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

Re:Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a... by riebschlager on Monday January 14, 2019 @01:02PM (#18904880)

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.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a... by mitchty on Monday January 14, 2019 @01:55PM (#18905357)

Its really not anything more than that silly yoda quote "do or do not there is no try".

Motivation/willpower is a very weak way to get things done, approach it instead with "I'll just write one line of code today/work on it for 15 minutes straight/document one thing/design one function". You'll likely find that once you start, you'll do more than you planned, the crux is almost always the start. You look at the entire body of work and think "its too much to do in one sitting", but ultimately thats your reptile brain talking you out of expending energy needlessly. So just use that little mind hack to get you out of your cognitive dissonance and started.

And if the prior posters statement gets you into an existential crisis, I'd start reading up on the stoics, buddhists, etc... Yes even if you're an atheist/whatever, accepting ones fate in the universe has no meaning is ultimately relieving. Or as a Shinto priest once told me: Life is a dance, dance to the music while it plays, you may not get another chance to dance!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a... by MarsAscendant on Tuesday January 15, 2019 @09:39AM (#18911366)

> And if the prior posters statement gets you into an existential crisis, I'd start reading up on the stoics, buddhists, etc...

Not that it's not a good advice (I'm quite enjoying Meditations by Marcus Aurelius), but I'm fairly certain the above-poster said so in jest.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a... by thomk on Monday January 14, 2019 @02:14PM (#18905523)

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

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a... by iliomad on Monday January 14, 2019 @05:09PM (#18907005)

Also laughed out loud at this. Thanks :)

It's also quite a freeing way of approaching a project - as long as I don't go to the extreme of not caring at all!

Reminds me of the "pale blue dot" perspective - when stressed visualise planet earth from further and further away.....

[ Parent | on HN ]