If you lose a game of chess online so what , you lose some rating points. (Where is the motivation ? ) Now OTB tournys that is REAL CHESS where the hard work and stamina that is required to compete in that enviroment with cash/prizes on the table, if that does not solve motivation problems this game is not for you ! 
How do I overcome my laziness? - practical tips needed
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I also agree that playing in a tournament really brings out your inner chess. I once beat someone rated 2000 (USCF raiting). Notice how I just say once :P
super_parrot wrote:
I also agree that playing in a tournament really brings out your inner chess. I once beat someone rated 2000 (USCF raiting). Notice how I just say once :P
Those guys (experts) often do simuls at local chess clubs, defeating them OTB in tourny action is one hard days work !! 
trysts wrote:
Jazzist wrote:
... And during these years, I didn't have any other comittments than school, which I didn't take very seriously anyway.
So I feel that I do have a mindset problem that we can call laziness, sloppiness or whatever, and I hope that I can change this. Doing tactics training and playing slow games help to some extent, but I think this problem is separate from actual "technical" skills or pattern recognition etc.
Wow! So this is like a psychological problem you have? Okay, I'll do a profound, psychological analyses of why you don't take chess as seriously as you do, say...life in general.
You're crazy
You raise a valuable line of thought (this attitudinal thing having psychological origins), but I'd not go so far as to declare the OP as being crazy.
As I see it, and much like he treated his schooling, he's not taking chess seriously as a line of study worthy of a consistent and methodical approach. I believe motivation comes from within (and, no one here is going to stand over him with a whip).
If he fails to find a way to motivate himself, I think he should just sit back and play the game for its enjoyment, (and eventually he's likely enough to improve with practice imo). Perhaps at some later point he'll become inspired to dig in and study the game properly.
sftac
I have a hard time forcing myself to play "real" chess too. I almost wish I could have two accounts, one for "real" the other just to play.
I know I am far better than when I started here, but my ratings don't show it.
Aug 2, 2011
0
#27
Many insightful and interesting posts. I'll comment on them the next time I'm at my computer.
Aug 3, 2011
0
#28
sftac wrote:
trysts wrote:
Jazzist wrote:
... And during these years, I didn't have any other comittments than school, which I didn't take very seriously anyway.
So I feel that I do have a mindset problem that we can call laziness, sloppiness or whatever, and I hope that I can change this. Doing tactics training and playing slow games help to some extent, but I think this problem is separate from actual "technical" skills or pattern recognition etc.
Wow! So this is like a psychological problem you have? Okay, I'll do a profound, psychological analyses of why you don't take chess as seriously as you do, say...life in general.
You're crazy
You raise a valuable line of thought (this attitudinal thing having psychological origins), but I'd not go so far as to declare the OP as being crazy.
As I see it, and much like he treated his schooling, he's not taking chess seriously as a line of study worthy of a consistent and methodical approach. I believe motivation comes from within (and, no one here is going to stand over him with a whip).
If he fails to find a way to motivate himself, I think he should just sit back and play the game for its enjoyment, (and eventually he's likely enough to improve with practice imo). Perhaps at some later point he'll become inspired to dig in and study the game properly.
sftac
I was actually making a joke about the OP being crazy. I was merely saying that chess is probably not as important to him as life in general, since it's just a game afterall.
Another suggestion would be to go to a very serious rated tournament where the time control is at LEAST 90 minutes +30 second increments.The fact that everyone is taking so much time and effort on their moves will make you feel amateur-ish and you will find yourself using more time just to fit in with everyone else.
Aug 3, 2011
0
#30
Change up.
Play faster games. Get your mind thinking a little faster. Perhaps your mind gets a little bored. Try 10-15 min games for a while.
trysts wrote:
sftac wrote:
trysts wrote:
Jazzist wrote:
... And during these years, I didn't have any other comittments than school, which I didn't take very seriously anyway.
So I feel that I do have a mindset problem that we can call laziness, sloppiness or whatever, and I hope that I can change this. Doing tactics training and playing slow games help to some extent, but I think this problem is separate from actual "technical" skills or pattern recognition etc.
Wow! So this is like a psychological problem you have? Okay, I'll do a profound, psychological analyses of why you don't take chess as seriously as you do, say...life in general.
You're crazy
You raise a valuable line of thought (this attitudinal thing having psychological origins), but I'd not go so far as to declare the OP as being crazy.
As I see it, and much like he treated his schooling, he's not taking chess seriously as a line of study worthy of a consistent and methodical approach. I believe motivation comes from within (and, no one here is going to stand over him with a whip).
If he fails to find a way to motivate himself, I think he should just sit back and play the game for its enjoyment, (and eventually he's likely enough to improve with practice imo). Perhaps at some later point he'll become inspired to dig in and study the game properly.
sftac
I was actually making a joke about the OP being crazy. I was merely saying that chess is probably not as important to him as life in general, since it's just a game afterall.
It's almost by definition, the OP's behavior means the contingencies are inadequate. If he were wired so an electric shock was delivered when his focused strayed, he'd probably tend to pay attention.
I was going to suggests if sex were contingent on staying focused, he'd probably tend to pay attention but that's just silly.
Aug 3, 2011
0
#32
Laziness
AronSolt, Mycowscanfly and sftac:
I'm not a generally lazy person as I have no problems with doing hard work in other areas of life (ok, I'm lazy when it comes to household labor). I may not have taken school very seriously in high school, but later I got through medical school where I was forced to learn proper studying technique and I am now a physician while also working to get a PhD in medicine. My problem doesn't concern studying chess either, in the sense of studying books and practicing tactics training and other types of interactive practice, which I enjoy very much and do as much as I can find the time to. The problem I have is highly specific to the act of playing chess.
Perhaps one part of the problem is motivational, but I do feel motivated to get better. I have two friends that are better than I, and my main motivation is being able to score even or better against them (they are not that much better that this goal is unrealistic in any way). Somehow, I seem to have trouble wieving the actual playing as part of practicing and I get emotionally involved in the game.
As another user put it, I want to see how the game unfolds. I can really recognize myself in that statement. I play to win, and as I said earlier, I feel miserable when I lose, but perhaps more than anything, I get excited when things look bright and move to fast because I want to see my plans play out, and I despair when I'm in a worse situation and play moves sort of just to get it over with.
I play at my best when I note my goals for the game etc before a game, as I do sometimes. Then I can force myself to play well initially, but I invariably lose this focus after say 25 moves or so, or when either I or my opponent gains an advantage. Then the process described above kicks in, and I lose my focus.
Process vs. outcome
Davidmelbourne:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I value that highly.
"If that thinking holds, it suggests that we need to find happiness in the process of evaluating and analysing a chess position; find enjoyment in identifing candidate moves and culculating as best we can the consequences of each. Instead, I think I am hooked on the 'story': I want to find out now what is going to happen next; a focus on outcome, rather than process."
This may be a crucial part of my problem and, hopefully, of the solution. I too don't find happiness in this process, but rather in the outcome. The question is: what can we do to shift our preference? The outcome will always be important to us, so we should try to make the process more enjoyable. I have no ideas at the moment, so we will have to ponder this for a while.
This focus on outcome rather than process is probably related to my high degree of emotional involvment in my games that I described above. I actually feel that I'm starting to understand my behavior and feelings better thanks to what some of you have said. Hopefully this understanding can lead to practical ideas on how to change this.
Playing OTB
Several posts have suggested that I should play more OTB. I can truly see the value in playing OTB, especially with long time controls, and I aim to join a chess club by the end of the year, perhaps earlier. At the moment, though, I'm unable to play OTB regularly and I have to suffice with playing online for now.
Phew.. that was alot of text. I hope I'm not boring you to death.
Jazzist wrote:
Laziness
AronSolt, Mycowscanfly and sftac:
I'm not a generally lazy person as I have no problems with doing hard work in other areas of life (ok, I'm lazy when it comes to household labor). I may not have taken school very seriously in high school, but later I got through medical school where I was forced to learn proper studying technique and I am now a physician while also working to get a PhD in medicine. My problem doesn't concern studying chess either, in the sense of studying books and practicing tactics training and other types of interactive practice, which I enjoy very much and do as much as I can find the time to. The problem I have is highly specific to the act of playing chess.
Perhaps one part of the problem is motivational, but I do feel motivated to get better. I have two friends that are better than I, and my main motivation is being able to score even or better against them (they are not that much better that this goal is unrealistic in any way). Somehow, I seem to have trouble wieving the actual playing as part of practicing and I get emotionally involved in the game.
As another user put it, I want to see how the game unfolds. I can really recognize myself in that statement. I play to win, and as I said earlier, I feel miserable when I lose, but perhaps more than anything, I get excited when things look bright and move to fast because I want to see my plans play out, and I despair when I'm in a worse situation and play moves sort of just to get it over with.
I play at my best when I note my goals for the game etc before a game, as I do sometimes. Then I can force myself to play well initially, but I invariably lose this focus after say 25 moves or so, or when either I or my opponent gains an advantage. Then the process described above kicks in, and I lose my focus.
Process vs. outcome
Davidmelbourne:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I value that highly.
"If that thinking holds, it suggests that we need to find happiness in the process of evaluating and analysing a chess position; find enjoyment in identifing candidate moves and culculating as best we can the consequences of each. Instead, I think I am hooked on the 'story': I want to find out now what is going to happen next; a focus on outcome, rather than process."
This may be a crucial part of my problem and, hopefully, of the solution. I too don't find happiness in this process, but rather in the outcome. The question is: what can we do to shift our preference? The outcome will always be important to us, so we should try to make the process more enjoyable. I have no ideas at the moment, so we will have to ponder this for a while.
This focus on outcome rather than process is probably related to my high degree of emotional involvment in my games that I described above. I actually feel that I'm starting to understand my behavior and feelings better thanks to what some of you have said. Hopefully this understanding can lead to practical ideas on how to change this.
Playing OTB
Several posts have suggested that I should play more OTB. I can truly see the value in playing OTB, especially with long time controls, and I aim to join a chess club by the end of the year, perhaps earlier. At the moment, though, I'm unable to play OTB regularly and I have to suffice with playing online for now.
Phew.. that was alot of text. I hope I'm not boring you to death.
Gee; we give this guy some reasonable explanations for his lack of focus and motivation, but he does not have seem to have a clue. Bottom line is the fighting spirit and the will to win comes from WITHIN !!!
Oct 11, 2011
0
#34
Common experience suggests it's very difficult to keep a high level of focus when playing online. All the more so if your everyday life is a bit taxing (I have 3 kids myself, so I can appreciate that).
It's striking that you describe your chess behaviour a bit like you were at the movies and wanted to know the end of the story, when you're actually the writer of the novel, and you're to pick the next lines of the play. 
At the end of the day, what is your true motivation for winning ? Because chess is a game, and it's perfectly okay to just play it and enjoy it without thinking that much about the result. However, if you instill some competitve spirit, you may find the motivation to play better.
A few strategies I can suggest :
- play long OTB games : the physical presence of your opponent will naturally increases your awareness
- join a chess club : your play will be scrutinized and you'll want to play better just to shut up some of your fellow clubmates
- become interested in your rating (you can project some of your ego in it, or imagine it reflects some kind of inner mastery, like martial art)
- ask your friends to show you their most beautiful games ; it could create some emulation
- take the time to look at some collection of beautiful games, or maybe some studies (here's one) - when going through a game, try to guess the winner's moves ; this strategy may help you look for the beauty and harmony of chess, that you will want to recreate in your games
And also: If you find a find a good move, keep on thinking until you find a better one!
Jul 31, 2014
0
#36
Wow! Except for Adrico's post 37 minutes ago, all these comments were written three years ago. One hopes the player who started the forum has made progress in either overcoming his "laziness" or just accepting and enjoying it!
Follow the simple steps to avoid your laziness...
- Getting Enough Sleep
- Healthy Eating
- Do Simple Exercises
- Practice Meditation
- Can Do Attitude
- Inspirational and Motivational Messages
- Try and Fail but Never Fail to Try
- Play Simple Games
- Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
Apr 29, 2015
0
#38
"Lazy" is a word a person calls another person when the second person is not doing what the first person thinks that second person ought to be doing. That seems clear enough. Right?
Apr 29, 2015
0
#39
During tournament games you should be as focused as you can, it's the most important part of the game. You can forget about your life, and try to win the game. Otherwise you are not playing at full potential. This applies for tests and work etc.. basically try playing as well as you can to the highest extent you can. Then you will succeed.
I think I figured it out. You need a well lit room in order to feel mentally stimulated and ready to work. Every notice how easy it is to work at work or in class? But at home it is hard? There are other reasons, but a big part is that most apartments are as dark as a cave. Our eyes are adjusted to the dim yellow light. It drives me nuts. I need to get some higher wattage flourecent spiral bulbs and multiple light fixures so I can let there be light.