Use some of the best-tested principles in experimental psychology to reinforce the behaviors you want to want, and avoid punishing yourself for doing things you want to do again. Pay attention to the immediate rewards and punishments you’re already doling out to yourself without noticing. If you always feel anxious when you think of a slow-moving project, you may be training yourself not to think about it at all. Connect the intermediate steps toward your goal to your natural enthusiasm for the result.
What you’re doing to make reading papers fun is apparently something that Andrew Critch is very very good at, so keep it up, Critch Jr.
Spaced Repetition is only the beginning. http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/assessing-the-evidence-for-the-one-thing-you-never-get-taught-in-school-how-to-learn
Here’s How to Read—on page 2 there’s a table that lists all of what this guy recommends, use that to evaluate if the rest of the document is worth your time. http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/PDF/howtoread.pdf
Also, if you know anyone who has gone to CFAR, start PMing them for the material on Propogating Urges. http://rationality.org/schedule/
What you’re doing to make reading papers fun is apparently something that Andrew Critch is very very good at, so keep it up, Critch Jr.