Under Pressure ... it really straighten you up ....

[dardo]

Last months I've been running hot and would just play unfocused poker for a week, make enough cash for the month and just relax and be lazy the other 3 weeks.

Until last week when I finally hit a downswing. I've been reinventing my game from zero, spending a lot of hours thinking about it, trying new things, and just playing 1 or 2 tables, getting rock solid reads from the other players.

Finally I'm coming back on track, with a new understanding, I think a considerably improved game ... to get lazy and relax again? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I's curious how some pressure can very fast sharpen your mind and make you spend countless hours in something when you could barely stand it before.

[Flip-Flop]

Hey if fear motivates you good for you.
Anything is better then being lazy.

[matt nover]

There is a very fine line between good, motivating pressure and pressure that cracks you and you start playing below optimal.

Or you can be playing under pressure and running good then you run bad and are still under pressure to win and it can really get to your head. So be careful

[_Towelie_]

I have the exact same problem as OP. I don't go weeks w/o playing but some months I can get away with 3-4 very short sessions a week, then when the [censored] hits the fan I live in misery for an indefinite period. It's not a very healthy pattern lol.

[WhoIam]

I was thinking about this recently and it's similar for me. Before when I had crappy br management, I could play 16 hrs/day if my rent was due or something. This applies to other things like writing papers when I was in college. If I could summon the willpower I have when my back is against the wall, I could take over the world. Any ideas on how to motivate/focus myself when not under loads of pressure?

[Yoshi63]

Like, when? Do you mean constantly operate at level you do when under a rapidly approaching deadline? Because that would build up so much stress it would be unhealthy.

If you just mean occationally summoning up the energy and focus at random times, that is also very difficult. Your subconcious has a way of determining for your what is important. Trying to fake it usually doesn't work.

[WhoIam]

To clarify, I don't want to constantly operate at a high level, but I would like to be able to summon this drive when I'm not at high levels of stress. I'm able to focus and have a huge drive to accomplish something when things are bad and I need them to be ok, but not when things are ok and I want them to be better. For example, there are times when I would like to sit and write for a few hours. When I was in college and had a 10-page paper due in two days I could do this, but only very, very rarely when not under pressure. I'd like to be able to do this without creating artifical deadlines and such because that would just result in unnecessary stress.