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My focus and motivation is something that I think about a lot. At work I am very focused and motivated. My work is project based and deadline oriented, and so

My focus and motivation is something that I think about a lot. At work I am very focused and motivated. My work is project based and deadline oriented, and so I have no trouble focusing in that environment. My colleagues, and the fact that I work on "real" problems motivates me. I just can't transfer that easily to when I code in my spare time - crucially - on something that I see through to completion. for example one of my side projects is a webapp I have been building since september 2009, at which time I worked on it very intensely. Then I left it for a good few months, to only pick it up again when I was reminded that the problem it would solve was still a very real one - this spurred me on to work on it for another three months or so. I haven't picked it up again in the last two months. I think I need real people around me to make the problem appear much more real, and keep me motivated. I think that is my rationale for this approach.

pmjordan 16y ago
I think I need real people around me to make the problem appear much more real, and keep me motivated. What about users/customers? Perfectionism aside, how about launching a version 0.1 of your webapp?
psyklic 16y ago
>> My colleagues, and the fact that I work on "real" problems motivates me Unfortunately, both of these are hard to come by when working on a PhD. They are actually the two areas that I struggle with most in my PhD research. Getting a PhD is very isolating -- you are often the only one working on your problem, and it often seems like no one else cares. Also, I enjoy more real-world, applicable problems, yet most of what PhD students work on is theoretical or not market-ready by far.
- pmiller2 16y ago
  Parent post needs to be upvoted a lot more. I have a friend who has a PhD, and I regularly joke with him about being the "world's leading expert in something 10 people in the entire world give a shit about." Unfortunately, the joke is only funny because it's literally true.
DirtyAndy 16y ago
It sounds to me like you need a co-founder, not a PhD. I've worked from home on my own projects off and on for nearly 20 years and still have some of the problems you describe. Go and do a project on a customer site and they cannot believe how efficient I am. Started a (failed) project with someone, the pressure of having someone else relying on me was great (not that it is the reason it failed, but he didn't quite feel the same way). Do something at home and hey I'm replying to this on HN :-) Find someone to team up with and do what you really want to do, don't try and distract yourself with something else you may never finish.

pmjordan 16y ago

I think I need real people around me to make the problem appear much more real, and keep me motivated. What about users/customers? Perfectionism aside, how about launching a version 0.1 of your webapp?

psyklic 16y ago

>> My colleagues, and the fact that I work on "real" problems motivates me Unfortunately, both of these are hard to come by when working on a PhD. They are actually the two areas that I struggle with most in my PhD research. Getting a PhD is very isolating -- you are often the only one working on your problem, and it often seems like no one else cares. Also, I enjoy more real-world, applicable problems, yet most of what PhD students work on is theoretical or not market-ready by far.

pmiller2 16y ago
Parent post needs to be upvoted a lot more. I have a friend who has a PhD, and I regularly joke with him about being the "world's leading expert in something 10 people in the entire world give a shit about." Unfortunately, the joke is only funny because it's literally true.

DirtyAndy 16y ago

It sounds to me like you need a co-founder, not a PhD. I've worked from home on my own projects off and on for nearly 20 years and still have some of the problems you describe. Go and do a project on a customer site and they cannot believe how efficient I am. Started a (failed) project with someone, the pressure of having someone else relying on me was great (not that it is the reason it failed, but he didn't quite feel the same way). Do something at home and hey I'm replying to this on HN :-) Find someone to team up with and do what you really want to do, don't try and distract yourself with something else you may never finish.