I am completely overwhelmed by the responses I received to my motivation problem. I don't know what to say.......
I realize now that this project, that I am looking at, is more like just a means to make some cash BUT that my heart is not really in it. It is not a bad project and it will help others BUT when I asked myself what I really want to be doing right now I got a BIG surprise.
My answer is that I would rather be creating some of the metal sculpture ideas I have been having. Those I have drawn sketches down on paper and spent hours researching. When I have time, that is what I am thinking about. I think it is like the taxes being due aspect, where I can't get to something else until I deal with what is most pressing in my mind.
So, due to all of the wonderful help and suggestions from you guys I have decided to take a break and go ice fishing here in Pennsylvania and then commit to finishing one of my metal kinetic sculpture ideas which shouldn't take more than a week or two tops and THEN when I am done come back to this project and see how I feel then.
Below I clipped a few of the responses I got so that I can be reminded about all of the great responses and to remember that I am not alone, at all in feeling this way.
Thanks guys,
Tom McGrath On Feb 22, 2005, at 6:27 PM, Richard Gaskin wrote:
Hiking or other blood-stimulating exercise with good vistas generally works helps me, esp. if followed by a good meal with lots of greens, a hot bath, and a brief nap. The time away clears the mind, and I've lost count of the number of times I wake from a short nap knowing exactly how to solve a previously difficult problem.
Some people mistake prepping for flow with wasting time. It is all in how you look at it.
OK what to do is go and have a couple of days off. Eat lots of good food and visit some friends. Then have another couple of days off to recover from friends. :-)
"If you can get started, turn off the TV. Turn off the radio. Don't read the mail. Don't open a book. You can go for a walk. Sooner or later, you will start writing"
This has worked well for me - of course, I've updated it to include "Don't turn on the computer"
I get motivation sometimes just exploring the rich RunRev feature set. This stuff is DEEP and every entry into the Docs (thanks, Heather) leads me to say "wow, I didn't know you could do THAT".
My brain sometimes doesn't know what I'm up to, and falls for it.
1. Nothing is more important than that you feel good. Nothing.
2. There's an old saying that was turned into a book title: If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably wind up somewhere. Know where you are going.
3. Play the Alphabet Animals Game.
4. write down 20 ideas for ways to solve the problem or answer the question.
Don't worry about it. It comes when it comes. If it's any consolation, it's
been three years since I've been motivated!
You are simply stuck in a do-nothing repeat loop.
Best advice I could give would be to shut down the computer, get away from the machine for awhile.
Breathe Prioritise Exercise Communicate Take a break Do one thing at a time Stay positive
There was this one designer who came in every day at 8AM and imediately took out a pencil and drew a line on a page. Then we went and got coffee. He said it 'broke' the 'white space' problem many designers get when staring at a fresh clean piece of paper.
This often helps me decide, early on, that I really don't want to do it. And that is a good thing, too. If your inner voice is saying I want no part of this, it might just be giving you good advice.
I have the motivation, but nothing to work on.
I think we suffer from what I call the "Douglas Adams Disease". The trick is to get away from the work for a while.
Sometimes, the burden of needing to do something in one arena was lifted
by doing something positive or meaningful in another... and being
successful.
The key is in finding efficient(ish) techniques of "piddling around".
The effect of this is that my internal To Do list gets blocked in proportion to the attractiveness of the items on it.
Remember, with a difficult task, motivation for the task comes *after* you get started, not before.
Ultimately, what I discovered is that inside me there is something intuitive that needs panic, disaster, mayhem, and impending doom to focus. There's something strangely calming about it.
Ask yourself "What needs to be improved in my life?" -The odds are that if you can create something that improves your life, it will be of benefit to someone else as well.
Thomas J McGrath III [EMAIL PROTECTED]
412-831-3094 220 Drake Road Bethel Park, PA 15102
<*)) >=<
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - a Cigar in one hand - a large steak in the other - your body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming - WOO HOO! What a Ride!"
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