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I've found that, myself included, a lot of the focus on how to "get things done" in the tech community comes down to tips and tricks. Focus using this technique

I've found that, myself included, a lot of the focus on how to "get things done" in the tech community comes down to tips and tricks. Focus using this technique, break things down, follow GTD, use this productivity software, use that todo list, etc. With a team, working on a project, you have some nice extrinsic motivation. A team relying on you, maybe deadlines to meet, customers to please, a paycheck to work for, etc. But for side projects, even though I knew all the tricks, I still had a really tough time actually doing anything for a couple of years. I had a couple of projects that I was super motivated for and completed over a couple of weeks, but most of my time outside of that was wholly unproductive. The thing that was missing for me was the why, the long-term vision. If I was working on something now that has little value to me in that moment or the days following, I found it hard to find motivation to keep going. What I found boost my initial productivity the most was actually conjuring up the motivation. After that, it's a series of small wins in increasing that productivity through software, tips, tricks, support groups, etc. Without the motivation, though, no amount of tools will get things done for you.

elliott34 10y ago
Disagree about motivation. See Steven Pressfield's "War of Art" and "Do the work." Motivation is ephemeral. Hard work, habit, consistently applying yourself regardless of your motivation, is key.
- ericdykstra 10y ago
  Definitely agree! But you need to find it in yourself a driving reason to put in the hard work. Tell a depressed, unmotivated person with no goals to just "work hard" and see how far that gets you. There needs to be some reason to do something rather than nothing.
  - ZeroGravitas 10y ago
    I'm not a doctor, but I think part of the advice for certain types of depression e.g. people who have let their home get so untidy that they are overwhelmed at the thought of ever getting it tidy again, and very similar to advice for breaking writer's block, is just to make a start, and let the small amounts of progress form a reinforcement to continue.
    - Bartweiss 10y ago
      This is true, but it's almost never structured as "just do the work". If anything, it's the opposite framing: do a little bit, just this one isolated task, and see the progress you make. Pressfield's "do the work" annoys me, because it undervalues the importance of energy and a goal. It's a great approach to make reliable progress and fight distraction, but it's badly inadequate to the task of creating activity in the first place.
- projektir 10y ago
  Hard work and habit are far more ephemeral than motivation is. Motivation is at the core of all and any activity and anyone saying they do not have any motivation and are just working hard are manipulating semantics. Motivation is absolutely paramount to take care of to do anything because if you don't have it your hard work will instantly evaporate. It's a very fundamental condition. You can't do away with it. Being low on energy doesn't mean you're not motivated. Hard work, habits, etc., are extremely relative things from what I've seen, and it's still not well understood what they mean and how they work. Can we please stop worshiping someone's conviction from a book?
  - mikeschmatz 10y ago
    BJ Fogg [1] has done a ton of research on habit formation. I successfully used some of it to form simple habits like daily exercise, house chores, etc. Still, you need a reason to get going. I want to drop my body fat to 12%. Sounds stupid, but keeps me going... [1]http://tinyhabits.com/ http://tinyhabits.com/
    - projektir 10y ago
      That page on its own already looks refreshing compared to the stuff I usually see on the subject, I'll look into it, thanks!
- mikeschmatz 10y ago
  I have read both books. Couldn't stop asking "Why is he waging this daily "war" with the imaginary evil, instead of spending his life on something more enjoyable?" This guy is either insane or has a pretty big hairy "why".
hbt 10y ago
The "why" is often summed as "will this make my life better and by how much?" I agree that "grinding it out" doesn't apply to creative work. You can have a time block dedicated to writing and produce nothing because you feel the activity is pointless/meaningless. If you don't see how the end result will make your life better, you will never make progress. Worse, you will get depressed by the meaninglessness of it all and be tempted to self sabotage existing efforts. Long term goals are an existential crisis because every fiber in your body just wants to say "Fuck it", give up and indulge into immediate unfullfilling gratification. Intentional self destructive behavior is pretty much any activity that says "Fuck you future self". Often, it requires reflection on your attitude and outlook on the future.

elliott34 10y ago

Disagree about motivation. See Steven Pressfield's "War of Art" and "Do the work." Motivation is ephemeral. Hard work, habit, consistently applying yourself regardless of your motivation, is key.

ericdykstra 10y ago
Definitely agree! But you need to find it in yourself a driving reason to put in the hard work. Tell a depressed, unmotivated person with no goals to just "work hard" and see how far that gets you. There needs to be some reason to do something rather than nothing.
- ZeroGravitas 10y ago
  I'm not a doctor, but I think part of the advice for certain types of depression e.g. people who have let their home get so untidy that they are overwhelmed at the thought of ever getting it tidy again, and very similar to advice for breaking writer's block, is just to make a start, and let the small amounts of progress form a reinforcement to continue.
  - Bartweiss 10y ago
    This is true, but it's almost never structured as "just do the work". If anything, it's the opposite framing: do a little bit, just this one isolated task, and see the progress you make. Pressfield's "do the work" annoys me, because it undervalues the importance of energy and a goal. It's a great approach to make reliable progress and fight distraction, but it's badly inadequate to the task of creating activity in the first place.
projektir 10y ago
Hard work and habit are far more ephemeral than motivation is. Motivation is at the core of all and any activity and anyone saying they do not have any motivation and are just working hard are manipulating semantics. Motivation is absolutely paramount to take care of to do anything because if you don't have it your hard work will instantly evaporate. It's a very fundamental condition. You can't do away with it. Being low on energy doesn't mean you're not motivated. Hard work, habits, etc., are extremely relative things from what I've seen, and it's still not well understood what they mean and how they work. Can we please stop worshiping someone's conviction from a book?
- mikeschmatz 10y ago
  BJ Fogg [1] has done a ton of research on habit formation. I successfully used some of it to form simple habits like daily exercise, house chores, etc. Still, you need a reason to get going. I want to drop my body fat to 12%. Sounds stupid, but keeps me going... [1]http://tinyhabits.com/ http://tinyhabits.com/
  - projektir 10y ago
    That page on its own already looks refreshing compared to the stuff I usually see on the subject, I'll look into it, thanks!
mikeschmatz 10y ago
I have read both books. Couldn't stop asking "Why is he waging this daily "war" with the imaginary evil, instead of spending his life on something more enjoyable?" This guy is either insane or has a pretty big hairy "why".

hbt 10y ago

The "why" is often summed as "will this make my life better and by how much?" I agree that "grinding it out" doesn't apply to creative work. You can have a time block dedicated to writing and produce nothing because you feel the activity is pointless/meaningless. If you don't see how the end result will make your life better, you will never make progress. Worse, you will get depressed by the meaninglessness of it all and be tempted to self sabotage existing efforts. Long term goals are an existential crisis because every fiber in your body just wants to say "Fuck it", give up and indulge into immediate unfullfilling gratification. Intentional self destructive behavior is pretty much any activity that says "Fuck you future self". Often, it requires reflection on your attitude and outlook on the future.