I cannot emphasize enough how powerful this is. If you're struggling to focus on your work/projects, try living a bland existence like a monk for a while. You won't be able to stop thinking about working.
It is not about having or not having fun, but being removed from the usual “i could work but also choose not to” environment.
On the beach I cannot work even if I wanted to, and it kind of make me want to work.
It's not about pushing yourself harder, but making you do what you think is important rather than have your brain seeks short term pleasure at the expense of long term well being.
The author almost makes a really good point. The best way to entice yourself back into a more dynamic rhythm of life where you look forward to something is 1) to deprive yourself of it, and 2) not to seek it too soon.
Deprivation and anticipation are essential to maintaining a dynamic interesting lifestyle. Without the self-discipline to redirect your attention toward serving more mundane daily needs, you become a hedonist and focus only on getting high and staying there. You become a junkie.
If the solution to being productive is to rid yourself of joys, then screw it, I'll take an unproductive happy life.
If that is not "forcing yourself" I don't know what "forcing yourself" means