Motivation?

[LoveEcho]

So, all you recovered procrastinators... how do you do it??

I'm defending my dissertation in April (hopefully), and have come unraveled into a giant puddle of gooey apathy. I just don't. Care. Considering this is the culmination of 6 years of work, I should. Really. But I don't I can't PAY myself to get crap done.

How do you all get/keep motivated??

[Liesje]

I tend to work in chunks and then reward myself. Like work hard for a day, go out for dinner. Get a certain amount done, go to Target.

[DanielleOttoMom]

I work hard.....& play later!
I work all week 30 hours. Then my second job is being a mom. Raising two younger children. I also train my dogs during the week. I just look forward to the weekend. It's a count down every Monday. I also stay on schedule. That just works for me! My reward is being blessed by having a happy healthy family. Look for the positive and stay away from the negative.

Are you talking about life or your job? Just wondering?!?!

[evybear15]

Set small, attainable goals. Try not to look at the big, overwhelming picture when you're having a hard time keeping yourself motivated. Take breaks: a walk, a trip to a store, a cup of coffee...whatever you need.

Personally, I like writing out a to-do list of sorts somewhere I'll see it often. Right now, I have my workout schedule written out on the bathroom mirror. When I complete something, I love the feeling of erasing it, crossing it off, whatever. Makes me feel like I've made a step toward the final goal.

Just remember to take care of yourself, too! If you're feeling overly stressed, take a break. It sounds like you have a LOT going on in your life right now. Take care of you, set small goals, and just keep moving forward. You'll get there.

[paulag1955]

I think that for productive people, when motivation fails, discipline takes over. We all do things every day without needing to feel motivated in order to accomplish them; we do them either by force of habit or discipline. Things like brushing your teeth, doing the dishes or walking the dog.

God knows I don't mean this in a condescending way...I'm a procrastinator of the first order but I've come to realize that procrastination is more a result of lack of discipline than lack of motivation, at least for me.

It may be that there's nothing that's going to "motivate" you to to prepare to defend your dissertation, but that doesn't mean you should despair of getting it done. You wouldn't have made it through the last six years without a reserve of self discipline. Now you just need to go to the well and get it done!

[sit,stay]

Start small. And I also love to make lists and then check things off as I accomplish them. I love that feeling of satisfaction.

Also, I think it is normal to feel what you're feeling after putting so much effort into getting to this point. You spent 6 years getting here. You've been focused on the end result, and now you kind of look up and realize that you're here. It is natural to have a "Now What" moment.

Break your remaining tasks down into smaller steps/benchmarks and just keep moving forward.
Sheilah

[LoveEcho]

Originally Posted by Liesje

I tend to work in chunks and then reward myself. Like work hard for a day, go out for dinner. Get a certain amount done, go to Target.

I do love Target

It's mostly with my job... I wish I had the 9-5 schedule, I thrive on structure put in place by someone else, lol. I'm teaching, which I have no problem getting stuff done for, it's mostly my dissertation. 100+ pages of nitpicking, painstaking detail, to be shredded by my department and advisory committee And the pressure of needing to have a job lined up by March-ish, etc. All of it is definitely compounded and infinitely made worse by my recent separation... I can't focus on anything. We're hoping it's just temporary, but I'll need to relocate for a job and will he come with me and the associated timeline to "fix" things and AHHHHH

I'm definitely not one that lacks discipline, given my history, I think right now it's that I'm just paralyzed by all the bullcrap going on in my life. I never used to procrastinate much (certainly not to this degree) until now. Sigh. It's almost like psychologically, finishing my dissertation means that all of this stuff with my job, my husband, etc also HAS to be decided, and I'm subconsciously trying to put it off... hm.

I like the idea of rewarding myself.... I'll have to come up with a system for that....




....tomorrow.