It takes far less motivation or willpower to do manual labor than mental labor. ...

		mynewwork on Feb 24, 2014 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want... It takes far less motivation or willpower to do manual labor than mental labor. I had multiple manual labor jobs before becoming a developer and I could do my work on the factory line even if I was tired, unhappy, apathetic, distracted or preoccupied. I find it far harder to code under those conditions.

I think you're right, anecdotally. I've had the same experience.