[Bushido]

Procrastination at work is almost a given, but do you ever have trouble motivating yourself to do what you actually want to do?

I have a couple of websites that bring me passive income - not enough to live on, but a respectable amount of money. The goal is to bring these up to higher amounts and possibly freelance to pay the bills, quit the job, achieve location independence and all that jazz.

This dream has been there for a couple of years now and it's beginning to haunt me. Why? Because I am unable to fucking kick my ass into gear to pursue these websites 200%.

If I get some downtime at work, I end up bullshitting with colleagues, surfing the web, or debating the homosexual paedophile issue on RVF

If there's a national holiday, I end up scheduling dates, hitting the gym or going to the beach. Nothing gets done. It's always a tomorrow that doesn't come. Girls eat up my time especially. Can you relate to this?

Looking at the passive income coming in is cool but at the same time, there is this awareness of a lost opportunity. My biz partner on one of sites has already got frustrated with me before and I have no excuses.

Any ideas on how to break out of this pattern? I've tried and always fall back into the same habits.

Your advice/experiences would be appreciated.

[Bushido]

And yes, I'm aware of the irony that making this thread seems like procrastination too!

[Bill]

So much is being written about it. But I know most things are too difficult. One is always in search for a trick to have it easier. I think it exists but one has to experiment which works best for oneself. Recently I came to think that writing a think diary early in the morning programs some neurons to help you focus on your aims throughout the day. At least I think it might work.

[w00t]

"Most people are too busy making a living to make any money"

youre comfortable, probably quite content with yourlife, you have a steady paycheck... so why would you put the energy in your own projects?

a steady paycheck is like a drug, sedating you and wanting you for your next fix. and when you work 20-40 hours a week its hard to bring up the motivation to work on your own projects.

motivation to me only comes when Im really frustrated with something and want to get away from something

simple way to break out of this pattern? save up some money, quit your job and focus on your own projects 100%

youll be forced to get serious or else you will have no money to pay the bills

[The PerSev]

Fixing a lack of motivation is tricky because there are a lot of potential causes for it. You first have to 'troubleshoot' yourself and find out exactly what the cause is, and then you can work on fixing it.

Either the problem is psychological(fear of success, depression, low self esteem/feeling unworthy) or it's biological(poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, sexual or mental exhaustion, anemia etc).

[RawGod]

This was the most helpful thing I've come across in my fight with procrastination. Stefan Molyneux comes at it from a totally different angle. [/align]

[The Reactionary Tree]

I find with going to the gym for example that you just have to place yourself into the situation and you will then be forced to work out. You just kind of have to throw yourself into the situation and force yourself to do it.

[Bushido]

(07-12-2014 08:30 AM)RawGod Wrote:  

This was the most helpful thing I've come across in my fight with procrastination. Stefan Molyneux comes at it from a totally different angle. [/align]

That was a fantastic video. Thanks.

It makes me realize - there is no point beating myself up for not writing for my websites. It's simple. I either want to update them or I don't.

"Ah shit. I've got to write that article" becomes "Do I want to write that article or not?" I like this mindset. I'm going to give it a try.

Then again, I find that when I'm writing, I often get into an article after the first paragraph or so. The mind is a strange and wonderful thing isn't it?

[Parlay44]

I think about this kind of thing everyday. The best thing I can tell you is that you have to commit to the work. A career is not something you do for a living it's something that you do because you love it. It doesn't feel like work.

It doesn't seem like your heart is in it honestly. It's like you're asking for advice on how to keep fucking your girlfriend that turned into an obese whale but you still love her.

Think it through. Commit to the work. Do or do not. There is no try.

[Cobra]

Fuck.. that's tough. Can you get a job (just anything part time) or join a group that meets regularly, a charity even, to get you into a daily routine?

Maybe working at a restaurant as a waiter for a few hours can even help.

Then SPECIFICALLY carve out a few hours to work on your next venture.

I'll explain what I mean. The reason I say "get a job or join a group" is that it's going to eat away at the procrastination you mentioned which include "shooting the shit and surfing the forum."

The more your procrastination gets eaten away the more you focus on your SPECIFIC goals.

This has worked for me mentally in the past.

[babelfish669]

I have found there are two types of motivational issues that people struggle with. The first relates to you having a job and a lot of stuff you are already doing. You probably have four hours of maximum output work a day. Only a very few extremely sharp and motivated people can build a company while working another job. Just the same for being in school, being married, or having children. I'm not one and you aren't either. You need to quit your job.

I've been at this for nearly a decade and everyone I know who didn't take their side businesses seriously are stuck doing contract work or have to work full time for a normal company again. The ones that prioritized their work before everything else are multi-millionaires.

The other motivational issue shows up once your schedule is clear and your business is the work before you. You have to be genuinely interested in what you are doing, not just interested in the money. Without that true fascination with your work one could go full steam ahead for 12 month, but more likely you will burn out long before you've achieved the foundation necessary.

Something to consider, if your employer pays you $75,000 a year, you probably cost them $100,000 or more. They spent thousands of dollars directly hiring you or indirectly through their sourcing/HR/promoting their company. Depending on the employer, you earn them quite a bit more in revenue than your cost. It is very realistic for someone who is paid $75,000 a year to be able to make $140,000 a year through a business that mostly runs itself. If you build the company to sell, you end up cashing in and paying capital gains tax rather than income tax. Between earning more, ultimately working less, and paying capital gains verse income tax you come out far, far ahead.

By the way, hint for making money: there is a massive wage gap between the US and developing countries. You can hire people for $4-$10 an hour and essentially resell their labor for 10x that. In some cases they are as good or better than Westerners. Most of the reason these people's wages are so low is because their English sucks or is non-existent. You can straight up resell it hour for hour, or you can use it to build a brand (do the latter if you want to cash in on your company at the end.) This isn't just programming work but highly skilled creative work like painting reproductions being created in China. Something to consider.

[peace75]

(07-12-2014 01:32 AM)dreambig Wrote:  

Procrastination at work is almost a given, but do you ever have trouble motivating yourself to do what you actually want to do?

Absolutely. My doctor recently told me I needed to change my diet and do more exercise. I have changed my diet, but I still have not motivated myself to do exercise such as walking, or any exercise that would lead to weight loss.

I guess we just have to feel good enough about ourselves to be motivated to do whatever leads to self improvement. Certainly not an original thought, but nevertheless true.

[General Stalin]

There are a number of factors at play, especially depending on the kind of person you are. One thing I notice is that when I have a lot of free time then I get lazy. Cobra is onto the right idea. If you are strapped for time then you tend to take better advantage of what little personal time you do have.

If you have a job that is uninspiring then that is a serious motivational drain. The real catch 22 is that no job is rewarding forever. If you get a new job it may be awesome, but eventually you will get comfortable unless you get a promotion, a role change, new responsibilities, etc. Even a job where you do something you love can get monotonous and obligatory after a while - the only exception might be if you have a career that is location independent and/or non-routine.