From dd50a134ec1d04f6b7b4eb0463d54d942b1ed58e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chris Hodapp Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2021 12:09:04 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Add my 'motivation' draft post I forgot for a year (?) --- .../posts/2020-07-18-motivation-projects.org | 102 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 102 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/posts/2020-07-18-motivation-projects.org diff --git a/content/posts/2020-07-18-motivation-projects.org b/content/posts/2020-07-18-motivation-projects.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a8ad2d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2020-07-18-motivation-projects.org @@ -0,0 +1,102 @@ +--- +title: "Thoughts on Motivation" +author: Chris Hodapp +date: "2020-07-18" +tags: +- technobabble +- motivation +draft: true +--- + +"Motivation" is a topic I will sometimes talk endlessly on, and +reading [[https://www.danpink.com/books/drive/][Drive]] by Daniel Pink only made this more interesting. + +It might just be the way I'm wired, but motivation can be tricky for +me to navigate when it comes to my personal projects. I'm at the +whims of my own moods and energy levels, and of what time I have +available. Sometimes I will have large blocks of time to work on a +project, but most frequently, it is smaller blocks of time - perhaps +15-30 minutes spread out in between other chores. + +When staring into the void a few days ago, I started analyzing how +this seemed to work for me when I was trying to find a task from a +project that I could progress on: + +1. How _inspirational_ do I expect this task to be? How much will it + motivate me? How interesting is it? +2. How _nearby_ is this task? How quickly can I *start* working on it + and start getting results or feedback? Do I have to go purchase a + bunch of tools or supplies, set up a workspace, set up software for + a development environment, or make a lot of design decisions, + before I have even started doing what I think I want to? +3. How _relevant_ is this task? As I progress on it, do I expect that + this progress fits into some kind of bigger picture? + +It seems weird to talk about - personal projects are supposed to be +enjoyable pastimes, not drudgery. However, projects of technical +nature, particularly when they involve programming or new-to-me +mathematics (and my projects often involve both), can have some unique +hurdles - see [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yak_shaving][yak shaving]]. I might be able to understand at a +rational level why I have to do some boring work in order to get to +the "interesting" work, but I also know how quickly this work can feel +like beating my head into a wall. + +This isn't about deciding whether a task is worth doing or not - it's +about trying to orient tasks in such a way that I'm motivated to do +them. Not all tasks are "inspirational"; some are just grunt work. +Sometimes, a bunch of up-front work needs to be done to bring any +tasks "nearby", and this might take the form of an hour or two just +looking at artifacts of an old project and re-reading old notes in +order to re-familiarize myself with something I haven't touched in +months and seemingly making no progress - but putting myself in a +better position to resume work. + +A few habits seem to help me with this. + +- Keeping good notes on the state of a project, especially with a + regularly-updated list of relevant to-do items. When I find myself + with a large block of time (often unexpectedly), especially after + having neglected a project for weeks or months, having these notes + can be indispensable for making good use of that time. +- Related: regularly writing down *small* project ideas as they come + to mind - the sorts of projects that I could easily start, except + that it would mean interrupting what I'm already doing. When I've + hit a point on something else where I feel like I can't easily + progress, these small projects are easy to pick up and progress on, + and sometimes will get me past whatever snag I hit or give a + different perspective on it. +- Having a source of "easy" inspiration ready - things like websites + where people showcase pictures and videos of projects I'll find + interesting. Sometimes they are just a source of new ideas; other + times, when I'm knee-deep in details that make it really hard to see + the bigger picture, they help remind me of why I find a topic + interesting. +- Breaking decision paralysis by just trying to dive in and do + something. This is easier said than done. Seeking out *feedback + loops* is a big part of this, and they can take many forms - simpler + tools that give quicker results (even if they're only drafts or + prototypes), the aforementioned smaller projects, or just having a + workspace already prepared that makes it easy to start something + new. + +If you've worked much on fairly involved projects, perhaps on a team, +you have probably had the realization of how the speed with which you +can on new ideas when you have such a workspace already prepared - +whether that's a lab bench with everything already connected and +arranged, or a software development setup with everything ready and +waiting - and your mind is in sync with it and with the project at +hand. It is cases like these where you can hear an idea and begin +building and testing on it in a matter of minutes. + +You might also be keenly aware that this context doesn't last forever. +If you are distracted from this for just a few minutes, perhaps you +can return immediately and still be this efficient. If you are +distracted from it for several weeks, likely you're quite a bit slower +to find your old place. If things aren't how you left them, that's +another issue still - perhaps you then are spending time just tracking +down what moved, or figuring out what changed, or fixing things. + +# How 'nearby' affects ability to work (as projects drop from memory +# over time) + +# TODO: Link this to 2012-08-16-some-thoughts.md