Depending on what it is. If it's cleaning, I break it up into units and do 30 min at a time, with breaks in between for other activities or non-food "treats" like a walk in the park or 15 min with a good book.
If it's something that's best done start-to-finish in one session, like ironing my  DH's shirts, I too turn on the radio or MP3 player and keep myself company with some mental activity.
For general clearing out of an area like drawers or a large room (such as my office), I will set one task per day: one cabinet, or one area of the room HAS to be done that day. I keep a list of non-food "treats" to reward myself with.
I used to be able to bribe my friend's teenagers into helping me with some tasks by offering them films or a meal in exchange but they've grown older and wiser--it's cash or nothing. :P

I like the feeling I get once I'm done cleaning or doing a chore. standing back and looking at my clean accopmlishment - how tidy and orderly it is. that's enough motivation for me :)

I just do it.

Growing up on a farm, as an only child, and w/ a heritage of self employed grandparents there was no choice but to do chores. Even now I am very uncomfortable just sitting around or even going out if there are things that should be done. I hate waking up to a cluttered house or a sink full of dishes. And since my BF is still on crutches that means that I am still doing chores for the both of us.  ::) But it has gotta get done and then I can justify spending the weekend out at the airport or fiddling in my flowers.

So just do it and then you don't have to worry about it ;)

I like to make it a game....ok heres where my weirdoness kicks in.  Say there is a pile of dishes dying to be washed, first I say to myself F**K!!  How did this happen!!!  Then, I say ok Ariana, this is going to be fun because you are going to wash alllll the bowls first woohoo, then you're going to wash all the plates, so FUN, then you're going to tackle those utensils and so on until its done, and yeah music helps too, just to calm the nerves.  Who knew washing dishes could be so much fun (insert sarcastic emoticon here)  Hope this helps at all.

i have to admit to being quite messy. but i have aspirations of tidiness, and i think having some kind of plan does help, so here goes:

- if you focus on not leaving stuff in your wake (my main issue) there is less to to do when tidying comes around. eg: wipe up the drip as soon as it hits the kitchen floor, have somewhere designated to pile magazines, mail/bills so they don't strew themselves across the floor forming a quagmire of messiness in under a week, file important papers as soon as you deal with them, don't file your laundry on the floor, but in the closet, or laundry bin, etc. i'm working on this, and i'm blaming lack of storage for the continuing chaos... but that ones only gonna last so long.

- dishes and kitchen- i tend to do the whole days dishes and wipe up the kitchen while my dinner is cooking, so i can keep an eye on it and multitask the time. even easier if you have a dishwasher. any dinner related messes can be quickly caught after you've eaten, as can dinner related dishes- drop them to soak in the sink, then rinse/wipe/add to dishwasher before bed, and they're done.

-other stuff, i make a point to do each thing once a week or so (cos i don't make much real mess, more create clutter). so.... on monday i dry dust surfaces and sweep floors with a swiffer/antistatic cloth (yey for wooden floors, easy cleanable) this takes maybe 10-20 minutes if you give it some welly. on tuesday i spray and wipe bathroom stuff etc, after i take a shower in the morning (which just adds five minutes to getting ready, if you put the spray on the tub and leave it there while you do other getting ready stuff, then wipe it off/squirt it with the shower nozzle later). wednesday i scan surfaces for rubbish, then empty bins and take out recycling, takes a couple minutes.... thursday i might do laundry (this doesn't include ironing, i don't beleive in ironing unless  its for a job interview or funeral- i 'steam iron' my clothes by hanging them on a coathanger in the bathroom when i have a shower)... friday, saturday, and sunday i can skive a bit or do things i missed.

one in a blue moon i'll wash windows when i realise i can't actually see through them, or scrub the kichen floor, etc.

i bet i missed out loads of important cleaning things, hahaha.

with housework, I fly...flylady.net  It stays done.

My problem is having enough time to do the things I want to do, now that my energy is pretty well back again.  This weekend, cleaned the kitchen well, polished the glasstop stove, painted the picnic table and got a LOT done just by tackling it head on.

I think some people can just get in there and do things and are hyper enough to make real head way. I am basically lazy and while I do a lot, I feel like I could be doing more.  Frankly, I am working too much right now. 

Books on tape.  I started liking them when I started commuting.  I clean for a CDs worth of time and then stop.