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Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project?

#81

Post by wordpressdev »

tjkrusinski wrote: post #31

One day, you will be dead. Each year that passes after your death, fewer and fewer people will remember who you were, what you did or what your face looked like. Eventually, you'll be completely forgotten. Who cares if that side project you put out sucked or not. Might as well put it out there and see what people think. There's a good chance too that the project won't even be remembered even by the time you die. The…

Everyone dies.

"you live only as long as the last person who remembers you"

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project?

#83

Post by thomk »

riebschlager wrote: post #39
tjkrusinski wrote: post #31

One day, you will be dead. Each year that passes after your death, fewer and fewer people will remember who you were, what you did or what your face looked like. Eventually, you'll be completely forgotten. Who cares if that side project you put out sucked or not. Might as well put it out there and see what people think. There's a good chance too that the project won't even be remembered even by the time you die. The…

I usually like to save my existential crises for later in the week, but thanks for helping me dive right into it on a Monday morning.

This comment made me burst out laughing. Well done sir.

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project?

#85

Post by programbreeding »

drcode wrote: post #77
sonnyblarney wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the 'it's too cold outside' runner's trick for motivation. If it's very cold outside, you tell yourself 'if it's too cold after 10 minutes I'll come back in'. But you never come back in. It's a matter of getting started, nothing else. We are funny creatures.

That never works for me: after 10 minutes of running, I'd be thinking things like "Is my 10 minute rule really meaningful if I don't REALLY allow myself to quit after 10 minutes? I should quit today just to reinforce to myself that the rule is really meaningful.". Then, next time I run I have exactly the same thought and the whole concept falls apart.

But the rule is "if it's too cold after 10 minutes I'll come back in." If it truly was too cold out, then you really can quit and come in after 10 minutes. But it typically isn't actually too cold to be out there and you're just using it being cold as an excuse to not go.

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project?

#87

Post by xsmasher »

badatshipping wrote: post #35

Tell yourself you’ll spend five minutes working on it. This tricks your brain into thinking it’s not a big pain commitment. Once you’ve spent five minutes immersed in it you’ll be more willing to keep working. Another trick is to break down the task into as many subtasks as you can, and when you’re feeling obstinate about working, just get one small subtask done. It also helps you visualize the finiteness of the tota…

Good trick.

I keep a separate list of "dumb little things" to fix that don't require much thought or effort. I'll grab something from that list, which makes it easy to start; then once the editor is open I start getting into the zone.

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project?

#88

Post by layer8 »

mgolawala wrote: post #70
tjkrusinski wrote: post #31

One day, you will be dead. Each year that passes after your death, fewer and fewer people will remember who you were, what you did or what your face looked like. Eventually, you'll be completely forgotten. Who cares if that side project you put out sucked or not. Might as well put it out there and see what people think. There's a good chance too that the project won't even be remembered even by the time you die. The…

That line of thinking can also be quite demotivating. For instance, it could also be used to argue that since none of what I do matters anyway, I might as well spend it doing something else such as watching TV, playing video games, hiking in the forests, reading a good book, etc.

The main thing to consider is which way of spending one's time will be more fulfilling in the long run.

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project?

#89

Post by 51lver »

rrggrr wrote: post #38

Arnold Levine. My mentor. Died about ten years ago. Here's how he taught me to stay motivated, and I'm going to tell it the way he would want it told, it won't be PC. Me: "I can do this anymore, I'm sick of it." Him: "Really?". Me: "Yeah, its mind numbing. I'm turning to jelly." Him: (cold stare like he was about to murder me. 60 years of rage, booze, cigarettes, diabetes and disappointment bearing down on my through…

I should probably hang out with my angry chainsmoking bit-twiddling mentor more while he's still around. Telling people who "can" that they "should" is something where delivery makes all the difference. Those greybeards don't tolerate slacking or whining when it's business time, and when you've earned a smile for being clever, damn it's good. Also there are so many more nuances to the appropriate use of the word "fuck" I don't understand yet.
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