I’ve been wrestling with low motivation for so long now that I’m starting to get a bit slap-happy about it. Not one to be kept down or still for long, I’ve started having some fun in making myself get through my work.
It started a couple of weekends ago when I erased my to-do list off my whiteboard and relabeled it as “My accomplishments”. That worked for one weekend. The following week, I went back to my to-do list, which worked periodically. Last weekend, I simply did nothing until Sunday, when I suddenly felt the need to get things done. (It was amazing how much i got through in one day!)
This week, many things have conspired to keep me from getting anything accomplished. I figured that I’d be resorting to my list of accomplishments again. Instead, I’m finding myself making a game out of tackling two major tasks on my to-do list. It’s like this rabid multi-tasking race to see which project gets finished first.
From there, who knows? I may set up more “races”. I may be driven back to the to-do list or accomplishments list. I might just get tired of playing games and buckle down and get more work done.
I could always write out each task on a slip of paper and draw them from a container. That could be fun! Perhaps I’ll even introduce a timed element. I tend to be able to work under excruciating deadlines!
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 8:09 AM EDT
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“We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.”- Frank Tibolt
I’ve been wrestling with issues of motivation for about a month now. The list of projects is growing to an unhealthy level, and I’m just not in the mood to do any of it. It’s finally reached a point where my weekends are spent in the company of an “I’ve accomplished” list in place of my “To-Do” list. It worked last weekend. I’ve tried to not implement it this weekend.
I came across this quote last week while suffering a real drop in motivation, and it bothered me. I find that a little inspiration can motivate me to accomplish three days of work in a single day. Action produces inspiration and innovation on the projects I’m focused on, occasionally permitting flashes on other projects.
As far I’m concerned, action and inspiration are parts of the same cycle. One does not beget the other exclusively. It just doesn’t work that way. As a teacher, I understand the concept of putting something frustrating aside to work on something else. It often allows the learner to come back after processing what they’ve learned and face the concept with a renewed amount of patience and tackle it more successfully. But I don’t think inspiration requires action to be created.
Again, I can only speak for my own creative cycles and my observations of my students. Your own experiences may vary wildly.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 7:37 AM EDT
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I am not a good marketer. Well, that’s not entirely true. I can sell anything, as long it doesn’t directly relate to me in some way.
Trying to combat this weakness, I spend a lot of my time reading up on marketing, branding, and copywriting. Most of the time, the suggested techniques and methods are far too agressive for my introverted comfort zone, but the other day I got a good laugh.
I read this article that suggested marketing naturally through a combination of honesty, storytelling, and teaching. Really, that’s a lot of what this site aspires to be. It’s just not put together well enough to show itself off correctly.
Of course, I’m a bit concerned that there’s this theory among marketers that might have once upon a time suggested dishonest, unengaging material that didn’t allow the victim audience to walk away with something useful was a good idea.
Marketing works best for me when it isn’t marketing, and that’s really what I strive for here.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 8:05 AM EDT
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Cross-posted from 100 Bloggers:
I’m still on this branding warpath, and it’s become an interesting project. I’m finding that as I’m exploring who I am and want to become on a professional level, I’m really relocating a lot of the person who got lost along the way.
Slowly, it’s almost become a process of blending my professional and personal activities and beliefs into a brand that is really a more complete picture of the person I am. This works for me because I, and many of the people around me, see my professional life as an extension of who I am personally. I do many of the same things, regardless of where I am, and there really isn’t anything wrong with that. (I have the great fortune of being a teacher, one of those rare professions where people are fine if your career spills over into your personal life.)
I got to thinking about this as I was creating a character on USA’s site. I still haven’t figured out what the point of this character project is, either, but I figure anything that causes me to become even more introspective is a good thing. One afternoon at the dojo will pull me right out if I get too introspective.
Now I just have to figure out how to present everything so that it all works for me!
Posted by Rebecca as Personal development at 8:08 AM EDT
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