How do you convince yourself to do things you want to do?

Depression can be a factor so maybe you should look into that. Meds can help, and maybe therapy.
If it's a matter of lack of energy, you should look into getting some vitamins and minerals supplement. I'm not being flippant. My sister had bouts of very low energy and she had severe iron deficiency and magnesium deficiency. And it's not uncommon because we eat crap and have lousy sleep cycles, stay in artificial light way more than in sunlight.

yeah I can totally get you!! I can be defined as a spoonie, I have been suffering from chronic pain for a decade and I have always had psychological issues so doing things, doing the right things and generally speaking having the required force, will, strength to do something has always been hard!
getting to know myself has been the first step, I got to know all my limits, all the energy I needed to do tasks without comparing myself to anyone else, be they sane or suffering from illnesses or whatever else, since we're all different..
I keep an agenda and I track down everything, often many days are white meaning that I have only to go to work for some time and do whatever I want, but for instance I've already written down all the concerts I want to attend in November and December, just to say.. this is an important motivation to me, I started to do everything that was written and if I had to postpone something, I'd write it the next day or the next week so that it will always be there.. for whenever I have the strength!
best of luck!! you'll get there, everyone of us is different but I came out a hard situation of teen-age internment into mental hospitals and tons of drugs (I mean, I never smoked a cigarette in my entire life, I'm talking about the things doctors gave me =P).. I managed to somehow get to know and tame my major depressive disorder and life is so better now if compared to 5 or 10 years ago.. I found a girlfriend who lives with me and I found motivation and new interest, starting for instance to get tattooed, re-starting to attend concerts after 10 years of depression in which I never seen a single artist, I had many years in which I used to read 3 books at once.. you'll get there mate!! <3

-_- Get how you feel.

•Make a plan:
Top 1 on my To/Wanna-Do-List: Make a list.

•Set a time and date, especially right after waking up is best.
Immediately do it. No quick, facebook, steamgift, phone checking. Quick stuff often ends up getting longer and longer.
I try to do stuff like phone calls even before breakfast not to get sucked into something else and whoops another week passed.

•Tell others
For me external pressure works way better. If I tell someone I go outside, the chance that I go outside is way higher.

Hello fellow procrastinator :)

Procrastination is a big problem for many people, including me, that is why i chose to accept it as a my problem and put it on my avatar :D
Now to answer the question "How do i make myself do something?", i guess it differs from case to case. Sometimes todo lists help, sometimes boredom, sometimes doing things for others, many times while i was on university deadline was the thing that made me do things. In the end it depends on you and what you have to do. :)
And i still have the same problem, after many years(decades), but i guess i found a way to live with it. Once i sorted many things in my head, what i want with my life, things got easier and it is not much of the problem to move myself if i really really want to. It just takes time getting used to doing anything else than lying down whole day, but i guess this topic of yours is a first step in doing something :)

I remember watching one video on TedTalk about procrastination(will try to find it) and in some weird way it was helpful :)

EDIT: Found the video :)

I do something kind of silly, but works for me.
I would call or message my boyfriend, and tell him very precisely what I'm going to do ("Hi babe, I'm going to write the introduction section for my report") with enough detail in the description that I can picture the task. And then somehow that makes it easier for me to do those tasks.
I think it is a combination of someone holding me accountable, the process of listing the goal, and imagining the task, that makes it easier. Also external validation helps too (He'll say "wow, good job!" after I did the work, and I feel good. xD I'm a simple person haha).

But identifying the problem is a first step. Maybe you'll have to try multiple things before you find one that work for you. But I'm sure you will eventually. Good luck!!

I struggle with this as well a lot of the times but Ive been running recently and it really jumpstarts my productivity although it's a challenge to get myself to work out!

I don't get it. What is your life situation that you can stay up til 4 AM, sleep late and then lat around on the couch all day?

Are you rich? Do you live with your parents?

Get a purpose in your life. Not a book to read or an errand to run. A job. A degree. Go volunteer on the regular at a charity - as in, go sign up to work there, regular shifts and all, just for no pay if you really don't need the money.

Having a central purpose gets you out of bed in the morning, gets you interacting with other people, learning new things, getting tired out, growing and changing... And, perhaps not intuitively, it also puts you in a place where finding an hour a day to read that book suddenly starts to happen.

"I want to read a book, go outside, call a friend, work some animation... etc. etc"
No you don't. If you really did, you would do it.

"but all i do is lying down like a sloth, all day"
This is what you want, you choose to do this.
You try to convince yourself you do not want this, because it's not 'what you should do' and 'you need to be useful' but since you have the option to do this instead, you are choosing to be a sloth.

This is not a bad thing. It's not a good thing either. It's just how it is for you right now.
Things change.
Opportunities come and go. Doors open and close.

You'll find your way.
As I did.

I went through three years of psychotherapy just to realize it all comes from you, every fear, every "want but can't"- thing. Just go and do it, start with something as small as just going out and if you want to go to the gym for example, just go up to the gym, but don't go in if you feel like it, turn back home - you already achieved something. Change the background, see if it helps. Libraries can be calm and quiet places that are easy to start with. Go try it out.

Second thing is stop thinking negative about yourself or what others may think. I used to overthink of what people think about me and it leads you nowhere. If someone hates you, let them. There are 7 billion people, there will ALWAYS be someone who hates/is jealous of you.

And if it feels like it, book time for psychotherapy, it really helps to talk with someone professional who is neutral to your cause and lets you see things differently. I went through psychodynamic psychotherapy so it lasted years. Cognitive-analytical psychotherapy can last as short as 3-4 visits.

Good luck!

set small goals with rewards, like: after I did this assignment, I can watch this fun youtube video. Repeat that and eventually you get your homework done :P

Not sure if this is relevant to the topic but I've just seen this video about motivation and I find that it has a nice perspective. Maybe it'll be helpful to you :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZhoeSaPF-k

Not sure if this has been said i did not read every answer in this thread but your approach is wrong. If it is i want to read a book it is another chore than something you wanna do. Instead it should be more specific like i wanna read (book name) series. Or not i wanna draw but i wanna draw (scenery) or (character). Not i wanna go outside but i wanna go this park. I wanna go to theatre. I wanna go to the mall. If you determine more specific stuff it is easier to do them.

I dont

When I want to do something that I don't really feel like doing, I either avoid thinking about it and just do it or I'm saying that I'll reward myself somehow right after. And, if we're talking about an action that I have to do quite often, then, after some time, it eventually becomes a habit that makes you feel bad if you don't do it.

Set a small goal and give yourself a treat when achieving it

Dont overwhelm yourself with tons of stuff to do. Thats what gets you - stuff piles and piles until you dont know from which side to go at it.
Try to isolate one thing for a day. Even if its a small thing - make a call to someone. Next day read a bit of a book..
Try to do these things separately. If you are feeling especially down for a day - take a good long shower, shave, take care of yourself. Have a good breakfast and thats all. With feeling depressed I have found that starting small is the key. It might take several days to accomplish a simple task - but youll get it done at least.