Re:Ask HN: What do you do when you lose motivation?
by onwardly on Monday October 04, 2010 @12:27AM
(#1754591)
I feel like almost anyone can empathize with this problem. A few points, which echo some of the other comments:
- Relish the small victories. Write down detailed-ish milestones that represent real progress. Checking them off can be a huge motivating force.
- Don't give yourself a way to back out. You can do this by quitting your full-time job (!), or more practically by telling people you know what you're doing. This has two positive effects: a) you'll get valuable feedback, and b) it won't be as easy to give up because others are expecting you to do what you said you'd do.
- I've got a list of Youtube videos that I like and find motivating. Here's a link to my list, but you've probably got your own as well: http://www.onwardly.com/category/get-pumped-up . Relatedly, I also get a lot of inspiration from others who have done amazing things in different fields.
- I'm not an engineer, so this may not apply, but it helps me to have multiple parts of a project I can work on at once. Its nice to switch modes sometimes between future-planning, marketing, working on the financials, etc.
These are just a few suggestions, hope they help.
As a last thought, getting through this period is what often separates the wheat from the chaff. Also, I recommend Seth Godin's "The Dip".
- Relish the small victories. Write down detailed-ish milestones that represent real progress. Checking them off can be a huge motivating force.
- Don't give yourself a way to back out. You can do this by quitting your full-time job (!), or more practically by telling people you know what you're doing. This has two positive effects: a) you'll get valuable feedback, and b) it won't be as easy to give up because others are expecting you to do what you said you'd do.
- I've got a list of Youtube videos that I like and find motivating. Here's a link to my list, but you've probably got your own as well: http://www.onwardly.com/category/get-pumped-up . Relatedly, I also get a lot of inspiration from others who have done amazing things in different fields.
- I'm not an engineer, so this may not apply, but it helps me to have multiple parts of a project I can work on at once. Its nice to switch modes sometimes between future-planning, marketing, working on the financials, etc.
These are just a few suggestions, hope they help.
As a last thought, getting through this period is what often separates the wheat from the chaff. Also, I recommend Seth Godin's "The Dip".