In one of my favorite business books, the New York Times bestseller “Decide” Steve McClatchy writes that psychological studies have confirmed that we can divide all sources of human motivation into two categories: to move toward “Gain” (or something you want) or to “Prevent Pain” (or prevent the loss of something you have).
It has much applicability in the business world too, in that the tasks which consume our time can either be characterized as Gain tasks that propel us toward innovation and transformation, or Pain tasks that keep us stagnant.