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How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

durmonski.com

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Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#21

Post by zanecraw »

nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

Yeah, could've been cut down to a list of steps and tips. I disagree too. Give it 3 months, not three years..

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#22

Post by nowandlater »

nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

I agree with your sentiment. Something that's helped to keep me learning/improving/progressing past the 1 month mark is to remind myself how much I managed to learn and or enjoy during that time. If I can't think of anything -- usually this is rare -- I'll give it up. Extend your reassesments to every 2 months, 4 months etc... I end up finding it harder and harder to give up. Still, it's good to know when to throw in the towel.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#23

Post by Arubis »

nowandlater wrote: post #22
nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

I agree with your sentiment. Something that's helped to keep me learning/improving/progressing past the 1 month mark is to remind myself how much I managed to learn and or enjoy during that time. If I can't think of anything -- usually this is rare -- I'll give it up. Extend your reassesments to every 2 months, 4 months etc... I end up finding it harder and harder to give up. Still, it's good to know when to throw in…

I would read _your_ blog post on this. Though it's possible this summary is already sufficient.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#24

Post by sschueller »

nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

Exactly, do something as long as you enjoy it. Once you get bored of it put it away for a while. I have many many projects some of which may never get finished but once in a while I enjoy working on them.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#25

Post by bluedevil2k »

nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

Even from a business perspective, what you're working on today, if it's tech or software related, will be horribly out-dated in 3 years. Imagine how many "pivots" need to be made on a software product who's expected delivery is Fall 2023.

That's what gave rise to the whole Lean Start-up movement - spend 3 months, get a working version out there, get some paying customers, start improving the software with new features. If you can't get any paying customers with an MVP, it's a sign your idea might not be worth a 3 year investment.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#27

Post by jstarfish »

bluedevil2k wrote: post #25
nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

Even from a business perspective, what you're working on today, if it's tech or software related, will be horribly out-dated in 3 years. Imagine how many "pivots" need to be made on a software product who's expected delivery is Fall 2023. That's what gave rise to the whole Lean Start-up movement - spend 3 months, get a working version out there, get some paying customers, start improving the software with new feature…

Can't argue with you there, but I get the impression (from other pages on the site) the advice seems more geared to personal growth or soft-creative goals, not business/tech/software development.

* A blog or novel isn't inherently outdated in 3 years, and good ones can certainly take that long to complete.

* Any fitness regimen lasting less than 3 years is a waste of time (IMO). You don't get meaningful "credit" applied to your lifespan for doing yoga for three months.

* Taking the time to develop your relationship with your children needs years of persistence, otherwise they'll just raise themselves and not respect you.

Much of this is the same advice given to ADHD candidates. I don't know if he is one or just happened to be inspired by self-help books about the subject, but the advice does work. Breaking large tasks down into smaller ones that yield more immediate satisfaction/feedback and riding that dopamine train until it's second nature is the best way to stick to a project and avoid burnout.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#28

Post by Aperocky »

sschueller wrote: post #24
nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

Exactly, do something as long as you enjoy it. Once you get bored of it put it away for a while. I have many many projects some of which may never get finished but once in a while I enjoy working on them.

There's such a big hurdle to starting though, because clicking on hackernews generates quicker gratification.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#29

Post by sschueller »

Aperocky wrote: post #28
sschueller wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, do something as long as you enjoy it. Once you get bored of it put it away for a while. I have many many projects some of which may never get finished but once in a while I enjoy working on them.

There's such a big hurdle to starting though, because clicking on hackernews generates quicker gratification.

Thankfully I get bored of that too...

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#30

Post by SuoDuanDao »

nonbirithm wrote: post #10

> Ask any successful person. Ask any experienced person. They’ll all tell you the same thing – It takes time to create something valuable. Something worth doing. Over time I've ended up not really understanding this advice, but only because of something I accomplished in the past. One day I just felt like writing something. I hadn't written since elementary school and had never published a piece of writing online bef…

There is an idea of beginner's luck - that when one starts doing something one resonates with on a deep level, one tends to have unexpected success because the potential to be great at it is seeking to escape and wants to signal to the conscious mind that it exists. But the same set of attitudes also believes that as one continues on the same path, the challenges it brings will rapidly grow to match one's burgeoning capabilities.

So I would guess the people who say that worthwhile things take a long time, did often have experiences of grace like you, where things were easy. But I would guess they also found that anything worth doing is worth challenging oneself with.

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