Obsession
It was 5 am and I was slaying this dragon bare-chested and with just a wooden sword on the hardest difficulty. I had not seen a non-pixelated person in days. I didn't remember sleeping. I was playing Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Witcher 3 is a massive open-world RPG. You are this cool buff white-haired dude, you have a sword, some magic, and quests. I was obsessed with this game. I had to have the best swords and the best armour. The best most rare magic tree unlocks. I got really good in a short period. I got so strong that I had to nerf myself on even the strongest difficulty to feel challenged.
I wasn't happy or was having fun for a lot of it. Grinding for hours just to perfect my dodge reflexes. I somehow was crazy obsessed with not getting hit. That is not fun. Painful even. But I did it. I actually could not stop myself from doing it. A lot of players/founders at the highest levels are obsessed similarly.
I have talked before about spending time with yourself to reveal the documentation of your mind and self-programming in my 'Hacking Hard-Work' essay here. For me the best self-programming is obsession. It is counter to the 'find a balance' advice society keeps telling you and life does demand you to juggle many responsibilities. So even though I knew I worked the best by being obsessed I never implemented it for the longest time.
But you gotta do what the documentation tells you to be an effective self-programmer. So I implemented it in a controlled way. Whether it's a gym session or a project(personal/professional) I try and get myself obsessed for the time I spend at it. It was very hard at first to lock in and out of obsession. But it gets easier. Although it never feels the same as forgetting everything for days and going crazy, it is much more effective than anything else for me.
Find what works for you and embrace it.