Your "work/chore/business", "fun/relaxing/pleasure" dichotomy seems to be universal. I can look at any task on my to-do list and instantly put it in one of those buckets. Probably anyone with a to-do list can.
Why is this?! Assuming this ability is universal (and not just something chime and I are good at:), there must be an innate psychological reason. Possibly even a "simple" reason.
I will venture a guess: real or imagined self-threat is always associated with failure to complete a "work" task. This is never true for an individual "play" task.
My method of dividing the tasks into two buckets is very simple. Is it fun? If it takes me more than 5 seconds to answer that question, it's not fun. Fun is easy to categorize. So the complement of fun is thus easy to categorize too.
The reason I break it down into two is because of how I look at tasks with respect to stress. Nearly every task either adds (even if slightly) to my stress or relieves it. Very few are on the border and if they are on the border, I'd say they add to my stress just because they're not actually relieving it. My goal is to mix it all up in a healthy balance that best suits my personality.
You say: "Nearly every task either adds ... to my stress or relieves it." My question is: why does this seems to be true for everyone?
The answer is not necessarily related to energy or time expenditure. For me, playing consecutive games of intense full-court basketball is fun/relaxing/play.
Why is this?! Assuming this ability is universal (and not just something chime and I are good at:), there must be an innate psychological reason. Possibly even a "simple" reason.
I will venture a guess: real or imagined self-threat is always associated with failure to complete a "work" task. This is never true for an individual "play" task.
Thoughts?