Thursday, September 13, 2007
Thirteen Tricks to Motivate Yourself
lifehack.org: "Who needs Tony Robbins when you can motivate yourself? Overcoming the emotional hurdle to get stuff done when you’d rather sit on the couch isn’t always easy. But unless calling in sick and waking up at noon have no consequences for you, it’s often a must."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I can relate to this article because I feel like I was in a constant battle with my parents with my career ambitions. They would so much rather have me majoring in medicine- or some sort, but I refused. I had a clear path for my future and I did not hesitate to pursue it. I would never have been happy as a doctor and am glad I am studying costuming. I love it here and can't wait till Junior YEAR!!!
I always find that the major motivaing factor for me involves leaving shoes on. When i come home from anywhere, the first thing i do is take off my shoes, which is great for relaxing, but not so great for getting things done. I would say that I work about 1/3 faster when I'm fully dressed.
on a seperate note... a great way to not distract your motivation is to close your email program.
i think what the guy said about 'faking it' was brilliant. ill do that if i have some homework to do but im far more interested in sleeping. put on some excited music jump up and down a few times and say out loud as convincingly as you possibly can 'i love this subject! i love this subject!' then before you remember that you dont like it, start working on it. just start typing. by the time you slow down enough to remember that you dont like this subject you're already part of the way through and that first part is the hardest part. (it sounds entirely crazy but it actually works)
There is nothing worse than working on something that you have no desire to do. Of course the best motivator is passion. We all love to work on stuff we have a great time doing. but when we don't if helpful to get us moving. The part about starting a project for only five mintunes will get you in to the mood of working. Just start slow and it will slowly come to you what you want to do.
I have to say that I search out the "lifehacker" articles. I consider myself very organized but I am always looking for new ideas. One thing I am CONSTANLTY doing is making lists. I seem to have a slight bit of short term memory loss so I find that lists save me. They also give me a chance to prioritize what I am doing. I also use music to motivate me, that gets me pumped up really easily and once I am moving I just buzz right through stuff.
Like Candice, I am a list-maker. My primary motivation is getting to cross something off the To-Do list posted on the wall of my workstation. The only drawback is the frustration when the list looks intimidating. I can't agree more with the author's idea to "read books" as a motivational factor. If nothing else, reading something unrelated to work is giving you "you time." When I get busy, leisure reading is the first thing to get axed from my schedule, but it is one of the things I miss the most.
I like this article because it actually names things that most of us do, or should do, when we never really think about it. I know I definitely learned to "fake it" when it comes to reading something I'm not really interested in. When I know I don't care, there's no way to make myself pay attention. But if I tell myself I'm reading about something fascinating, then I can ussally get through it. I've never tried physically moving around though, but its sounds like it might be a good idea.
I think the tip about breaking everything into chunks, just getting to the next step, is really important, especially for us to learn to juggle our schedules. When I think about all the work I have to do, I get really frustrating and nervous and have trouble starting anything because I don't know where. But if I break up my day, think of each project as a seperate step, and then in turn break the project up, it seems a lot more doable. The trick is just prioritizing and then getting one thing started.
Some of the most pertinent tricks on this site I think were "Find Your Itch," "Get the Right Tools." So I guess I'll just focus on those too right now, even though all of the other tips are very good as well. When there's work to do - especially something I just really don't want to do, I'll find other things that are bothering me that I just feel I need to deal with before doing the project or assignment. I keep telling myself that I need to work and finishing this other thing will take too much time away, but sometimes it ends up being the opposite, and if you just get the thing that's bugging you finished, you won't be concentrating on that more than your work.
As for getting the right tools. I find there are times when if I don't have everything I need laid out on a clean working space it just hinders my progress in every way possible. If there's something I'm missing, I seem to realize it one thing at a time - slowing me down either because I just keep needing to get up, but also the reluctance once I've finally sat down to work, to get up again. And then a dirty work space - just makes me not want to work.
And on all but on thing this year - I've really been working hard at motivation, and for the most part succeeding - also because most of what we're doing - I want to be doing. :)
Post a Comment