Motivation assassination
My motivation has been assassinated. Fortunately, my motivation is like a vampire (or, more cheerily, Jesus (no, I did not just compare Jesus to a vampire)) and continues to rise from the dead. What’s troubling is that I can’t pinpoint where exactly the assassin is hiding. What I know is that the motivation sniper hides in the shadowy corners of my psyche, taking aim at my motivation to move ahead on projects big and small. It almost feels like a mental whack-a-mole game, where the motivation assassin wields the hammer and my projects are popping up and getting whacked over and over.
The mental dogfights going on in my head have been quite interesting lately. It seems that, even with sterling productivity habits (yeah right) and a robust ability to pack and schedule a seemingly unlimited amount of "ToDo" items, I hit a motivation threshold. Like the smoker who says, "Quitting is easy–I’ve done it plenty of times!", I feel like my ability to stay motivated and focused on a particular task waxes and wanes–often on a scale measured in minutes.
I’m not quite sure I have an answer for motivation assassination. I suspect that, like most big questions, the answer is found by taking the question apart bit by bit. I notice two things about myself when I hit this state: I either cringe when I consider working on something; or I absolutely have no energy to begin working on something. I bet cringe-busting my ToDo list is a good start. And as for the lack of energy, I already know what that problem is. I haven’t worked out, in any capacity, for at least three weeks. No surfing, haven’t hit the skatepark, haven’t even been running. For me, the lack of physical activity is a motivation assassin. I find that I have more energy over longer periods of time when I’m working out regularly. When I hit a slump, like now, it becomes doubly difficult to get moving again. Entropy sucks.
As for the cringe busting, there’s a part of the solution that’s pure discipline. I’ll generally look around for something else to do rather than plow through my physical inbox. Hey! Wonder what’s on those blog feeds? Refresh, refresh, refresh. It’s worse than channel surfing.
Okay, back to work now. Or something.
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POSTED IN: productivity
16 opinions for Motivation assassination
Ara Pehlivanian
Oct 31, 2005 at 6:19 am
I feel ya. Distractions don’t help either. If your mind is on something else, or if you’d rather be doing something else, then you’re dead meat when it comes to actual work. What’s surprising though is how easy it gets once you just get going.
Patrick
Oct 31, 2005 at 7:13 am
I always think of motivation in terms of inertia. Sometimes just forcing yourself to take that first step towards getting something done is the hardest part. Like Ara said, there’s much less resistance once you’ve gotten the ball rolling.
Adrian Savage
Oct 31, 2005 at 7:17 am
You know, you don’t really need motivation. It’s nice to have, but not essential. Check out last Staurday’s post on The Coyote Within (http://www.adriansavage.com). I’ve also posted today on dealing with distractions on the Slow Leadership site (http://www.slowleadership.org) today.
Hope they help.
Dan
Oct 31, 2005 at 7:20 am
I have this exact same ‘challenge’ to overcome. Regularily working out and yoga help a great deal… but it’s the inertia that’s the problem (and solution?). Right now I’m in the bad streak of sitting on my ass in front of the computer and need to break out of it. I’m suffering from ’starting-monday’ syndrome… though since its monday, might be time to get off the caboose and go today! :)
Rich
Oct 31, 2005 at 7:30 am
Wow. I thought I was the only skateboarding software manager out there. I totally agree with you. If I don’t exert physically, my brain gets all foggy and focus goes to the crapper. The physical activity seems to serves as a defrag for my brain.
laurence haughton
Oct 31, 2005 at 9:53 am
One of the other good methods for solving a problem (like how to maintaining momentum after the mood has passed) is to look for someone outside your field who has experienced the same problem and found a solution.
I looked into a firehouse (FDNY), and in Shakespeare for one part of the solution.
Your snap analysis about physical exercise seems right to me as another part of the solution for you. I feel the same when I don’t stay active.
Phil Gerbyshak
Oct 31, 2005 at 4:36 pm
Great post Bren. I’ve been struggling with the same thing recently, and I look forward to beating it down as well.
Chris Brogan...
Oct 31, 2005 at 5:47 pm
Wow, Jesus, Vampires, *and* Snipers all in one post. Oh, and I forgot dogfights, so either dogs, or biplanes. Wooo!
But in other news, I found the post exceptionally timely, as my motivation smashed into the side of the mountain and the survivors are picking through the passenger list for the meatiest remains. I had a crappy motivation day at work today, wherein I learned that my fear was real: there is no backup plan.
Mike Bawden
Nov 1, 2005 at 8:43 am
Great post. Thanks for the insights and the link to the “Cringe Busting” post. I’ve linked it to my daily post on “Much Ado About Marketing” …
Keep up the great posts and I’ll keep coming back.
Regards,
Mike Bawden
Brand Central Station
Much Ado About Marketing
Nov 1, 2005 at 8:56 am
Who Killed Your Mojo?
This post from the Slacker Manager Blog accurately depicts what happens to those of us that have problems getting and staying motivated at work.
Dick Richards
Nov 1, 2005 at 3:11 pm
Whew! It is nice to know that I am not the Motivation Assassin’s sole prey.
Thomas Jan
Nov 1, 2005 at 5:02 pm
I often think of it from a different perspective. I try to look at motivation as a cousin to inspiration in that it comes and goes. For creative projects, when I find myself uninspired I simply do every bit of prep-work I can think of to clear the roadblocks for when inspiration strikes. It can be so frustrating to have a great idea get stuck in the mud of an unprepared process. Likewise with motivation, when I feel my feet dragging I will start working around a problem rather than right at it. I crunch numbers. I gather information. I clean and organize my office for the next batch of tasks. I’ll work on documentation(groan). I’ll write or re-write scripts or tools that I know I’ll need. I try to clear a path to a finished task such that when you get warmed up and ready to go, your motivation is spent on real work. When my feet drag noticably more, I just bring up my master list and do housekeeping for the upcoming and more important tasks. This way, you hit fewer snags that may frustrate your motivation back into hibernation as you work through your tasks.
Sometimes this can backfire, especially if you’re on a strict timetable. In this case I usually find it’s good to put a timelimit on this prep phase to clear the way enough to allow the looming deadline to sink in and let that push me.
Elaine Nelson
Nov 3, 2005 at 4:50 pm
when the assassin has fired his darts in my general direction, I find the best action is to do something very small and very stupid/rote. Just to get back into the feel of doing anything at all! My manta then becomes “what is the smallest possible thing I could do right now?” and sometimes the answer is so ludicrous that how could you *not* do that thing?
Marc Komori Stager
Nov 4, 2005 at 10:23 am
I like the idea of viewing a lack of motivation as an external agent trying to assassinate you or your motivation. I try to frame problems in a similar external fashion when I work (therapeutically) with clients, and sometimes I can even do it for myself, often in discussion with someone else. To me, an internal problem (e.g. lack of motivation) lead to an “Oh, well, what can I do, I’m not motivated today” attitude, while an external problem is not synonymous with me, rather it’s something I’m in relationship to (e.g. an assassin out to get me), which allows me to respond to it, and thus have more control over my life.
I love the image of whacking moles. Might it be possible to see yourself as the one with the hammer and the assassin playing the part of the sneaky mole trying to steal into your work to shoot your motivation? More information on externalizing can be found at http://www.dulwichcentre.com.au/externalising.htm.
Motivation on the Run
Nov 5, 2005 at 9:03 am
Motivation Assassination
This has happened to us all at one time or another. That sinking, sluggard feeling that rises to consume us. Motivation assassination is a good phrase for this problem. It drives the point that outside forces attack and destroy the motivation we gener…
Negentropic
Jan 3, 2006 at 1:42 pm
I think the term Dogwash applies well here. To me, motivation and procrastination are like the ying and yang of getting stuff done.