Hey this is a really good question thanks!!! So i actually have a lot of opinions about this. First, I'm going to share generally how to stay motivated. Then I'm going to share specifically how to stay motivated in projects. I feel like the second one builds on from the first one.
This is divided into two camps, sprints and jogging. When you run a marathon, you don’t sprint all the way to the end. You jog and sprint when it’s needed for you to win. Like in life, you can’t sprint 100% of the time.
If you see people who sprint 100% of the time, either they’re lying through their teeth or they jog so much that their jogging pace looks like a sprinting pace to you. That’s okay, we all want to increase our jogging speed.
Now, you want to minimise the amount you sprint. The way to do this is to batch your work in such a way you only sprint once every few days / a week at most.
I do this by automating myself out of failure. If I try to come up with a good instagram caption / photo every day, I’d fail so fast. Instead, I spend a few hours a week making all the posts for that week. I know I’m going to fail, so I automate myself out of this failure.
By sprinting at pinpoint precision and working smartly you end up doing more than what is possible if you sprint all the time. Other things you can automate include emails, food (meal prep), travel etc. Basically, if it doesn’t bring me joy but it’s essential for me to do, I’ve likely automated it in some way (or it can be automated).
Once you’ve done this, what you’ve got to know is that every single human is different. Some prefer to wake up at 5am, I wake up at 12pm and go to bed late. Do not copy other people. Experiment with yourself and find out what works for you.
One of the ways you can automate more of your life is by experimenting. I found that light coloured photos on instagram do better than darker. For every 3 dark photos i post, 1 light photo would get the same amount of engagement. By experimenting i’ve reduced how much I have to automate.
When you automate a slow process, you just have a slow process automated. When you automate a fast process, you’ve 10x that process. Experimenting is key, always.
Now, when you have to sprint, there are a couple of things you can do. I like having people depend on me. Knowing that if I don’t finish my newsletter by Monday, people will be disappointed. People depending on you is the ultimate form of motivation.
Sometimes, we’ve just got to be such fucking babies and just do it. There are some things in my life that i think over for weeks before doing them. If I just do it, it’s over and i can work on other things.
The best way to do something you dont want to do:
1. Go somewhere (the worse the better. Neil Gaiiman locks himself into a 1* hotel in the middle of nowhere infested with cockroaches. He doesn’t leave until he writes his book, good motivation). Personally i prefer libraries / coffee shops. But you need to be around other people who are also working. Your natural instinct is to follow the group. Note: if you’re tired, drink water first. At least a litre. If you’re still tired, coffee or a nap. Coffee should be the last thing you drink. Ifyou’re tired because you’re dehydrated, coffee will only make it worse.
2. Get rid of everything that is absolutely not essential to the task at hand. Nothing to distract you.
3. Just do it.
4. Relax. The worst motivator is being mentally tired and burnt out. Relax often. This has to be a daily thing, to relax, to unwind.
Now, we discussed earlier:
"One persons jog is another persons sprint"
How do you get your jogging level to that where it looks like you're sprinting to others?
Work 1% every day. Every single day. write one line of code. Write one sentence. 1% every day.
I read this study (I can't think of the name of the top of my head) about how working out 7 times a week for 10 minutes is better than working out once a week or 70 minutes, as it builds up your jogging level.
Now, how do you stay motivated in a project?
What you want to do is build a minimal viable prodoct. Everyone feels motivated at the start.
When you're at the start, plan everything. Psuedocode for all the major functions, plan it as much as you can. Use this motivation at the start of a project to understand your project. I find that I leave a project after 1 or 2 weeks if I don't really know where I'm going. If I plan it all at the start, I have a concrete plant of what to do.
Understand where your MVP ends. You know where it ends. and you know the psuedocode / classes etc that you need to get to that end. If you follow on from earlier, you start out by sprinting.
Then, after sprinting, jog. 1 or 2 lines of a code a day. thats it. even if you're sick of it and bored. 1 or 2 lines a day. Those lines eventually add up. Those 1 or 2 lines could be print statements, everyone has time to add print statements.
Now, when you have an MVP, release it into the wild. Building on what I said earlier, you'll have people use your project. They will depend on you. You now have users. You can't give up now? With all these people interested in your project.
My largest / most popular github repos all have issues on them. In fact, some of them don't even work properly.
https://github.com/exgen-code/Exgen
https://github.com/brandonskerritt/HowToGetAnyJobYouWant
https://github.com/brandonskerritt/Ciphey
So now, you've been jogging for a while. You have an MVP. Which, btw, you can totally talk about your MVPs in interviews as actual products. Even better if you have a few users too. Doesn't matter if it doesn't work, you've still made stuff!
The combination of jogging / having users / people knowing your project exists and expect more should be enough motivation. Maybe you'll want to sprint again. Maybe you've decided "well, that was fun. The MVP is all I want to do".
So the most important things to do:
1. When you start a project, don't start by code. Start by planning. Know where your MVP ends (and make it easy). Know how to get to that MVP.
2. Once the MVP is made, release it. Start jogging.
3. Whatever you want. It's okay to not complete projects. Maybe you want to complete them, so perhaps you should sprint again.
If you lose motivation before you finish your MVP, reduce the MVP down even more. Make it so your goal is closer, so your MVP is closer to where you are right now. Or just jog until you reach the MVP.
Hope this has helped you :)
