
Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run? - djangovm
My typical cycle of execution is something like this<p>Find out something through HN&#x2F;Reddit&#x2F;Other medium --&gt; Get motivated --&gt; Get good knowledge about it through research --&gt; See others succeed, get motivated a bit more --&gt; Execute and get to, say, 25-50% of the journey --&gt; Get bored --&gt; Abandon --&gt; be passive for couple of months --&gt; repeat.<p>Be it creating new websites or new products (probably the reason I have not launched something as a personal project, despite having tried like 10-11 of them with varying degree of success), weight loss journey, running, meditation etc. I have tried breaking things into manageable chunks and then taking them one-by-one, or through methodologies like GTD, or by making others accountable (tough to find someone who takes personal interest in what I would do; also, I have strongly come to perceive myself as being driven by external accountabilities which makes me good at work at office but bad at executing personal projects).<p>I see folks who are disciplined, are ruthless executors, are self-motivated, and wonder, what could I improve or work towards to get things in a better shape. Any suggestions?
======
Haul4ss
I'm convinced that almost nobody is good at the whole cycle of
creating/maintaining something.

Some people are great at coming up with new ideas but quickly bore with the
implementation. Some people can relentlessly improve on an existing thing but
can't come up with the initial idea. Some people are great stewards of an
established program but don't thrive in the chaos of rapid iteration.

I think instead of trying to mold yourself into something you're not naturally
good at, you should try to figure out what you are naturally good at and build
a team around it to support you.

I'm speaking in broad strokes of course, but reading your post, I think you
are just not going to be a sole proprietor. You need a team member who can
catch your early enthusiasm and then help see the project through to
completion.

You need a finisher. Not every starter is a finisher, and not every finisher
is a starter, and not every finisher is a good maintainer, either. They're
different things.

~~~
chubot
I tend to agree, but there are major exceptions in open source software:

\- Guido van Rossum wrote the first line of Python in 1989 or so (started)

\- He released the first version on Useset pretty quickly ("finished" the MVP)

\- He worked on himself for four years or so (maintaining, improving)

\- Then other people started contributing for 25 years or so (leading)

So I would say he's able to do all 3 things, plus lead the team, which is even
harder.

I think you can also say the same about Linus Torvalds, probably the leaders
of similar projects like Ruby, Perl, Tcl, Richard Hipp of sqlite, etc.
(without much of the leading part, since sqlite is relatively closed to
contribution.)

One exception might be Stallman. Although Stallman's achievements are great,
what I learned from reading his autobiography is that he started with existing
pieces of code for GCC and Emacs.

In other words, he tries NOT to start from scratch. That's probably what
enabled him to be productive enough to start so many projects simultaneously.

He also tends to be pretty good about handing over maintainership. That is, he
is relatively good at recruitment to the cause.

Anyway, I guess this is why we hold such people in high regard! Because
they're able to do things that most people cannot do -- that would normally
take huge teams of people and/or entire companies.

~~~
dplavery92
And perhaps these are the exceptions that prove the rule, being that they are
such remarkable cases.

------
jshowa3
Follow through and don't use what people do on HN/Reddit/etc. as 100% truth.
Allow yourself to take breaks, but just continue exploring and doing.

People are always trying to sell themselves and embellish what they do. Plus,
in posts, you're only viewing a small window of their lives. You have no idea
if they suffer the same problems and just happened to write about completing
one thing, ignoring all the failures along the way because no one talks about
failure.

In short, don't use other people as a yard stick, but focus on yourself and
being happy with what you do.

I haven't released any product, personal project, or website, but I have
worked hard at my company and have been happy with things I've done for it.
Does it hinder my opportunities? Probably. Do I really care? Not really,
because it isn't required of me to live a good life.

~~~
jshowa3
If you want some practical advice:

1\. Stop going on HN and Reddit. If you spend a lot of time reading about what
other people do, you won't do it. If HN and Reddit helps you progress, spend
30 minutes a day on it.

1a. Start small and simple and build from there. If things are getting too
complicated, scale back. Always scale back. It reduces frustration and anxiety
as well as builds confidence.

2\. Set a schedule. Take you phone calendar and put a block of time to work on
X and set a reminder. This primes your brain to have a plan and an
expectation.

3\. Schedule short time blocks, 30 minutes to an hour. You only have a limited
amount of time in a day and trying to do something for long stretches of time
will a) take away time to focus on other things you want to do b) will have a
diminishing return effect.

4\. Establish a routine. Set those blocks in 3 and do it on a schedule. Try
and do that task in those time blocks for a couple weeks. The most important
thing is the routine. You can increase those time blocks only when you're
comfortable meeting that routine.

5\. If you miss a day, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT and just catch the next go around.
Things come up in our lives that we don't expect and we either can't do it or
don't want to. But don't make yourself feel like a failure if you do. The
point is consistency.

6\. Finally, TAKE THOSE SMALL VICTORIES! I know its difficult, you'll doubt
yourself, but please... take them. When I wrote my first "Hello World"
program, I took the time to realize how awesome it was and how simple it was!
DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE MILLIONS THAT CAN DO IT TOO!

It will take a long time. But the beauty is, you'll get better at the above
steps and be able to execute faster so it doesn't feel long anymore.

~~~
kevan
Zooming out, the big picture here is to create systems for yourself (whatever
works for you) that make success more likely in moments when your motivation
is low. For example, I pack my gym bag the night before and put it by my work
laptop so I have zero friction in the morning. I know I don't have much
motivation or willpower to do this in the morning, so I work around that and
give myself zero excuses to not bring my workout gear.

~~~
LrnByTeach
Yes, planning and eliminating excuses 'ahead in time', is half the game won

> big picture here is to create systems for yourself (whatever works for you)
> that make success more likely in moments when your motivation is low.

------
imgabe
You don't. In the long run, you build a habit. Discipline is a short term
solution to stick with something long enough to become a habit.

How do you "stay disciplined" to brush your teeth every day? Chances are you
just do it without thinking much about it. You don't hem and haw and read a
bunch of motivational memes to gather up the willpower to brush your teeth.
It's just something you automatically do.

I highly recommend the book _Atomic Habits_ for advice about how to build up
habits. The main key is to start small. If you want to get in shape, you're
not going to start out working out for 90 minutes every day. You start with 5
minutes or something so easy that you can't not do it. Then you keep doing it
until it becomes automatic and build from there.

~~~
wcarron
I also read atomic habits recently. I found it really helpful for these types
of problems. As the author says, accomplishing things is brought by building
good systems and forming automatic habits. Not by fighting urges off left and
right.

I started going to the gym again after a few years off. It was really hard at
1st to simply keep my gym schedule. Now, I go to the gym no matter what
because it's simply what I do.

I do think, however, that books like these should be re-read from time to time
to reinforce/rekindle the habit building machine.

~~~
Faramir4k
Read self-help books until they all start sounding the same

~~~
wcarron
I'm not sure, based on your sentence structure, whether that was a "command"
or your personal experience.

Regardless, sometimes, "self-help" books do come through on their promise. I
found AH gave me good tools to build new habits by exposing me to the idea of
designing my environment to push good habits. That's all.

------
ohaideredevs
This is tangentially related, but I think every person has a tolerance
threshold that develops early for life standards.

Fitness and money are easiest examples. For some, being fat is disguisting and
unimaginable, so they will do everything possible to stay thinner. For some
that threshold is having an actual six pack, and once you lose it, you go into
emergency "at whatever cost" mode.

That's def the case for me with below average college-educated income - when I
was below it, I was in "how can I be such a failure" mode. But now that I am
above it, I am not in panic mode, even though I consider myself a failure,
it's "good enough" on some "subconscious" level, despite me constantly trying
to change it. Whereas if someone was born rich, I think not being able to keep
up with the previous standards of life could be the threshold.

So, there are three take-aways from this. Once you establish a new height, you
realize how good it is to be there and that it's possible, so you can get back
there far easier. The second is that it's very easy to get lazy once you are
comfortable. At that point you can also "afford a life", and that starts
eating away your time. Edit: The last one is what the poster below said -
maybe realizing how important these thresholds are is a key to artificially
creating them.

Other than that - I think "focus on one thing at a time and set a concrete
time block for it x days a week" is the vest possible strategy.

~~~
clevernamehere
"For some that threshold is having an actual six pack, and once you lose it,
you go into emergency "at whatever cost" mode." It is easy to say " i want a
six pack." It's much harder to say "i want to eat a very strict diet,
prioritize sleep and working out, avoid stress where possible and severely
limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 drinks per week or less". But to say the
former is to also say the latter IMO

~~~
ohaideredevs
Sure, I am not even considering that it might mean something other than the
latter.

------
WRONgG
I could see your issue being that you are alone in these things. I don't know
who said it but the quote "if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go
far, go with others" rings true. Finding other people to build things with, to
work out with, to meditate with, is one of the most important factors.

When you read blog posts, its easy to feel that a person is doing all this by
themselves, but I would bet that most of them have a solid network. This is
why I think we are in this productivity porn era of computing, tech
bootcamps/silicon valley are echo chambers for the stuff, and the people
inside these ecosystems have it easy in the networking world.

So make some friends who are trying to do similar things. I'm in college and
can say that I'm a failure at what I'm preaching, but it will help immensely
if my understanding is correct.

------
gorpomon
On a recommendation of another HN user, I picked up the book Atomic Habits
recently.

That book says it clearly: you don't rise to your motivations, you stoop to
the level of your systems and processes. The book also taught me how the
habits you create stem from the person you identify as. For example, a person
who is "a runner" will run every morning. They'll do it without questioning
they're a runner. They'll have self-doubt for sure, but different doubts, and
they'll keep running.

Both those things rang true to me. I've always wanted to be a runner, but
honestly I've never identified as one, so I don't consistently run.

I highly recommend the book, it's a great perspective. I don't think it'll
ring true for everyone, but the perspective it offers is great for everyone.

------
daRealDodo
Quoting one of my favourite authors, Stephen Covey: “Begin with the end in
mind”.

Instead of forcing yourself to finish, better ask: why _do_ you want to do
this project? What’s in it for you? Money? Online portfolio? Better
employability? How does your work align with your core principles and values?
Are you making a tool for saving developer time? Protecting innocent lives?
Earning personal profits? All are valid options as long as your core
principles are in alignment with what it is what you set out to achieve.
Through time, the connection between you as a person and the work you set out
to achieve inevitably becomes blurry. However, if a solid foundation of values
and principles was made during the inception of the project, you will find it
easier to resync your thoughts and realign yourself with your goal after
burnout, fatigue or setbacks. Conversely, If your foundation is not solid, you
will find it easy to convince yourself that time and effort is better spent
somewhere else.

Make a clear vision of where you are, where you want to get and how this
project is the key to your success.

~~~
lcall
Yes. There are also some good comments at a previous related discussion at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18903886](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18903886)
.

I wrote some thoughts about finding direction in life (focused on learning for
one's growth, and using that to serve others in some way), at
[http://lukecall.net](http://lukecall.net) (a lightly-loading web site). You
can click on "Life Lessons" (4th bullet), then "Everyone needs a direction in
life" (~ 6th bullet). It is in progress but I still hope it can be useful. Or
the direct link is
[http://lukecall.net/e-9223372036854588981.html](http://lukecall.net/e-9223372036854588981.html)
.Feedback welcome.

------
ThrustVectoring
>Execute and get to, say, 25-50% of the journey --> Get bored --> Abandon

>I have strongly come to perceive myself as being driven by external
accountabilities

These are _classic_ ADHD symptoms, along with some of the other tells I've
gotten from your description. The number one way to improve ADHD symptoms, by
an enormous margin, is through stimulant therapy. If this kind of pattern
happened a lot in childhood, and you have a history of other related issues
(losing homework, procrastination until deadlines, high caffeine use), then
I'd highly suggest scheduling a meeting with your mental health provider about
this and getting a diagnosis.

And again, it's quite hard to overstate how effective stimulant therapy is for
treating ADHD. It's _the_ most effective mental health intervention. For me
personally, it makes a night-and-day difference.

~~~
arosier
Are you concerned at all about becoming dependent on stimulant therapy and the
long term effects that may have on your health?

I'm not an expert in Stimulant therapy, only familiar with some relatives
"using" Adderall.

~~~
ThrustVectoring
>Are you concerned at all about becoming dependent on stimulant therapy and
the long term effects that may have on your health?

I've got personal empirical evidence that my alternatives are being
dysfunctional enough that I cannot maintain professional employment or a long-
term romantic relationship. Stimulant therapy definitely has tradeoffs, but
what I get out of it is significant enough that I'm okay with the downsides.

------
StephenCanis
I just wanted to point out it's totally normal to go through waves of interest
or motivation for various things in your life. Especially if these are things
unrelated to your career or work you should consider becoming less outcome
focused. You mention 25%-50% of the journey - how do you define the 100%?

For something like running I think it's common to get very interested and the
interest to fade out over time. This might be before you can run a marathon or
half marathon - does that mean it wasn't worth it to run while you did? You
may also pick it up again down the line, maybe it takes you years to get to a
goal rather than a few months. You can start and stop - don't feel bad about
it.

I think our society has a high focus on the super achievers and the end
result. However, if you're focusing on weight loss, running or meditation
you're never going to be the best. The purposes of each of those activities is
to enjoy them for what they are. If you're not enjoying them move onto the
next thing and you can always come back later.

~~~
jrumbut
I used to get this advice a lot, and I need reminders sometimes. What I only
recently figured out is what process means here. I thought it was generic
"enjoy your life" stuff, but you really are going through a specific process.

These projects are the process of you growing, maturing, getting seasoned. It
sounds like you aren't quite ready for your big break yet, which is fine,
especially because you are doing exactly what you should do.

Congratulate yourself for any time you spend creating, you're learning tools
and techniques and mental habits and what doesn't work. Soon, maybe tomorrow
or maybe a decade from now, you'll start to develop a vision of what your
life's work really is.

My advice is to keep following your ideas, doing active creation whenever you
can, and most importantly seeking out good people and letting them help you.

------
JesseAldridge
Here's what has worked for me:

1\. Think deeply about what's important to you in life. Constantly ask
yourself if what you are doing is aligned with your values. If it isn't,
figure out what changes you can make.

2\. Understand that trying to make progress through sheer force of will only
works in the short term. Your environment and the people around you shape your
actions way more than you realize. Change your environment and you change the
way you behave.

~~~
betterworldb
This is basically what I've learned as well by going to therapy and has
dramatically improved my life as I've began to embrace what I'm excited about
and say no to activities, people, and hobbies that don't align with my values.

------
adioe3
While a bit cheesy, I've always found this diagram to be pretty much correct:
[https://i.imgur.com/SvsJnyf.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/SvsJnyf.jpg)

From my experience, finding something that you love doing and can get lost in
for hours on end will be the most rewarding activity. Rewarding activities
tend to stick longer -- I was good at fiddling with web pages and now it's
what I do professionally.

The tough stuff is finding out what you're good at -- that requires a bunch of
trial and error and (especially in IT) people tend to think themselves better
than they truly are. This is why you should always seek out advice from more
experienced people and stay humble. As in chess, the only way to get better is
to play against a stronger opponent.

Best advice I was given for persevering at times of boredom/burn out/etc was
to simply keep going at it. How much you get done is not as important as is
just doing it. Not every workout or coding session has to be at John Carmack's
level but it should never be skipped.

Lastly, what other fine folk here already said: don't go it alone! Every
person needs a support system! Whether it's family, friends, colleagues, local
bartender, or IRC pals is not important - just have somebody to talk to and
perhaps get excited about the stuff you do.

------
ceronman
I also struggle with this. The best advice I've found is a 9 years old blog
post by Derek Yu [1]: "Treat finishing things as a skill rather than a step in
the process".

We all have different skills, we can be good at programming or at graphic
design or at music composition or at communication. Having these skills give
you advantage, but you have to remember that at some point you didn't have
those skill, those were cultivated. If you treat finishing things as a skill
that has to be cultivated, where you suck at first, but with enough practice
you get better and better, then you get into a mindset that will allow you to
be more and more disciplined. So start small, take smaller projects, as small
as possible. Make sure you finish them, slowly increase the difficulty level,
you will get there.

[1] [https://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-
gam...](https://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-game)

------
tomhoward
It's mostly subconscious/unconscious.

This is why some people make it look easy - the ones who you describe as
"folks who are disciplined, are ruthless executors, are self-motivated".

It's not actually that hard for them, they're mostly just doing what comes
naturally to them.

It may be they were able to develop these tendencies at a young age, or maybe
it's inherited traits from their parents.

This is the dark secret behind the self-help industry; it usually doesn't
work. At least not just by reading a book or attending a seminar or following
a methodology.

Those programs will describe techniques that supposedly work for other highly
successful people, but what they don't tell you is that those other people
don't really need to follow any program, and the "discipline" they show is
actually not the kind of discipline you're punishing yourself with; for the
people who make it look easy, it just flows naturally, as their subconscious
mind is just attuned that way.

Here's the thing: you can change your subconscious mind. There are specific
techniques that enable you to do it. But they require consistent work over a
long period of time, and a lot of patience with yourself along the way.

The main goal of such a program is to figure out just what it is you really
want to do with your life - what objective is going to give you purpose and
meaning and motivation, then to gradually remove the emotional/cognitive
barriers that prevent you from working towards it with energy and focus.

One of the better known subconscious healing programs is NLP, but I have no
idea if it's the best; I haven't really done it. I've done other things that
are less well-known, and after more than 7 years of steady work, the results
have been profound for me.

Search around for "subconscious healing" or "subconscious emotional clearing"
and see what you can find.

Choose a program that feels good to you; ideally talk to people who have done
it and ask about their results. Of course you shouldn't do something if the
people running it or recommending it seem kooky or exploitative, and the field
is a minefield in that regard.

But if you search thoroughly you'll find there are programs and techniques
offered by really down-to-earth, decent people, and a solid number of
authentic success stories to point to.

Good luck!

------
throwaway55554
One of the things that gets me is analysis paralysis. When I first started
programming (albeit not professionally) most people didn't have the internet,
me included. So I had to just write code and figure things out. For a very
long time it's how I did things. Now, with blogs, SO, github, etc. I fall into
the trap of, "well, I need to do X, so let's see how others have done it."
instead of just trusting myself and doing it. I don't know when it started
getting worse, but I hate it and I hate myself for allowing it to get bad.

Fighting this is a constant battle. One thing that helps is a deadline.
Another is a pomodoro timer. I really wish I could unplug my internet cable
for a while each day, but people would freak if I were not easily accessible.

~~~
noobly
>I really wish I could unplug my internet cable for a while each day, but
people would freak if I were not easily accessible.

I had the luxury of living without internet for about two months last year. It
was very influential. I would save up a list of things I needed to use the
internet for, and do it on public wifi on the weekends. The rest of the week I
was offline. Naturally this lead to more productive and proactive browsing
(like saving documentation for offline viewing (or simply learning to navigate
offline docs), locally storing wiki articles/blog posts/potentially relevant
youtube videos, and using RSS feeds for efficient browsing on limited time).

Now that I have internet again, I've re-implemented some of those methods,
like limiting my use of web browsers, especially full blown graphical ones
like Firefox. For example, instead of surfing youtube, I use a script that
takes my search and downloads the first x videos returned (or just download
whole playlist with youtube-dl). I try to use $browser for less than an hour
per day, and have found that postponing launching Firefox until later in the
day (but not too late) helps - so those little scripts help a lot by not being
potential "cans-o-worms". At some point, I go through my list of internet-
todos I've gathered during the day, realize most of them were just stupid time
sinks anyway, and then search or address the ones that survived. I've also
kept the "proactive browsing" habit, and storing a lot of stuff locally (even
whole websites).

Of course, for more urgent tasks, like things that could a quick solution
/now/, I don't hesitate to launch $browser, but I try not to deviate from
completing said urgent task and closing the browser as soon as it's done - no
tangential searching allowed.

I guess one way to sum up the workflow I'm trying to achieve is a "power
users" approach to the NoSurf[0] philosophy.

[0]: [https://nosurf.org/](https://nosurf.org/)

------
bored88182
My discipline comes from a lifetime of sports and has carried over to my work
life (even though I now do martial arts as a hobbyist instead of competing as
a college athlete); many of these can be read as workout / health points but
are actually applicable across your life.

It starts from the long-term goal: if you want to be extraordinary, you need
to do things differently than the ordinary. People are going to give you a
hard time about some of the changes you're making, so you need to be ready to
ignore them and accept the fact that if you want to have a different level of
discipline than others you need to do things differently.

Discipline is compound interest in your life - you are doing the little things
the right way every day, and all those pennies are eventually going to add up
into millions. This applies to food, working out, pushing on projects,
learning new skills etc.

The best advice is to make it easy for yourself - pick a FEW, SIMPLE, things
that you can control and start from there. Stop eating the same snack or
having a glass of wine after work. Start waking up at 6 am. Then evolve to
going to the gym from there. Build habits.

You also need to accept that you're not perfect, and no man is an island. This
part was the hardest for me - I built up walls around myself (thinking that I
needed to keep my habits exactly as they were since they had gotten me this
far) and thus cut off opportunities and other people. Eventually I was able to
be a bit more chilled out while still keeping the discipline in the right
areas. I found that 7 habits of highly successful people really helped me; I
also recommend "Wooden on Leadership" and "The Score Takes Care of Itself" as
examples of champions putting this bottoms-up approach into practice over
years and reaping the rewards.

There is no shortcut. There is nothing fancy. Control what you can control,
don't worry about the rest of it, and trust in the process. Feel free to
message me if I can be helpful

~~~
djangovm
Thanks. Your comment is really thought-provoking.

------
misiti3780
I recently found this quote pretty good:

"“I had started to make an email program before in, probably, 1996,” he
explains. “I had this idea I wanted to build web-based email. I worked on it
for a couple of weeks and then got bored. One of the lessons I learned from
that was just in terms of my own psychology, that it was important that I
always have a working product. The first thing I do on day one is build
something useful, then just keep improving it.”"

\- Paul Buchheit on creating gmail

[http://time.com/43263/gmail-10th-
anniversary/](http://time.com/43263/gmail-10th-anniversary/)

------
dontbenebby
Using HN isn't bad. Just use a stopwatch and timer on your phone.

The human brain wasn't meant to do deep work (like programming) for hours and
hours.

So what I do is set a stopwatch on my phone. if it's been 30-45 min and my
mind is wandering, I spend 5-10 minutes on HN, Reddit, etc then go back to
work.

(The stopwatch is because if you're nearly done with something an alarm can
zap you out of it, whereas it's not jarring to get interrupted from browsing
/r/aww. Plus you can use the "lap" function to monitor both the length of a
sprint + total working time for the day)

I have found can accomplish much more deep work this way than if I wait until
I feel I couldn't write one single more line of code.

I also maintain a list of "projects" \- things I'd find fun to do. I break the
projects into steps, and estimate how long they'd take.

So when I have downtime or free time, I can pull up a project and work a bit,
note my progress. This helps with not feeling like I'm flailing around from
one thing to the next without finishing anything.

All of these moving parts come together to create a flow that allows me to
work on side projects to expand my knowledge without feeling stressed or
burdened.

------
gradschool
As a general impression, it sounds like you might be putting too much stock in
external validation instead of looking within, and then losing interest when
society or your peers neglect to keep it coming your way. To answer your
question, here is my specific methodology for long term personal projects.

1) Do some work on it every day if possible so as not to lose my train of
thought. Even if it's only a tiny amount of progress, it all adds up. Expect
it to feel like a chore some of the time.

2) Don't let myself start a new project until I've brought the current one to
a satisfactory conclusion (by some definition). For you that could mean a
minimum viable product, or if you've gone off the idea, then it could mean
documenting your efforts to an adequate standard for someone else
theoretically to continue it.

3) For something like exercise or personal fitness, I choose a routine
calibrated far enough below the ceiling of my endurance that it feels easy
most days but on the worst day out of a month I'm glad it isn't any tougher.
Then notch it up monthly by the smallest possible increment.

~~~
djangovm
thanks!

------
andkon
By default, say no!

Say: oh wow, I'm motivated by this thing on HN. How exciting! Let me make a
note about what I think is cool about this, take a while to reflect on whether
it's worth kicking other things out of my life to do, then decide if I will.

I've started doing that in the last year or so. I stopped renewing about a
dozen domains that had half-finished apps behind them, and decided I wouldn't
do anything for a while. Then I kept saying no to more startup ideas.

The one thing I kept doing was this songwriting course. I more-or-less
finished it, and found myself writing a song a week. Then I started trying to
arrange and produce full songs with lyrics, which I'd done either half of
(producing, and writing) separately. That took a while. Now I finished one of
those!

It just kept coming back, every time I tried to say it wasn't important. If
the thing you want to do isn't like that, then go do something nice for
yourself instead, like seeing friends, or buying a record.

------
bbx
Pick a smaller project, something you can finish in a few days or weeks.

For years I was thinking of creating video tutorials to teach CSS. I would
sell these videos online, either as a subscription model or as a downloadable
package. I spent months creating design templates that I would teach how to
code. I also looked into screen recording software. I bought a microphone
stand. I did some tests. But in the end, I hadn't written any content. I had
only worked on the side aspects.

So one day I decided to just make the smallest project I could think of: a
small ebook to teach CSS. The result was this: [https://jgthms.com/css-
in-44-minutes-ebook](https://jgthms.com/css-in-44-minutes-ebook)

I managed to write and launch it within a few months because the scope was way
smaller, which allowed me to be more focused on the task because I could see
the end of it.

As of now, I’m actually writing my second ebook, focused on advanced CSS
techniques and concepts. It will have a lot more content, because I’ve learned
how to launch something. The only difference is the amount of time I’ll have
to spend writing. But in the end you realise that most projects scale
linearly. You just need to learn how to finish a project before building
bigger ones.

Same happened with Bulma: [https://bulma.io](https://bulma.io)

The initial idea was actually way bigger. But in the end, I launched it with
the basic features I had in mind. It’s now grown a lot.

------
mezod
Shameless plug - I work on [https://everyday.app](https://everyday.app)
(simple and beautiful habit tracker for the web/ios/android) and seeing the
colourful board filled with 2 years of data is hugely motivating to keep me
going and stay on track with the SAME goals.

For example: [https://app.everyday.app/2/5](https://app.everyday.app/2/5) :)

~~~
mi100hael
Having a list somewhere like an app or a little notebook is hugely helpful in
keeping you accountable every single day. I use a different app but I'll check
out everyday.app :)

~~~
mezod
Definitely, the sole fact of reading every day what I want to do every single
day already makes a huge difference!

Awesome, feel free to shoot me any feedback! ;)

------
csomar
>> \--> Execute and get to, say, 25-50% of the journey

I think your problem is right over here.

I don't think you get to 25% let alone 50% of the journey. You are probably
just over-estimating how much you have accomplished.

My guess is that you have probably completed less than 5% of the said journey.

There is more than just getting a first MVP bootstrapped. Getting the product
polished is a big one. Marketing and content writing. Listening to users and
discussions. Accounting and planning, etc... The journey is really harsh and
long.

My advice is to not get over-excited. That's usually a sign that you have not
thought it well enough. If you get over-excited a lot, it really loses its
meaning. And it is useless unless you can get it everyday and on every step of
the project (not just the cool hacking).

So don't get excited. Just decide on what you want to do and start doing it.
Any idea is a good idea, because it is the journey that will shape the
product; not the first trials.

------
lm28469
You need a purpose and a routine. Why do you want to be successful ? What's
your definition of success ? Is it something you really want / or is it pushed
by friends / social media / internal representation of success ?

> See others succeed, get motivated a bit more

It sounds very dumb but focus on the journey, not on the destination. I got
fit when I started to enjoy going to the gym (took 1+ year). I didn't like
sport and I had a mental image of what a gym guy was, I couldn't identify to
that image. Now I'm 5 years in, go bouldering, running and at the gym every
single week, it doesn't feel like success and I still don't identify as a
fit/gym guy.

Once it's part of your daily/weekly routine you don't need motivation, you do
these things because you're hard wired to. It takes years, but one day you'll
wake up and think "damn, I'm fit / good a guitar / glad I sticked to my
business idea for the last 5 years / &c."

Also keep in mind that success isn't a fixed point, it's an endless ladder,
each step being your next definition of success. You can be successful at many
things but if you don't take the time to reflect on them you'll feel like a
constant failure.

> I see folks who are disciplined, are ruthless executors, are self-motivated

Do you know them personally or do you trust the internet's success stories ?
People like to romanticise their achievements with fancy origin stories,
struggles, &c.

A few resources:

[https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/get-1-better-
every-d...](https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/get-1-better-every-day-
the-kaizen-way-to-self-improvement/)

[https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/building-breaking-
ha...](https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/building-breaking-habits/)

------
internetvin
I was going through similar experiences. Last year I decided to see what would
happen if I made some kind of music for 365 consecutive days with no prior
experiences.

I wrote about the experiment on Twitter, "What I learned making some kind of
music for 365 consecutive days":
[https://twitter.com/internetVin/status/1019033516028280832](https://twitter.com/internetVin/status/1019033516028280832)

Hope it's useful in some way.

I'm doing the same thing now with code. I am currently on Day 119. I've been
calling these kinds of projects, High Frequency Output projects:
[https://internetvin.com/hfo/](https://internetvin.com/hfo/)

Doing the best I can.

~~~
cableshaft
Your music is very good for putting out a new song every day, of what I've
listened to so far. Even Day 1 you were doing things that sound more musical
than what I usually came up with in the past, and I've used my music as the
soundtrack of my video games before (not that they were great, but just okay
enough that I went ahead and used them).

How much time did you usually spend on these daily songs? Did you do any
research into new techniques in between that, or was everything you learned
all through experimentation?

Probably my best attempt at a music loop I ended up using in one of my games:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqe0hS7AvOE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqe0hS7AvOE)

I haven't made any new music in awhile. I always enjoyed it, even though I
wasn't that amazing at it. I should get back into it a bit.

As for HFO, I always thought that was something I needed to do more of, and
programming seemed a bit anathemic to that idea. Sure you can make small
scripts, but making anything that seemed "worth it" to me always took a lot
more effort, like 40 hours at least, and that was for a simple game. But take
something like webcomics or baking or something, and you can make a distinct
item and get it out there in front of an audience on an almost daily basis,
and you could refine your skills and build a name for yourself a lot easier
than putting out a game 2 or three times a year, which is what I used to do
(and now a lot less often than that). Maybe my mindset is just wrong. I
definitely have a lot more distractions in my daily life (impatient and
demanding dogs, and relationship and social responsibilities) than I did ten
years ago.

------
rb808
My opinion is that the first 25% is the most fun, the only reason to do the
rest is if its how you make money, or get other rewards such as recognition or
praise from users (assuming you like that).

My side projects always die soon after figuring out what I want and how to do
it. My job I'm doing the messy stuff I'd prefer not to do.

------
x0ner
The word "passion" is charged these days, but as someone who has successfully
completed a number of long journeys (opensource projects, sale of company, 15
years of cardio, etc.), I think that has been the key to my success. In other
words, you have to love what you are doing and then your interests will
dwindle less.

Even with love, it can be difficult to remain focused. A trick I do when I run
is to constantly recalibrate my goals as I am going. If I am having a hard
time a few miles in, I tell myself to get to the next quarter and then the
next until it's a half. Eventually it's a mile and I start again if I need to
or expand scope. I will apply this same technique to life and have found it
can be very useful.

If you've tried all of those, consider the process of abstaining from
something or extreme focusing for a set period of time, say drinking alcohol
or performing a 1 min plank every day for 30 days. I will do these exercises
and the feeling I get from them is similar to the dragging feeling at the
final 25% of a project. It conditions you to push through it because at the
end of the day, it's only 30 days.

And I guess as a catch-all, if you really want to see it through, make that
your goal––To complete one single project from start to finish, no matter
what.

------
jchook
Not a complete solution, but I’ll throw in some tips:

1\. Don’t show anyone. For me, this saps my interest by providing premature
reward for my hard work. Keep it secret except from people helping you
directly on the heavy lifting.

2\. Will is a muscle. Strengthen it by doing other things religiously. For
example, brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Go to the gym 3 times
per week. Etc.

3\. Read “War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. This book will teach you how to
use resistance instead of succumb to it.

------
yingw787
I can offer some pointers that have worked for me:

\- Do what you like _and_ what you can tie into an overall larger meaning. I
made goals that sounded great on paper, but when confronted with factual
reality couldn't be prioritized. So now I set goals to deal with some aspect
of myself I want to change (e.g. tackle impostor syndrome, fear of becoming
lazy/fat, etc.). Then when I feel like I want to give up, I just ask myself
whether it's worth it, because I performed a cost/benefit analysis at the time
I started and it was worth it then. Usually it is worth it to push through.

\- Build an environment that helps you stay on track. I cancelled my home
internet when I realized I watched too much YouTube. Now if I want to watch
YouTube at home, I have to download videos via youtube-dl and watch them
offline. When I want to walk for a while, I leave my wallet and metro card at
home.

\- __Forgive yourself __. It 's okay to make mistakes, or slip a day or two.
Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up. In fact, IMHO we
don't learn to fail enough and so we don't actually know our true limitations
and don't learn to push our true boundaries.

------
stanmancan
The vast majority of people don't even try at all, you're way ahead of the
average person.

Everything you have done so far, even if you quit half way, has taught you
something. You've picked up new technical skills, you've learned about your
physical and emotional health, and you know more about your strengths and
weaknesses that you did before.

I don't think enough people self reflect. If you gave up, try to think about
why. Did you quit when you got bored? Or when it got too hard? Did life get in
the way? If you can start to recognize patterns, then it makes it easier to
spot those same behaviors/situations earlier next time, and maybe you can make
the necessary changes to push through.

Lots of people are quick to label themselves or their actions as failures; but
you/they are not not. Even if you abandoned the project or gave up the health
kick, if you came out it with ANY sort of knowledge that you didn't have
before then you have improved yourself and should consider the effort worth
while.

Really, figure out what your goals are, and work towards them, slowly. Don't
try to make huge changes over night; it can take many small, incremental
positive changes to get where you want to be.

Why do you want to launch a project? Is the goal self employment, or do you
just like tinkering and building things? Both are totally acceptable! Figure
out what motivates you!

Also, I highly recommend trying to connect with people with similar goals.
This is a fantastic way to meet new people, and having people there to
encourage you when you're feeling down or like giving up can make a huge
difference. If they have similar goals, they've most likely felt like you do
at some point, and can provide the support and encouragement needed to
persevere.

------
fouc
It's painful. It's supposed to be painful. Anyone that successfully launched
kept working through the pain.

Think of non-coders that taught themselves to code and launched webapps just
by googling and facing the pain.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6reLWfFNer0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6reLWfFNer0)

------
mntmoss
I also struggle with this, but I think the most important breakthrough I had
was that my workflow is ultimately cyclical and practice-driven, and not
project-driven.

That is, I may allocate parts of my free time to "doing programming" but the
precise nature of it is not that relevant. Some programming is easy and
valuable, other programming is dreadfully difficult and fixes a minor bug. I
do not know which I will encounter when I "do programming" but I treat it as a
course of exercise and try to make something happen during that block of time.

Likewise the act of creating shouldn't wear you down. The personal project is
the place where you have the best chance of growing and getting out of your
comfort zone, and achieving this growth may mean countering the impulse to
immediately chase a project idea with a business plan.

A business is also a kind of machinery - a machinery made of people, their
roles and relationships and usage of time and space. It means having two
projects, not one, and presuming to allocate your time to "the business" and
reap the tangible rewards of it. But in doing that you can kill your
motivation since the two projects in combination will quickly start engaging
skills you don't have and possibly aren't ready to learn.

When you get to that point, and your attitude to the work becomes "someone
needs to pay me to do this," you may want to stop, because then you're
engaging with the problem space at the same level as anyone else chasing after
money. Good work can be done by mercenaries, but that doesn't mean you're able
to "just turn it on" and work on the business because of a hypothetical
prospect. You have to have some ability to keep faith in it if you want to
last through the "despair" periods, and that limits what you can work on solo.
Two or three people working on it can keep their momentum and power through a
considerably higher degree of misery - hence your statement about having an
easier time at the office.

And that brings me back to the "cycles of practice" idea. It's not that you
will never succeed solo, it's that you need to develop a better understanding
of yourself and what keeps you in for the long run. The idea may be a good
one, but you also need to be the person who can execute on the idea. It's
worth continuing your education when and where you can find it - take classes
you didn't consider and read books you never thought about - to try to scout
out your territory better.

------
stone-monkey
For me, one of my biggest hurdles was self direction. Trying to commit to
hitting the gym twice a week always floundered even though I was following a
relatively well defined course (Starting strength). I go to martial arts
classes now and have zero mental overhead besides reviewing what I learned in
class. Not great for building up muscle (these types of classes are usually
more cardio based vs resistance training) but better than doing nothing.

Same with my language learning. I've always done better with the structure of
classes compared to self study. Now I just schedule weekly 1:1 sessions with
online tutors and only worry about doing the homework. I then try to practice
what I'm learning organically when I run into potential practice situations.

I also find the less free time I have overall to commit to things, the more
productive I become, compared to having more free time to execute - I'll
otherwise waste a bunch of time on fluff.

------
katzgrau
Just do it. Inevitably you run into a boring feature that you aren't jazzed
about implementing. Do it. Or you finish the project and never launch it. Do
it. Or it's just taking you way longer than you thought (not a weekend project
afterall, eh?). Do it.

You won't always be motivated. But you'll get over a boring hurdle and find
out there's something behind it that is exciting.

7 years strong on my current startup, through plenty of lows (and eventual
highs). I'm not the best developer, but something can be said for my follow-
through — and it's nothing special — just the recognition that some things
will suck and I do them anyway.

[http://codefury.net/2011/10/your-awesome-hack-that-nobody-
ev...](http://codefury.net/2011/10/your-awesome-hack-that-nobody-ever-heard-
of/)

------
ddebernardy
It sounds like you don't have skin in the game -- by which I mean you've a
job. It's a completely different mindset when your having a roof over your
head in 6 months depends on you validating your market or compiling enough
data to raise a seed round. (Don't take that to mean you should quit your
just. I'm merely pointing out that this can be a huge motivator.)

It also sounds like you're not chatting enough with your would-be clients.
Instead of building first all while wondering if you'll get market traction
and eventually losing interest, find the would-be customers first (if only as
a pre-launch page to build a list) and then build what they want. It's a lot
harder to walk away from a project when there's a mob of hungry buyers at the
door who was promised you'd deliver in 3 months.

------
moron4hire
I would say your process is backwards. Don't follow tech. Follow problems. Get
involved in a problem you care about. Only research tech as a means to solve
problems.

------
codingdave
Staying motivated for personal projects is different than my day job.

Counter-intuitively, I stick with them more when I am less fired up about
them. Passion fades, but a habit of spending a few hours a week on something
doesn't burn you out, and you make small improvements over time, resulting in
a product. I spent years on one side project, coding it in a weekend, then
being very patient as it grew, adding features when asked (and they made
sense), never in a rush. Eventually it made some money, and eventually I sold
it, but it was a long, slow, small weekly effort for about 5 years.

------
MrGilbert
Well... It reads like you are talking about side projects? The big question
is: Are you happy with what you are doing when you are doing it? Do you expect
yourself to produce sth. at the end of this cycle? Or are you putting yourself
under pressure, because "others succeed, and so I have, too"?

Sometimes, it helps to free your mind and your thoughts just by doing
something completely unrelated to your daily routine (read: daily job). If you
are at the 25-50% stage, personally I don't think there is something bad at
just dropping it, and look for new challenges. At the end, it's your free
time, and it's completely yours to decide what you are doing with it.

Maybe, at some point in time, there will be "this one thing" which you will
stick to, because it makes your heart feel happy in the long term. And if not,
that's totally fine, as long as you had fun on the journey. Just don't put the
"I have to do finish it!" pressure on you - as you already noticed, you don't
work like that.

Oth, if you are unhappy: Think about smaller scale projects. Obviously, you
cannot stay focused for a long time. So, you might want to pick smaller
projects. Don't talk yourself little. Find something you can finish in, let's
say, two months or something. A project that better suits a smaller attention
span.

------
hosh
For my martial arts and meditation practice, I:

1\. Established a daily routine which I do without fail

2\. I used and still use a timer app that includes a streak calendar

3\. I established the "normal" practice length, a stretch goal, and a "token
effort"

Once the routine and habit is established, it was easier to keep it going. The
"token effort" is the trivial amount of time one practices just to keep the
effort going. The stretch goal is there to acknowledge you did more than
expected, but also to regulate not going overboard one day to the point where
you do not want to continue for the next.

There are some psychological nuances into this.

All the research, what I am going to do, etc. feeds into the practice. The
practice itself changes over time.

I have been doing this seven years now, starting with sitting meditation all
the way through rebooting my martial arts training involving rebuilding every
aspect of how I move my body.

My initial practice all those years ago was a 5 minute practice, 10 minute
stretch goal, and a 1 minute token practice. Funny thing about the token
practice is that 1 min seemed even ridiculous to me, but on those days where
it got hard to get started, 1 min was still just easy enough (so I thought) to
try. Sometimes, 1 min passes and I find myself going on for the next minute.

There was at one point, I was doing around 1 - 3 hours of practice every day,
until life changed again and I did not have as much time for that anymore.

------
Smithalicious
The trick is in being able to pick things back up after (long) breaks. Forcing
yourself to keep doing something when you don't enjoy it anymore isn't
sustainable and when life gets in the way there's nothing you can do, so
trying to consistently keep working on any big project for a long time is just
a pipe dream. The important things are, in my opinion:

\- Try to do something each day, no matter how much. Really even 5 minutes is
fine. \- Learn to get back to projects even after a hiatus of several months
or even years. Progress is seldomly erased and unless you're retirement-aged
it's very unlikely that you'll run out of time in your life. \- Accept that
over the long term we all operate at maybe 10% of maximum efficiency, and
that's if you're a productive person. If you feel as if something should
realistically take three months, expect it to be finished a year or two later.
(coincidentally, this is also usually the solution to the "this would be
simple to build and useful, why has nobody built it yet?" problem)

In the end it's a marathon, not a sprint. A little bit every now and then will
eventually get you there and you're realistically very unlikely to run out of
time.

------
jkingsbery
As a couple of others have said, it depends some on what sort of project
you're talking about - how to approach a hobby vs. a habit you want to develop
vs. a project for work seem like they're pretty different.

This week, I'll be releasing an internal project beyond a small beta group
that I've been working on since 2017. Here are some of the things that I've
found helpful in keeping disciplined in advancing the project:

1\. Acknowledge it's going to take time. Unrealistic expectations can
frustrate. I knew going in that to get the project to where it is today would
take over a year, so when things took longer than I wanted it wasn't so bad.

2\. Getting feedback from others. Is this feature I made useful? Is this game
I made fun? Does anyone like this story I wrote? This feedback on a project
can help fail fast on a project not worth doing. Also, remembering the
positive feedback on early states can help stay motivated. I keep all feedback
on the project since I first came up with the idea in a giant Org-mode file,
and I periodically re-read through it (or at least parts of it).

3\. Mixing it up. Even the most exciting projects can turn monotonous.
Periodically work on a different facet of the project so that your work seems
"new" again, even though you're advancing the same cause.

4\. Remembering that it's hard for (pretty much) everyone. All the authors
I've ever heard about writing books has said that writing a book was way
harder then they imagined. That's because writing books is hard. The same is
true for writing programs, launching a product, or finishing any other project
like that. It's just hard.

------
sreyaNotfilc
I'm on and off again on my project, Vidcap. What keeps me going is that I
actually use the product that I build. I see the issues with it and then get
fed up that it's not fixed.

What I end up doing is just simply opening the editor, write down some notes
on what I like to be done, and just work on it. Once you start, your body
takes over. Its just getting to that point that's the problem.

Same thing with music for me. I want to have a stage show next year, but I
need to learn the guitar to make it happen. I bought a portable guitar and
bring it with me most places (since its getting nice out). Whenever I think of
that stage show, I bring out the guitar and start working on it. What would be
5 mins of playing almost always turns to 30+ mins.

So, what I would say is do 2 things -

1\. Think about the project that you want to work on. Just simply being aware
that the time you spend playing games or watching TV you could be working on
something. Heck, I have the TV on while coding and guitar practice.

2\. Do something about it. Say to yourself "Let me do this for 15 mins". Those
minutes usually double and triple.

(BONUS)

When I really need the pep talk and motivation, I listen to those motivational
channels on Youtube. My favorite one is of Arnold Schwarzenegger talking about
how he became who he was. It definitely wasn't hard work. You don't need to
listen to him. You can find plenty of those types of videos in your field.
Whatever it takes to get that jolt of energy.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoXYe9e01_Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoXYe9e01_Y)

Goodluck!

------
soheil
In my experience you have to have a constant stream of motivation flowing
throughout your journey be it in form of revenue generated, excitement from
milestones reached or whatever else it might be you have to find what drives
you and make sure you get constant dose of it. What I think a lot of people
believe mistakenly is that the rewards must be huge, but the way motivation
works can just be based on small rewards as long as there are many of them and
not too far in between.

Other examples of reward can be publicity you receive about your product,
growing prestige you gain among your peers on a regular basis, number of
growing users and their dependence on your product, etc.

What must never stop is 100% focus on the market you are in it’s ok to deviate
from the original product, but never ok to change the field/vertical you are
in, that’s what demotivates, you are no longer moving forward in one direction
but changing direction and not making much progress in one particular
direction so you might as well start something completely new, thus “feel
bored”, ...

------
mezi
I have been doing the same cycle over the past few years. In 2019 I decided to
not start anything new, only finish what I've started. So far I finished 1
thing (an article, got 1k claps on Medium, feels good), and started a new one
with a friend :) I'll probably only have time to finish one more thing this
year, but it's ok, at least I'll have something to show.

------
runjake
I am not a disciplined, ruthless executor but I do know a couple things:

1.) Stop reading productivity porn. If you must pick a productivity approach,
pick something low friction that doesn't have you jumping through meaningless
hoops. (Some hoops are good, like the one in #2).

2.) Do daily/weekly reviews. Even monthly, if that's all you can manage. Every
week, developer your situation report: what do you have on your plate, what's
coming up that you must concern yourself with? Can anything be delegated?

My review process involves processing "inboxes" at my home/work desks. But it
also occurs during my morning runs where I plot and plan my next steps and how
I will get through difficult situations.

You probably don't need to read more productivity books, you just need to use
the knowledge you already know to develop a sort of standard operating
procedure. If you _are_ going to consume productivity porn, make small
iterations to your current SOPs, don't make large sweeping changes. That only
serves to undermine the whole point.

~~~
ohaideredevs
Side note, but I used to do "daily" and "long-term". Daily is great, "long
term" was generally useless. "Weekly" was the best to stay motivated and
actually see if "the plan" is yielding at least some results or is complete
garbage. "Monthly" was too long.

------
vcool07
I would like to add my 2 cents here :

1\. If you want to do something but not able to do anything about it, maybe
its not something you "want" to do. It's like swimming against the tide, it'll
always be hard. So, instead find something you "want" to do. For ex: deep down
you might enjoy painting, but looking at an article on how some programmer
made millions by selling his startup, you might be tempted to try your hand at
coding. But no matter how much you motivate yourself, your mind will continue
to resist when the implementation phase comes, as, deep down, that's not what
you are interested in.

2\. When you start a project, don't spend too much of time on
planning/research. Any project you start, try to finish atleast the most
important parts of it while your initial enthusiasm lasts. If you spend most
of your initial enthusiasm on planning/research and other stuff, you'll have
little energy left for implementation. Start and course correct along the way.

------
DoreenMichele
There are books out there on things like this. "Wishcraft" immediately comes
to mind. I can't think of a title, but I have also read books on the creative
process.

You might try reading up on Twice Exceptional issues. People who are 2e* often
need some nudge to get them going, then stall out after a bit. Figuring out
the trick to get them over the hump can really help make their lives work a
lot better.

You also might try analyzing exactly where you stall out and why. Is there a
common factor?

I have health issues. I sometimes just don't have the energy and I get
frustrated when I'm "not accomplishing anything." Eventually, I will have
energy again.

I start files on things on interested in them so I can come back to it and
pick back up where I left off. Some things still get abandoned, but other
things do get returned to, so it has helped me be somewhat more productive.

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twice_exceptional](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twice_exceptional)

------
rramadass
>I see folks who are disciplined, are ruthless executors, are self-motivated

The key clause which you forgot to add is; SOME OF THE TIME!

Nobody is disciplined 100% throughout their career/lives; it is
psychologically impossible. If anybody claims so, then it is a sham and they
are BS'ing.

It seems like you are seeking "external validation" too much. You are also
just hitting the normal "learner's block" when you are not making any progress
due to a) having mastered the simple stuff and are now faced with complicated
parts b) having understood the interesting/core ideas but are now faced with
the reqd. drudgery to be done to bring the project to conclusion.

The number one thing i have found that helps me maintain discipline when i
need it, is to have self-confidence and NOT seek "external validation". You
only focus on building/improving a little bit over yesterday's "you" towards a
goal. Nobody knows nor is vested in you as yourself. By comparing only with
your past self a lot of distractions fall away and you can focus on "your"
goal. Focus only on the Primary core and disregard the Ancillaries until the
core is done. Complicating unnecessarily (i.e. too many degrees of freedom) is
a sure way to lose motivation. Pare away all secondary and unnecessary
factors. Nurture "intrinsic motivation" (i want to do it) always and minimize
need for "extrinsic motivation" (carrot or stick).

Here is a quote to keep in mind: "Drops of water, if they fall continuously,
can bore through iron and stone".

You may also find the following two books helpful;

1) "Why we do what we do: Understanding Self-Motivation" by Edward Deci.

2) "Flow: The psychology of optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

------
benkb
You talk about "self-motivated" folks. How important is the "self-" part to
you? I recently watched an interview with the Mathematician Terence Tao
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao))
who is known (among a lot of other things) for being very productive while
working on different areas of mathematics. From his answers it is getting
clear, that he is very much influenced and motivated by other people. The
thing that drives him, is when someone comes to him with a difficult question
and he is able to help. Maybe try to connect and collaborate with other people
from early on. The sense of being useful is known to be a good motivator.

------
twodave
Accountability really can't be understated. I attribute a lot of my success
professionally to having a family to support (I consider this to be passive
accountability). Some things I have a passion for (music, the outdoors,
grilling, etc.) and I have no problem keeping up with those things.

The few things that have really been snares for me in life, I've only been
able to make progress with through intentionally building accountable
relationships. It takes a lot of faith and trust to let someone into your
private thoughts at times, but that for me has made those relationships all
the more important to me.

So I guess the answer is "you can't". Everyone needs help. Those who don't
seem to or claim not to are probably people you don't want to copy.

------
mtsinichi
Discipline helps us to achieve certain goals according to a specific and
highly effective plan.

For me:

\- You should determine the long-term goal to achieve.

\- Determine the benefits of achieving this goal and what you can lose (time,
money, energy, comfortable, ...) when you achieve your goals (good mental
preparation).

\- Plan short-term goals and it is important to make small plans to complete
(that's the biggest motivational way).

\- Consider and evaluate the plan regularly.

\- Follow the plan to create a habit, this process is difficult, if you change
yourself, you must overcome it.

\- Finally, you can share what you have accomplished with friends, colleagues,
or through blogs. Since then get comments to improve the plan and create
energy for yourself.

My cycle: goal -> value achieved -> motivation -> plan -> habits -> share.

ps: Small simple things will create great happiness.

------
dliff
I've been enjoying a strategy based on something Jack Dorsey mentioned.

Keep a list of tasks, goals, or projects that you actively want to spend time
on. They can be short tasks, or never ending/ongoing goals.

Every morning make two lists. One list of items you want to work on that day
for some amount of time, and more importantly a list of items you will _not_
do that day.

Knowing that I made a commitment to not work on some of those ongoing projects
allows me to have less anxiety about projects I've neglected. It's a mental
note that they are still on my general list, but not something to think about
today. It also helps me stay focused and not get distracted with other
projects or waste too much time context switching.

------
uchman
This is something I can relate to as well. Something that helps me is by
creating small wins. Don't just have the overall completion of your project -
Define some milestones to your MVP. This helped me go farther after I lost
momentum. It gives you sense of achievement that you can use to move forward
gradually. Another point made in the comments below has to do with
partnership. This is great but it can be quite tough to get partners on board
without having an MVP or something (except you're already influential) -
chicken and egg situation. But when you have an MVP, you stand better chance
of getting people interested and that could serve as further motivation to
move forward...

------
anderspitman
I believe the key finishing something is successful use of goals, and the key
to successful use of goals is habits. If you can set an effective goal, and
figure out how to frame it as a set of habits, you can accomplish it by
adopting those habits.

------
rasengan0
I am in no means to speak as a serial unfinisher, but I'm more comfortable
with myself and found this helpful:

I took this when Dr. Fogg started developing this:
[https://www.tinyhabits.com/](https://www.tinyhabits.com/) after finishing The
Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Key takeaways for me:

\- Habits replace other habits: sitting at desk --> take a break in fresh
nature air \- I can anchor other habits on keystone habits: taichi --> plant
based diet \- If I don't follow through, maybe it was not worth it originally
(stop doing and start being): erlang, haskell <insert language here> \-->
enjoy the lang you build stuff with

------
rvn1045
A big change for me took place when I started thinking longer term. Do i want
to get in shape in the next 1 month or 12 months? thinking in terms of 12
months or whatever is appropriate and just surrendering to the process helped
a great deal.

------
valgor
Lot of great stuff on here. However, here is the thing that worked for me
since I was in the same boat as you: after finally releasing a project into
the world and calling it "done", I felt SO much better than when I jumped from
project to project every 1-2 months. Finishing a project is a different sort
of "high" that I want to get again and again. My advice would be to pick
something small so you can finish it and have that experience.

I now have two out of work successes I can point to, and more importantly I
now feel guilty wasting time on side projects that aren't a part of my third
release I'm working towards!

------
tvanantwerp
As many others here have recommended, read Atomic Habits for a good idea of
how to go from goal-oriented action to process-oriented action.

> I have strongly come to perceive myself as being driven by external
> accountabilities which makes me good at work at office but bad at executing
> personal projects.

I'd also recommend reading The Four Tendencies by Gretchin Rubin, which is an
interesting framework for how different people respond to both internal and
external expectations. Based on your own personal observation, you'd fall into
the most populous category: obliger, i.e., good with external expectations but
not internal ones.

------
benjamaan
Find people who are also pursuing long term discipline, that like to talk
about it and who celebrate your own pursuit thereof. Works best if you're tied
into a non-emotional relationship with them like at work.

------
wortelefant
> I see folks who are disciplined, are ruthless executors, are self-
> motivated,[...]

On websites like hackernews, you'll only hear about successful projects most
of the time - they might have been preceded by multiple Failures" but these
won't be mentioned or presented, the concept of "survivorship bias" might be
applicable here:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias)

------
AKhoo
I came across a guy on IndieHackers who called this "Maker Paralysis, which is
like the equivalent of writer's block for makers".

He put himself on something he called "Ship Therapy" \- "committing to ship at
least one new product every two weeks, while writing about the process and
progress once a week".

Really interesting and seemed to work for him:
[https://othmane.io/posts/ship_challenge](https://othmane.io/posts/ship_challenge)

------
arvinaminpour
I found myself in the cycle that you described up there for about 2 years
almost a year ago especially with side projects. A couple of things I took
away from that period:

1/ Being truthful w/ yourself on whether you are building something for
yourself or building it because you are insecure and feel like you're falling
behind people in the community (ie I'm building this because 3 of my friends
are startup founders and I want to be one too because I'm just as good as
them). If it's the latter, usually your willpower will fleet. I fell for this
trap in my last project.

2/ Being truthful on what skills you have and can utilize for whatever you
want to build. For my last project, I was working on a website and had no
prior web skills besides HTML and basic JS. I took it on myself to learn
React, Redux and the whole shebang. By the time my willpower fleeted, I had
learned a lot but was maybe 50% through a project and I lost interest.

3/ Dividing your project up into small chunks. Take a subset of those chunks,
throw it into your product and alpha/beta test it with friends and family. If
you have nothing to show for your work after n months of work, it's very easy
to give up.

4/ Constantly show people and get feedback. If you show people what you're
working on and they give you insight, it'll energize you to build and continue
down the journey. Otherwise, you'll feel like all your effort is wasted away
towards a dream that seems more and more unreachable as time progresses

In closing, I do think some people are more disciplined and motivated than
others but everyone falls into the same traps. But I'm sure the folks you site
as more disciplined and self-motivated have fallen to these problems; just
earlier in their lives.

TLDR: Understand your motivations, make sure what you're building makes you
happy and tell folks about what you're building to get energized.

------
vibrolax
Formerly, I couldn't finish any of my side projects or fitness goals. I
deduced that I needed to learn how to finish things. So I reset my goals to be
things I could finish well without much probability of encountering big
demotivators. By ruthlessly reducing the scope of each project, I was able to
learn the craft of finishing. Knowing how to finish, I became able to complete
projects that would have left my former self spent and defeated. Finishing
gives its own rewards.

------
alvar0
You need to figure out why _you_ and _your project_ only get to 25-50%
completion. Address the issues on your side and pick projects you're more
likely to finish. The biggest motivator is doing something you like. The
biggest "demotivation" nowadays is being young and used to constant rewards
for doing tiny tasks (or nothing at all)- of course you'll find hard work with
no reward over a long time horizon impossible to do.

------
duchenne
A manager is not the only person that can provide you accountability.

What about users/clients, or partners/co-founders?

If you try to ship a super simple prototype very quickly and get a few users,
you would feel accountable to them, and that would give you the motivation to
keep building until you make a great service.

Alternatively, you could team up with someone. Have a chat every day to share
your progress, get some new ideas together, and stay excited about the
project.

------
digitalni
Maybe you never wanted to do (insert your project here) it hard enough?

Also, having no superfficial friends, absolute no gaming/tv policy and
constantly reminding yourself that you are wasting your time on this planet by
not being productive, helps me a lot.

Force yourself to get bored by not gaming, surfing the web, watching tv,
listening to music. Force your mind to accept that working on your goal is
better than sitting quietly and staring at a wall.

~~~
badpun
How long have you lived like this?

------
hn-mamou
The point is not to rely on discipline for too long. Automate, automate,
automate! Here is a short analogy:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/DecidingToBeBetter/comments/bg5g10/...](https://www.reddit.com/r/DecidingToBeBetter/comments/bg5g10/a_working_analogy_to_convey_the_importance_of/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)

------
ndusan-hn
One of the ways to get your self moving can be to identifying/finding similar
ppl which share comment interest with you and run your idea/project with them.
That way you will be pushing each other and getting further way more then if
try to it all the way by yourself. I'm firm believer that in the end if you
want to get things out, you need to find the fight enthusiasts and share your
idea with them :)

------
loteck
Take someone along with you to help you (and join them on their projects to
reciprocate).

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

------
revskill
My goal is simple: Make a platform called "Nocode", which helps non-
programmers to control their application. No vendor lock-in anymore.

More generally, try to avoid "hype", instead, make yourself a goal which is
good enough to save you and others from pain of code debts.

I hate code. It's the worst thing a person could do (though people do it
forcely or for passion).

------
ThJ
Is there some kind of website where you can find people who share your
interests? I work full time as a developer but do electronics, PCB/industrial
design on the side. I wouldn't mind having a partner in crime for this,
especially if he/she does not suffer from the same shyness as me in terms of
asking people for favours and opportunities.

------
zwkrt
Anthony Bourdain has a lovely quote on this topic:

"I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all
day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of
stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy"

The real trick for me is to remove things in my life that are temptations to
fail, and to realize that I am always a fallable person.

------
elorant
Try talking to potential clients before you start building the product. Client
confirmation is the best motive by far. The reason we abandon projects is
because at some point reality hits us in the face and we realize that the
product might flop. If you know beforehand that there is demand for it you
have all the reasoning you need to keep going.

------
anthony_doan
Have multiple projects of different aspect of your life and cycle through them
as you get bored (take a break from being burn out or boredom).

You'll eventually get back to the previous project that you were bored.

I think the trick is to have only one project in each aspect of your life.

Aspect of your life can be broken down in to many an example is "The Four
Burners Theory".

------
qrbLPHiKpiux
I am reminded myself when someone asks me why I don’t finish reading one book
1st, then moving onto the next one? It’s because I can’t concentrate on one
book at a time. Just like I can’t concentrate on one television show at a
time. At any given moment, I have about six or seven books that I’m reading. I
pick the one that fancies my mood.

------
stunt
I found writing goals the most effective driver. Write daily, weekly, and
monthly goals, and also long-term vision.

Teamwork is also a good solution. But first, you have to find out what you are
missing, then try to find someone that can fill that gap for you.

And then you need all other basic things that you already know to keep you
better focused and energized.

------
bobblywobbles
It's not about staying disciplined, so more as picking appropriately-sized
projects.

I tend to be over-ambitious, and never fully finish large projects. The only
ones I'm able to finish are ones that last between 3 weeks - 1.5 months. Any
longer and I usually fizzle out with no energy or motivation left.

------
gdjul
Here: --> Get bored -->

What exactly happens here?

You say _bored_ , do you loose interest in the subject? Or are the next tasks
perceived as too boring? What exactly becomes boring? Or maybe it doesn't
become boring, but something else becomes more interesting? Or does it feel
boring because you run out of energy?

------
JangoSteve
I wouldn't call myself a ruthless executor, but I do tend to ship more
projects than not. The last startup I co-founded was acquired about 5 years
ago, and my current startup is doing well so far. This is a long post, but it
hopefully ties together by the end.

One thing I've noticed though is that it's hard to actually categorize people
as ruthless executors and as being completely self-motivated without knowing
the actual details of their situation. While it's true that some are better at
it than others in relative sense, I also think it's true that a significant
amount is affected by situation and occurrence.

What I mean is that, it's often easier to maintain motivation when people are
using a product, giving it praise, when it's growing and/or making money, and
a host of other things. You may see someone you think intrinsically has a lot
of self-motivation, but maybe they're just better at recognizing and fueling
themselves from small victories, and they know how to get those victories,
small or large. This can work the other way too though, as sometimes these
victories are complete luck and happen as unintended consequences from the
things you do or people you know.

It's easy to look at two people who started two different projects two years
ago; one has grown their team to 10 people and making a lot of waves, the
other gave up on the project 6 months ago; and think the former is a ruthless
executor and the latter is not. But maybe the former person had no more
traction than the latter 6 months in, but they met someone at an event who
connected them with their first paying-customer-to-be, then they met with them
and got a lot of valuable feedback which motivated them to release an MVP
especially for that customer, which then garnered two more customers, which
motivated them to spend some time marketing, which led to more customers and
so on. Maybe the former person would have given up after 8 months if none of
this had happened. And yet the latter person didn't get any of this and yet
still persevered and remained motivated for 18 months absent these external
motivators. You could argue the latter person is more self-motivated than the
former.

I guess the thing I'm getting at here is, there's a difference between being
motivated and being self-motivated. Self-motivation is necessary to persevere
through the times with not external motivators. But in the long-run, which is
what you're asking about, it's not enough. You need external motivators, too.
This is where co-founders can help. This is also where customers can help.
Both of those are difficult to come by, and require knowing and meeting
people, not just building things.

That said, there are a few things I've noticed that really help with self-
motivation in the time that you need motivation, and here is a list that may
be particularly appropriate at the "25-50% of the journey" mark. Again, these
won't get you all the way there, but they may get you far enough to the next
external motivation milestone to make a difference:

1\. Get a graphic designer to create an actual, polished design for your
interfaces and/or landing page. It's amazing to me, how much I and my team, as
engineers, are motivated by how polished and "official" something looks. It
can be a renewed wind in the sails.

2\. Create documentation for it. This can be as simple as a README or as
involved as a launch-ready landing page. Even just opening a new Google Doc to
start writing is a big step forward, and you'll need it eventually anyway.

3\. Once you've got some screenshots or the semblance of a README, post it on
a local startup channel or message board. It might not yet be ready for prime
time launch of Product Hunt or Hacker News, but I find local communities to be
much more supportive of works in progress, and valuable sources of feedback
early on.

4\. Take a scheduled break from it. Having a separate hobby that has nothing
to do with software can be helpful, whether it's sports, crafts, music, or
whatever.

There are probably others, but this might be enough to get started. That's
actually a great segue into another technique that helps me. Often times when
I'm lacking in motivation to get something done, I find myself thinking of how
far I am from the goalpost, and since I don't have a clear vision of how to
get there, I stop working on it until the vision comes to me. This makes it
hard to get back to it though, as the complete vision may never come until I
make more progress... sometimes the vision doesn't come until I'm already
there, at which point the vision is only clear in hindsight.

To counter this, I've started distinguishing between things that are only
valuable when complete versus things that are valuable even when only
partially completed. If part of it is useful, then go ahead and do that part.

The above list, for example, may be useful even though I only listed the first
four things I could think of. I almost didn't write this post, because I don't
have time to refine my thoughts or complete the list. But it's just a post on
a forum, so anyone is free to read my long, unrefined post with an incomplete
list, or skip it. So, I might as well post it in case it helps anyone. If
enough people find it helpful, maybe I'll come back some day and use this as
an initial outline to create a more complete list with a more refined message.

Anyway, I hope this helps. I'm not sure if it answers your question exactly,
but these are some of the things I think about when considering my own ebb and
flow with motivation.

------
jdblair
You have compassion with yourself when you are inevitably less disciplined.
You notice that you need to improve again and you do so without judging
yourself.

It also helps to work with or associate yourself with people who exhibit the
habits you want in your own behavior.

------
orev
Don’t rely on motivation, it is fleeting. Develop and rely on habits and
routines.

------
haayhappen
Read a book that has changed my life: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Just do it and thank me later.

~~~
rchaud
Given that you're referring to a recently released book, you might consider
adding a sentence or two as to why it's a good read. Otherwise it might come
off as a spam post. Which I'm sure it's not, as I'm on the author's email list
and he does post really helpful stuff.

------
tcrow
I have been experiencing this set of problems in one form or another for the
entirety of my adult life. I can think of ideas all day and have no problem
getting them started but inevitably always reach the same conclusion, an
abandonment of both the spirit and implementation. Something I heard recently
from Jordan Peterson on this subject has really got me thinking more
discriminatorily about my efforts. "If you want something, what does it mean
to want it? And what it means is to sacrifice whatever is necessary to get it,
because otherwise you don't want it. You don't want it unless you are willing
to sacrifice for it. And if you don't want it, you're not going to get it,
because you are scattered." It's a simple truism that is easy to forget, but
Peterson is reminding us that anything worth pursuing will require a necessary
sacrifice of time and energy. Getting to the heart of what is worth that
sacrifice could be key to finding success in your endeavors. Godspeed.

------
300bps
There are so many books dedicated to this topic. I’ve liked The War of Art and
Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

I think you have the right answer - discipline as opposed to motivation. Now
you need to develop it.

------
werber
I set realistic personal goals so that even if whatever project fails (and
they usually fail for me), I've picked up a new skill or refined an existing
one. And hopefully I had fun doing it

------
LearningHuman
You may find The Creative Types test quite useful.
[https://mycreativetype.com/about/](https://mycreativetype.com/about/)

------
leesec
For what?

What are you trying to accomplish? Sounds like you have a pretty productive
hobby already? Tinkering is very worth while even if you don't 100% complete
what you set out to do.

------
bbryant
Find something external to hold you accountable ---

This can be a co-worker/collaborator, an investor, an employer (or client), a
dwindling bank account, a competition deadline, etc...

------
jdlyga
I'm good for a few months, then I slip. Then I need to find a new method of
keeping myself disciplined like maybe a new place to study or a new exercise
routine.

------
mongol
Get to the feedback stage. Once you get something good enough to provide value
or positive feedback, you get an external factor to motivate a new iteration.

------
julienreszka
It's about gaining enough momentum. Which is function of how much impact you
want to create and the inertia of the system you want to disrupt.

------
dondawest
You succeed. The positive reinforcement drives the motivation. There is no
method to stay motivated without succeeding.

------
fif
at 25%-50% you hit the "resent horizon" at this point you need to refactor -
because let's face it - the code has started to smell and debugging becomes
REALLY annoying. Refactoring is a totally different mindset, akin to
gardening, but if you learn to like refactoring you'll always finish

------
sengork
You may not be looking for discipline but persistence. One doesn't necessarily
depend on the other.

------
callahanrts
I've had the same struggle forever, but I finally feel like I've found a
pattern that works for me: Find enjoyment in the daily struggle.

For exercise: I've found riding a bicycle to work to be my least hated form of
exercise. I force myself to start every Monday riding to work. If I don't ride
on Monday, the rest of the week is shot. When I do ride, I try to make it as
enjoyable as possible. If I'm feeling unmotivated, I'll glide to work without
breathing heavy at all. I just have to lower the bar so much that I'll at
least do it. Often, I get motivated half way to work and pedal harder anyway.

For side projects: I've been tying this in with other habits. I get up at 5
every morning and drink coffee, read for a bit, and make at least 1 small
contribution to a side project. Maybe it's a meaningless refactor or fixing a
typo. At least I see the green activity in Github and continue building a
habit of at least looking at and thinking about the projects I'm working on.
The end result is that some weeks are vastly productive while others hardly
mean anything.

What I've noticed is that motivation and productivity are a cycle and when I
enjoy my daily habits enough (with no particular outcome in mind), I stick
with things long enough to see compounding results.

TLDR;

Focusing on outcomes makes you aware of how you're not meeting them ->
Demotivation

Building daily habits with vague goals and enjoying the ride -> Compounding
results and satisfaction in hindsight

------
kodz4
Being around more disciplined, always active (dynamic) people is the best way.

------
andersthue
You are stuck, find an arbinger coach, they can help you get unstuck.

Worked for me :)

------
ptah
learn about the structure of and how to build habits

~~~
gbacon
See also _The Power of Habit_ by Charles Duhigg

[https://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/](https://charlesduhigg.com/the-
power-of-habit/)

[https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-
Business/dp/140...](https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-
Business/dp/1400069289/)

------
vectorEQ
being disciplined in the long run IS discipline. if it's only short lived you
don't have discipline. just saying...

------
laurynas
its very simple and very hard

simple you just do it, make a schedule and stick to it, on the hard days just
be a robot and follow the schedule

------
poisonarena
fear, sense of panic and doom

------
wbharding
I wrote an essay about this topic a couple months ago that you might find
applicable
[https://www.amplenote.com/blog/what_makes_long_term_personal...](https://www.amplenote.com/blog/what_makes_long_term_personal_goals_so_damn_hard)

The essay describes exactly half of the what has helped me, which is to create
processes that make it a little bit easier to procrastinate on long-term goals
and then pick them up again later. But the other half, which sounds especially
applicable to your situation, is to pick a goal that will continue to be worth
pursuing. This is much harder than most people expect.

A few years ago I started a "goal of the month" list with some friends. In
January, we picked 12 goals we'd pursue during the year. For the first few
months, it was gravy -- everyone completed their goal and had a satisfying
summary ("I did this, I learned this") they shared with the group afterwards.
But, around the 6th month, the failures began. Between the 9-12th months, our
cumulative success rate was lower than 50%. It was mystifying, because
everyone had purported to spend hours of time carefully choosing their 12
goals in January.

In my case, I tried to pick easy goals for month 9-12. For November, I picked
the goal "bowl a 200" because what could be more fun or easy than going
bowling (though I've never bowled above 150, so there was a hill to climb).
Still, by the time 11 months passed, there had developed 100 things that were
more interesting to me than bowling a 200. I willed myself to go bowling one
time that month, and scored 125. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

We tweaked the rules for the list the following year so you set 12 months
worth of goals, but you could substitute a goal if your original choice was no
longer interesting. Again, by the 9th month, everybody was substituting like
crazy. The goals list experience taught me that my friends and I are woefully
bad at choosing goals that will still be interesting to us 6+ months in the
future.

Fast forward to today, and I've been working on Linux touchpad drivers for
about two years now (e.g., [https://bill.harding.blog/2019/03/25/linux-
touchpad-like-a-m...](https://bill.harding.blog/2019/03/25/linux-touchpad-
like-a-macbook-progress-and-a-call-for-help/)). My "success" on this project
has been made possible because I have a good system to allow myself to
procrastinate, and because every time I use my Linux laptop, I continue to
hate how the touchpad works. I am forced to face that unpleasantness over and
over again, with no escape. So in this case, there is a goal that has remained
important to me because it involves a part of my life that remains constant,
and remains frustrating.

Which is to say, if you can find a problem that is going to continue to eat
away at you for years, I think you're barking up the right tree. If your goal
is one of whimsy or interest, your best bet is to scope your solution so it
can be completed in 6 months or less, because chances are your human interest
will be somewhere else past that point.

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dlphn___xyz
dont be emotionally attached to your projects

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vinrob92
Create habits.

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drinkcocacola
Motivation is shit, discipline is the only thing that matters in this life.

"discipline, sooner or later, will overcome intelligence"

In my country (and actually, in many of western countries), kids are not
congratulated because their hard work, but because they are "smart" or
"intelligent". I grow up being congratulated all the time because "my
intelligence", I made no effort at all to study, and manage to pass all my
high school years with the least possible effort.

When I was 18, I started Physics in the University, to find out it was too
boring for me, and moved to Computer Science where the more "hands on"
approach motivated me a lot.

But it was not enough. Even though I loved to program and I was spending 12+
hours daily only programming, Computer Science is also about mathematics,
physics, statistics, etc. Subjects that I love but they were too complicated
to approve only "because I am intelligent". I was simply not able to sit and
start studying. Beers, girls, parties and videogames were my absolute
priorities, so I ended up being kicked out from the university.

My parents were not able to pay for my university, so I was working while
studying to pay my bills, and that become my main excuse: "it is too hard to
work and study at the same time" (but still, I was spending 30+ hours weekly
playing call of duty).

For the next years, I continue working in a restaurant, and after a while I
got a job in a Technical Support Call center for a known computer peripheral
brand. I learnt a lot about life during those years, but most importantly, it
become very clear in my mind that I needed to go back to university and get a
CS degree.

So the first thing I did was to start accepting that the previous failure was
my fault, and only my fault, this is what helped me to find out the root cause
of the problems: I did not have discipline.

After reading many books about the topic. I started to develop a sense of
discipline that is not a constant fight against myself, but more like a need
to do things in a certain way.

So I went back to University, and found a job at a very young start up: Salary
wasn't too high, people were great, and they were creating really fun things.
I started not even programming but doing a little of everything here and
there, and after some years I became the most important software developer in
the company. During these last 4 - 5 years, I've been improving rapidly
because the university (still do not have the degree). But I know for sure
that I am on the right track. The key points about discipline that I've learnt
so far:

\- There is not a magic bullet. Discipline is something you need to forge step
by step, it takes time and does not stay there magically, you need to keep
working on it every day.

\- Start with small habits, one at the time. For example: Ensure you make the
bed every morning before leaving, leave the house keys always in the same
place, wash the dishes before going bed. But remember to force you to do it
WITHOUT EXCEPTIONS (and this is extremely important). after 3 - 4 weeks your
brain will automatize the task and you will start feeling bad if you don't do
it.

\- Do not try to change your life overnight. That will bring frustration and
your mind will enter in a negative loop, making it more difficult the next
time you try.

\- Keep learning good new habits, eventually your mind will enter in a
POSITIVE feedback loop, where as soon as you want to do something that
requires discipline your mind will be willing to do it because the long term
pleasure you will feel after you complete it.

And remember: "No one climbs a mountain and regrets it".

PS: English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistakes.

------
j45
For the periods I've been able to maintain productivity it's important to
block out out distractions.

Also you have to be realistic that no one's perfect and it's more about taking
your mind and focus to the gym like you might your body to train it for new
habits.

Discipline is the master skill that requires maintaining a practice of doing
what's needed to the point you don't think about it anymore.. Even when things
are going smoothly.

One formula to experiment with:

0) Start a personal codex where you write down everything (categorized to your
life) that you've learned and want to remember, when you forget. Integrating
habits is the goal. I use Evernote and update because I sometimes forget what
works well for me when I fall off the train to remind me what's important, and
why. If you can do it daily, great. The document is on the homepage of my
phone and goes straight into the note.

1) Disable all notifications on all devices. Block websites like reddit, news
in host files and limit HN to a mobile device. Use rescuetime if you have to.
Instead of chasing the next hit of dopamine in novelty or distraction online,
seek it in audio or ebooks that aligns with your goals that you can apply.

2) Think about not being a consumer with time and instead a be creator. If
you're not creating or growing, it's probably passive.

3) Learn to maintain a calendar, and set 1 new appointment per week with
yourself for a new habit. It's ok to schedule checking your email once an
hour.. Then making it once every two hours. Store your habits in your codex.
In 1 year, you can have up to 52 new scheduled routines and habits that are..
Discipline. Read the book focal point by Brian Tracy to generate a well
rounded list. Check out habits by Nir Eyal to learn more about how your brain
can be guided.

3) READING: Do not read any topic that is not immediately something you should
be doing unless a scheduled research time. If you buy a Kindle (dedicated
device can help brain to focus better), it can fill the reddit void with much
higher quality. If you are tight for reading or don't know where to start, try
out blinkist.

4) QUIET: Embrace using Airplane mode when you're focusing. Keep your home
screen to only essential apps and all content consumption on a 2nd screen,
you'll notice you use it less the more swipes or clicks away it is. Not much
is important that it can't wait a few hours, FOMO is entirely a perception.
Also, mediation is a thing for focus and discipline.

5) Social is designed to break your focus and discipline to work for them for
free. If you're a social media user, move all your social media to a dedicated
old device. An old phone, or iPad. It will be out of your hair and you can use
it when you need and put it away. Don't use the apps, and use the websites
instead on a separate browser only for social.

6) Get your stuff organized and keep it that way. Embrace GTD. Read getting
things done and use an app like 2do to capture your random thoughts to let you
focus more over time.

7) With new found focus and time, discipline is a daily practice like bathing
or eating.

Discipline of focus and experimenting (try things, keep what's good and drop
what's bad) is what will help build a personal practice.

If your practice involves deferring and mindlessly flowing interpretations of
others that is what you will become.

Studying swimming is not the same as learning to swim.

------
lawlessone
i blocked reddit.

------
AtHeartEngineer
This...is my life. Not necessarily finding stuff on HN and pursuing them, but
just projects in general.

Here's how I deal with that:

I don't start a project for a while, I think about how I'm going to implement
it in pretty good detail in my head.

Then, I move on to a project I've already started, or a new idea.

After a few days/weeks/months, I'll cycle back, order parts if it's hardware,
or scaffold out an application, or start writing the big picture idea of a
podcast. (I've been remodeling my house, and writing a podcast for 2 years,
work still continues, but I bounce between them.)

Once I have the parts/materials/scaffolding, I bounce between projects usually
dedicating days to weeks on them, until I get bored or frustrated.

I've been doing this since I was a kid. I've started two businesses, written a
few Android apps, I've remodeled half my house (so far, windows, drywall, and
insulation are happening next week) in the past 2 years.

There are 3 projects I've been toying in my head with for a few years that
I've been struggling to figure out how to start. Fully automated made to order
vitamins, a backpack that has the features I want, and a "life logging" app
that doesn't suck. I'd be very happy if someone else made those, I don't care
about the money from them, they are things I want to exist in the world.

The made to order vitamins, costly and risky to start. The backpack I've
attempted and broke the shit out of a sewing machine. The life logging app Ive
started like 3 times, first on Android, then on Django, now I'm leaning
towards serverless with react native...but the scaffolding for what I want is
complicated enough where it's overwhelming to think about if I'm implementing
it right for scaling and expandability.

Either way, the point is, I cycle through projects, making sure I leave them
in a state where I know what needs to be done next. Having 2-3 outside of work
projects and 2-3 work projects keeps me busy and just disorderly enough where
I don't get bored and if I get frustrated, I can just switch what I'm working
on.

The key is, the projects have to be different enough where it doesn't feel
like you are going back to the same grind. Programming, construction, design,
and podcasting are very different from one another. I'm not an expert in
anything really, but I can run a software team, look at the big picture, find
pitfalls, and I'm always down to get my hands dirty.

Another trick I've used that hasn't worked as well as I'd hope but does work
to some extent is, tell others what you are working on, ask them their
opinion, and tell them to get on your ass about it. Some friends do this well,
most don't, it's not their responsibility to get on your ass, that's your
job...but if you have it in the back of your mind that someone might ask about
project X, you'd better have updates.

TLDR: multi-tasking at a larger scale.

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sureaboutthis
Find someone who cares. When you work on something, but no one is behind you
saying how wonderful or useful or needed your project is, it's easy to lose
interest yourself. I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "Behind every great man
is a great woman", and that woman probably gave him support and encouragement
to carry on.

I had been learning how to build web sites for a long time for my wife's
business but she never seemed to care, even when I complained about it, so it
never got done. But when my son started up his business and called me a couple
times a week with questions showing interest and need, it got up quickly to
rave reviews from everyone involved and it was a feeling of immense
satisfaction.

Some people have that inner drive to accomplish something when it's something
they are interested in enough and just want it for themselves. They can get
things done by that alone. I love doing web sites and other projects but, if
I'm doing it only for myself, it's likely to be half-assed if I finish it at
all.

------
thatoneuser
Honestly most of my life I didn't complete my side projects. They were more
about learning and if they were gonna "take off" they'd show it and that's
when you finish. If you're trying to be a completionist just cuz then you're
gonna burn out.

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prabhjeetsingh
According to me, discipline is the key to every success. To remain in
discipline means you have to do every work in a disciplined manner. Make it a
habit rather than just follow the disciplined manners for a few days.

