I've just written an article on getting motivated, overcoming procrastination. It's perhaps too cutesily called Light Your Fire: A Matchbox of Ways to Get Motivated.
It will appear in Mensa's national magazine in November but HERE's an advance look.
I'd appreciate your feedback. This is a draft and I hope to make revisions based on your input before I submit it for publication.
6 comments:
Thanks for the summary of strategies, Marty. Here's something else I just read with some great complementary ideas. How to tackle impossible tasks.
http://randsinrepose.com/archives/2006/09/25/trickle_theory.html
Snippet: "537 bugs. You gotta read the bug, possibly reproduce it, and then make an educated team decision. Let’s assume an average of five minutes per and you’re talking about… crap… 45 hours of bug triage. It’s an impossible task. I’ve got features to fix, people to manage, and I haven’t seen the sun on a Saturday in two weeks."
Hi Marty, here's my contribution.
Be more aware of and intentional about frustration. We know from the research of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi that "Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person’s capacity to act." If something is hard, it's frustrating. Too easy and apathy sets in.
Recognize that acquiring new skills normally includes some frustration. When frustrated, use the strategies mentioned such as get help or divide the task into smaller chunks, etc.
Notice the frustration to see when it lessens. Watch for ease of task completion and even boredom. Once a new level of skill is attained, it's time for a new challenge.
Also, you didn't include your "Write crap" advice.
I did. I just termed it less vividly. You're right. I probably should reinsert that.
I think the article is a little too long. (Maybe not for MENSA members!) But for me it's too much advice and you don't give enough time per bullet point. I would scale back the length and focus on maybe half a dozen of your best tips, and then go into greater detail with each tip.
Hi Marty, I don't want to critique for bad, I think this same material can be presented differently for them. To be honest, it seems yor audience here is for very young people. Also, I've heard this procastination thing is just a consequence of being — in some extent — a perfectionist, undecided, fearful person.
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