Question: How do YOU get motivated?

[Rumckle]

I've been having trouble motivating myself lately, and I'm just wondering, how you guys help to motivate yourselves.
Do you have any tricks or advice? Or should I just suck it up and stop being a lazy bitch?

[Kai]

LMNO had some good advice somewhere, but I don't remember the name of the thread. One of them was called "dragon breathing" I think, where you do deep explosive breathing.

I like to break things down into simple action statements, where you do whatever is first FIRST, and continue on until you run out of actions.

The best way to get motivated is to take care of your health. Routine exercise, eating healthy, sleeping enough, and hygiene tend to lead to me getting things done more than any other fix. That, and just committing yourself to starting /now/, not later. Often when you start something unmotivated, the actual starting leads to the work getting done.

Theres a great book called Getting Things Done by David Allen which contains a very helpful productivity method.

[Jenne]

I'd like to say I have some ancient secret, arcane and known only to the wise.

But for the most part, I am a procrastinator, and it's the thrill of knowing I'll fail unless I frantically get shit done in a hurry, and thouroughly (enough), that motivates my ass to a large degree.

That, and not being so harsh on myself if I fail at something, or am less than perfect at it.  Sometimes not wanting to do a task b/c you don't think you'll be good at it or do it right is more of a BIP than anything.  

And sometimes you HAVE just done too much lately and are just exhausted and NEED to be lazy (I do short bursts of frenetic activity followed by major ass downtime when this happens), so that on the upswing you're ready for the next bout of activity.

[AFK]

Well, for work-work, it's pretty easy for me to get motivated.  I love my job, I love working in and for my community.  I love working to help keep the kids around here a little safer.  Oh, and I like being able to help put food on the table, yadda, yadda, yadda.  It's pretty exciting because I'm building stuff here.  I'm creating a new infrastructure that, if all goes well, is going to help a bunch of kids. 

Now, when it comes to more hobbyish stuff, it's rough.  It's been ages since I've written or recorded any new musics.  I think the last thing I did was the Spag song dedicated to Dead Kennedy.  (which by the way is in my sig.  Act now!!!)  Granted, with a newborn, that would be difficult anyway, but I wasn't very productive even before he was born. 

[Rumckle]

Thanks guys, this is interesting/useful

Routine exercise, eating healthy, sleeping enough, and hygiene tend to lead to me getting things done more than any other fix.

I'm 3/4 atm, one of things I'm trying to get motivated about is getting fit again.

I'd like to say I have some ancient secret, arcane and known only to the wise.

But for the most part, I am a procrastinator, and it's the thrill of knowing I'll fail unless I frantically get shit done in a hurry, and thouroughly (enough), that motivates my ass to a large degree.

Me too, but it'd be nice to be able to finish things with spare time.

[Doktor Howl]

Good diet, exercise, and a seething hatred for everyone around me.

[Cramulus]

Depends on what I want to get motivated about.

Tricks which fuel my creativity:

(1) go have FUN, real FUN, so much FUN your cheeks hurt from smiling too much. This gets you invested in the world.
(2) do something different, real different, so different you didn't think it was something you'd ever do. Get outside yourself.
(3) pot + notepad + isolation

[Jenne]

Me too, but it'd be nice to be able to finish things with spare time.

Every time (most every time) I set out to do this, I do fail.  I learned in my 30's ( almost over, now) that I am just not someone with extra time after I get shit done.  I do some of my BEST work when I'm not doing it over a long period of time but instead in a short burst of concentration and focus.  I actually screw up less.  Because I care more.

*shrug*

But this is not advisory, it's cautionary.  Because most people rush through shit when they are doing things in the 11th hour, so to speak.

[LMNO]

I've been having trouble motivating myself lately, and I'm just wondering, how you guys help to motivate yourselves.
Do you have any tricks or advice? Or should I just suck it up and stop being a lazy bitch?

Hate to ask, but what is it that you're trying to get motivated for?


I have a few different tricks, but it's context dependent, except for one: Get a Good Night's Sleep.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

I have to agree with LMNO, enough sleep is terribly important, otherwise you're all sluggish and ugh the next day and days to follow if you are seriously sleep deprived.

Otherwise, I'm like Jenne.  I wait until the last minute. 

[Richter]

Sleep, the right food, and keeping active always seem to help me.  (moreso, the less I'm getting ambition and interest can only power through so much.)
If it is JOB, mostly I'm fueled by professionalism, mercenary nature, and desire to see the coworkers I like NOT get shat on for my laziness.

Side project / hobby wise, a lot of it depends.  Carving and metalworking, I have a lot of fun with the process, so I really don't need to motivate myself into it much.  If I have the spare time, it's what I do.  I love the products, and get a lot out of using or seeing them used by others.  I never pressure myself into doing any of them, and might stop every so often for a snack, to mess around on the computer, or walk around the block for a bit if I'm not into grinding away nonstop.  I don't resist tangents to alter / rework tools, bench setup, or clamping arrangements.  If it's a new process to me, especially, going in with a clear head and good vision of what I'm doing is worth more to me than loosing an hour.

[Rumckle]

Hate to ask, but what is it that you're trying to get motivated for?


I have a few different tricks, but it's context dependent, except for one: Get a Good Night's Sleep.

A few things:
-To get fit again, I'm not overweight, but I recently learnt that my lungs are not at all what they used to be, same with my muscles.
-Write more/learn more
-Get uni work done with time to spare

I think my sleep is fine atm, I may even be getting too much.

[LMNO]

A few things:
-To get fit again, I'm not overweight, but I recently learnt that my lungs are not at all what they used to be, same with my muscles.

Find a routine.  I wasn't able to start a decent workout program until I made it a solid part of my day, and not something I could duck out of.  "At ____o'clock, I go to the gym.  No exceptions."

-Write more/learn more

Those are actually two things.  To write more, you have to, well, write more.  Instead of staring at a blank screen hoping for inspiration, just start writing about anything that comes to mind, no editing.  It gets easier after you just start with those first few words about nothing.  To learn more, carry a book around with that deals with the subject you're interested in.  Read it at every spare moment; on the train, eating lunch, before you go to bed.  Stop watching TV; read instead.

-Get uni work done with time to spare

Sit at the front of the class.  Write down everything the prof says.  I'm serious.  Write it all down.  90% of the time, everything you need to know for your assignments will be covered.  Congrats, you've just cut down your uni work by half.

[Doktor Howl]

A few things:
-To get fit again, I'm not overweight, but I recently learnt that my lungs are not at all what they used to be, same with my muscles.

Find a routine.  I wasn't able to start a decent workout program until I made it a solid part of my day, and not something I could duck out of.  "At ____o'clock, I go to the gym.  No exceptions."

THIS.

[Triple Zero]

I personally found at university that I am either able to write down everything the prof says, or to actually follow what he is trying to explain, but not both.

But that is more for math-oriented classes than others, I think.