Directing your attention is a combination of willpower and habit and external influences.
Choose what you want to do (other than “feeling sad”). When you have free time, immediately start doing this (other than “feel sad first, and then maybe do my projects later, unless I am already overwhelmed by the sadness”). If there are ways to change your environment to make it easier to focus on doing your projects (maybe put a TO DO list on a wall next to your table), do that.
Pretty much the same advice that would apply to procrastination.
Some meditation exercises may help you System-1-believe that your attention actually is under your control, to certain degree, which can be improved by training.
Check your beliefs. Is there some part of your brain that says that feeling bad about X is actually helping X? If yes, that part is a liar… or rather, it is optimizing for status, because feeling bad about X is a way to signal that you care about X, without actually helping X. So, if you can somehow help X directly, do it; otherwise recognize the status instinct for what it is and tell it to shut up. (It may be easier to tell your instincts to shut up after you have reframed them from saintly to selfish.)
Directing your attention is a combination of willpower and habit and external influences.
Choose what you want to do (other than “feeling sad”). When you have free time, immediately start doing this (other than “feel sad first, and then maybe do my projects later, unless I am already overwhelmed by the sadness”). If there are ways to change your environment to make it easier to focus on doing your projects (maybe put a TO DO list on a wall next to your table), do that.
Pretty much the same advice that would apply to procrastination.
Some meditation exercises may help you System-1-believe that your attention actually is under your control, to certain degree, which can be improved by training.
Check your beliefs. Is there some part of your brain that says that feeling bad about X is actually helping X? If yes, that part is a liar… or rather, it is optimizing for status, because feeling bad about X is a way to signal that you care about X, without actually helping X. So, if you can somehow help X directly, do it; otherwise recognize the status instinct for what it is and tell it to shut up. (It may be easier to tell your instincts to shut up after you have reframed them from saintly to selfish.)