying fact about our primitive brains, like when you have "The Song That Never Ends" stuck in there. Other times, you can use it to your advantage.

Next time you have something to work on that is going to take a little time to think about, make a conscious decision to NOT think about it. Subvocalize it if you have to: "I am not going to think about Adam Sandler's Ode to my Car."

Haha: piece of shit car is all you can think about right now. Don't give in! Don't think about it. For me, the effect lasts anywhere between 20 minutes and two hours. Applied correctly, with almost no effort, you can put yourself in a focused state and get anything you need to do, done. Try it.

Also, I lost The Game again.