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Motivating Yourself


Nosebleed

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Personal rant incoming

Lately i've just been feeling incredibly monotonous, my life feels boring and when i want to do certain things i can't find the will to do them most of the time, even though i often imagine doing it (especially when i'm about to fall asleep)

I do the same thing every single day, sit around a computer watching silly things and chatting with people. Every single day.

This has impacted me on many levels, i haven't felt productive at all and i can't find much enjoyment in stuff i used to enjoy (including my weeb hobbies).

I always tell myself stuff like "today will be the day i start reading RTK" and then i postpone it/get distracted/etc

And even with anime/vns i start losing focus after some time.

I feel like i don't have a schedule for anything and i never manage to force myself to dedicate to certain projects i should pay more attention to.

I really want to change this as soon as possible, it's not exactly fun.

But enough with the depressing talk, i just wanted to talk with the fuwa community about this, have you ever felt like this, and if so how did you manage to get yourself back up?

Sorry if this doesn't sound coherent, it's almost 3AM~

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I have a similar problem it seems...not with being bored with repetition, in my case I think it started when I switched jobs.  Due to a small amount of free time I guess I just tend to just use it randomly (like now), but I think those little bits of time could be used for something if I actually tried to maintain some sort of a schedule.

 

maybe look at this article http://time.com/2933971/how-to-motivate-yourself-3-steps-backed-by-science/

It tells you neat-o stuff like "research shows happiness increases productivity  and makes you more successful" as well as "people instructed not to think about sex exhibit greater arousal, as measured by the electrical conductivity of their skin"

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Yeah, I've definitely felt like that, when I was in school over the summer for the third term in a row. I was able to gain actual enjoyment out of my hobbies and feel like I did something by changing the non-hobby parts of my life - basically, I felt better after exams were over and I started working/had a week's vacation.

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The thing is right now i'm jobless, next year i go back to college, and in between there's nothing (which is right now), i feel like i dragged myself down by doing nothing and just being lazy, it sort ot took over me, but i never manage to get out of the vicious cycle.

I don't even manage to find the motivation to apply for jobs.

Thanks for the article Zoom, i'll definitely read it.

I think what i need is someone to kick me out of my habits.

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Personal rant incoming

Lately i've just been feeling incredibly monotonous, my life feels boring and when i want to do certain things i can't find the will to do them most of the time, even though i often imagine doing it (especially when i'm about to fall asleep)

I do the same thing every single day, sit around a computer watching silly things and chatting with people. Every single day.

This has impacted me on many levels, i haven't felt productive at all and i can't find much enjoyment in stuff i used to enjoy (including my weeb hobbies).

I always tell myself stuff like "today will be the day i start reading RTK" and then i postpone it/get distracted/etc

And even with anime/vns i start losing focus after some time.

I feel like i don't have a schedule for anything and i never manage to force myself to dedicate to certain projects i should pay more attention to.

I really want to change this as soon as possible, it's not exactly fun.

But enough with the depressing talk, i just wanted to talk with the fuwa community about this, have you ever felt like this, and if so how did you manage to get yourself back up?

Sorry if this doesn't sound coherent, it's almost 3AM~

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I've had a similar problem recently. I've been doing the same stuff day in, day out to the point where my days have actually started to blend together. Throughout the year I've discovered several things that I want to do; Gliding, Martial Arts and even a VN review show. I have the motivation to do them, but what I don't have is the money. As a result I'm stuck in a rut and can't get out and all my motivation is doing is making my predicament all the more depressing.

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There is nothing more annoying that feeling like that, I know it well.

 

To fix it I spend my every available moment loading myself with more and more work. Example, I've gotten a New Year's Holiday. This means I'll have free time, which means I'll feel down.

How to fix it?

Get rid of said free time. I've done this by taking on 20 different tasks for Fuwanovel. Make threads in the staff forums. PM dozens of people. Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm.

With this, I'm both productive somewhere, and I also enjoy my games/VN's/Anime more, because I feel like I'm resting.

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The thing is right now i'm jobless, next year i go back to college, and in between there's nothing (which is right now), i feel like i dragged myself down by doing nothing and just being lazy, it sort ot took over me, but i never manage to get out of the vicious cycle.

I don't even manage to find the motivation to apply for jobs.

Thanks for the article Zoom, i'll definitely read it.

I think what i need is someone to kick me out of my habits.

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Yo Nosebleed, I'll tell you a bit about myself (sorry, sad story incoming).

 

I've been bullied for as long as I can remember (I guess I was around 8 years old when it started) up until my last year of high school because I was different and I was a very easy target for harassment. I didn't have a lot of friends because of this. I was also a bit overweight which is why I figured that's why people kept teasing me and when I started growing rapidly near the end of elementary school I figured I would not be teased any more when I entered high school. Tough luck apparently because high school was more of the same, I ended getting excluded from most of the class activities and had to each lunch by myself as well. I made a few friends, but looking back on it the only reason why they were even friends with me was so they had someone in their group they could constantly make fun of because they knew full well I wasn't capable of defending myself. In the fifth year I started hanging out with a few guys that weren't in my class and because of that they didn't really know the severity of my problems. Nevertheless, they accepted me into their group and I was kinda happy, even though I had already been suffering from severe mood swings and the beginnings of a depression at that time.

 

Honestly, it's a miracle I even made it through high school without killing myself because I've spent years hating of my life hating myself and the world around me. I guess that in the end I was just too big of a pussy to actually follow through with it, which is why I'm able to write this to you today.

 

Fast forward to last year, after failing university I was doing well in college (even though I had made friends I really didn't care about, to be honest, I rather disliked hanging out with them but I'm the kind of guy that just goes along with everything so it couldn't be helped), studying social work. All went well until I entered my second year internship which was a DISASTER. I basically failed at everything, even the most trivial tasks from paperwork to having a conversation to reassure someone went completely haywire. I didn't understand it at the time, but my counselor from school advised getting myself tested by a psychological research team.

So, I did. In September 2013 I got myself tested extensively for ADHD (the symptoms were there: horrible concentration and overall bad impulse control.). Along with that however, the psychologist picked up a few things about me being not very social, having trouble making friends and getting bullied for a majority of my school life. This caused him to run an additional battery of tests which, at the time, I didn't really understand. There was a reason for this of course and I learned that when the results were announced. Bam: not only did I have a severe case of ADHD, I was also autistic (they call it autism spectrum disorder now but my condition is called Asperger Syndrome). Well, fuck me. That explained everything that had been going on, why I was bad at making friends, why I hated most social events, why I had problems reading people and connecting with them on an emotional level. Even though I was born with an intelligence level that far surpassed my peers, I also had a few 'issues' that made functioning in a 'normal' society very difficult for me. Hell, I'm still not sure how I have managed to get through anything I've gone through, looking at the list of symptoms I have. 

 

So, there you have it. I feel bad most of the time because I know I'm weird, I'm not like the others, I'm abnormal and there is nothing I can do to change myself. I'll always be bad with people, I'll always have bad concentration, I'll always suffer through life. But you know what, that's fine. Because that's who I am. I am me. I have a different outlook on life, I am more critical of things and I have a very analytical way of seeing the world. I have a great knack for noticing little details like spelling errors in a text and so forth. I am good at things other people aren't. That is why I have set myself a few goals: I would get through uni after finishing college, I would go to see a psychologist to help me with my depression. 

 

I am doing both of those, along with that I have also started taking medication for my ADHD which is sadly not helping but I've also started running again for the sake of my own health and to help me with my concentration. You have no idea how much I hate exercising man, I loathe it! But, I'm tired of letting myself down so I'm keeping to it. I'm doing it because I want to fight this world, I don't want to be kept down by the labels that have been put on me. I don't want those asshole classmates of mine in elementary and high school to win. I want to do this for me, for my own future. That's all there is to it.

 

/endrant

 

sorry for the wall 'o text and for any spelling/grammar errors

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I think a lot of people try feeling like that at some point and I think the way to get over it is different from person to person.

My way is to do something I don't usually do so that I will get more variation in my daily life.

It can be basically anything, for example I like to go on walks, which have no real destination.

You know "walking for the purpose of walking". I know a lot of people probably do that regularly, but I only do it sometimes to get more variation.

That way I also get some fresh air, which also helps.

It can also be hard to get yourself to do something new, but if thats the case, then you have to force yourself to at least try it.

The if it doesn't work out, you can try something new.

 

Don't know if this will help, but I hope it will, at least to some extent :)

Anyway I hope you feel better soon 

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My motivation is limited to my work schedule, taking car of my wife and working on my car. Been doing the same thing for a whole year straight and haven't gotten bored once. The only time i do anything else is when i have no work to do, my wife is asleep and i'm busy waiting on the fed-ex truck to arrive with much needed car parts. Then again i find monotone relaxing, none of that surprise spontaneous bullshit 

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Happens to me a lot xD...

 

Some things I do to motivate myself about random work or projects:

- I reward myself (I don't let myself have fun, until I finish what I need to do).  Ex: For my the small project (Sakuya), I rewarded myself with Dragon Age: Inquisition game after I finished Translations.

- Get other people involved with what I'm doing.. it keeps me motivated since it not only affects me but other people too, so there's sense of responsibility to get things done.

- Think about the nice things that will happen if I can achieve x.

- Getting things done now, means I don't have to worry about it later or constantly (less stress built up later if get things done earlier or at a steady pace).

 

mostly though.. I think just, setting a schedule and Forcing yourself to follow it no matter what. I know my tendency that.. if I skip one time, I'll probably end up skipping more.. so I make myself do it, no exception (unless I'm like really sick).

 

 

For Japanese... I dunno, I mostly just think about if I stick to a certain schedule.. it will benefit me later on in the long run so I tell myself to stick to it.  (I calculate the amount of days, until I reach goal of reaching 2k vocabulary, finishing amount of chapters in grammar book, etc. so I have a certain time to look forward to if I follow my schedule).  Like, if I reaaalllyy want to read x someday, I need to keep learning etc.. that's usually what will get me pumped up to learn.  Especially if I let myself believe it's possible and can reach my main goal someday.  I try to set realistic goals, so I know it's possible to get done and that motivates me.  I admit.. I slack on Japanese sometimes though... lol, but those thoughts and at least having a schedule helps.

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That was beautiful, Tyrael.

I don't mind the wall of text.

 

There's a certain time when we all feel that, but I don't think we should let ourselves be consumed by that feeling. There's a certain thing I keep on getting whenever I'm not productive, and it bugs me to no end. Why am I not being productive? Because I keep on doing things I like. And that's something I don't really regret doing. Though it does stall me from doing my work, causing me even greater fatigue than that of doing my work properly. But I don't let that drag me down. You see, once I get dragged down that pit, there's no getting out. Unless someone pulls me out, or I quickly learn professional rock climbing.

 

Life does seem incredibly monotonous at times, but that isn't the point for me. The point is that for now it's monotonous, but after a while, something different might happen. I get myself excited for that different something. Because y'know. Something different is something good as well! It's nature might be bad though... But no matter. Change is something that constantly happens. Change happens if something different is brought into the equation of life and everyday. So if change is something that constantly happens, then something different will constantly be added into our lives, no matter our current consequences. Yes, no matter what. Be it a bad luck streak yet again or something great, there's always something different.

 

A monotony of either good or bad. Or a monotony of neutrality? I don't really know which monotony my life has right now. But it doesn't really matter to me. I'll keep on enjoying this monotony my life currently has. It might be monotonous because I'm not doing something different, or because I do not have the ability to do something different that would steer the flow of my activities to another direction. But eh. I'll just live with it. It's what I have. I'm satisfied by it. But that's not true as well. After all, we are never truly satisfied. That's why a life that changes slowly becomes monotonous as well. If you think about it, constant change means that it's something that continually happens as well. Something everyday. It adds up to the spice, though. It's life ----> monotonous ----> change aaand repeat.

 

Yeah. I think I just broke the definition of monotony by considering change as part of it, but whatever.

 

For motivating myself, I just... I don't know.

What the... What motivates me...?

I don't really know. I'm sorry.

Oh, but I do remember one thing that motivated me.

Stories. Yes, stories with characters that have drive.

If they could do it, why couldn't I?

Yeah. That keeps me back on track most of the time.

 

Well that was long. I hope you don't tl;dr that.

 

If you do prefer tl;dr though...

 

tl;dr

How can you possibly aim to motivate yourself to do productive things if you can't even get yourself to read this wall of text? Though it may be that you have other important things to do as well...

Get yourself together and face reality. Don't be a pussy. That's about it.

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At times motivation can be hard to find. Other times I even happen to look for a way to motivate my motivation itself.

 

The best method (for me, at least) is the one Ren mentioned - find a person who has already travelled the path you're treading on, and be inspired by him by simply following in his footsteps. What may often keep you from progressing are doubts about whether what you're doing (or planning to do, in this case) is right or not, whether it will truly get you what you're aiming for. Following your own path (the one you pointed out for yourself using your own knowledge, for instance) is similar to walking through snow at the level of your waist wearing heavy clothes, while following in someone's footsteps can be compared walking on a path someone's already walked before. Seeing a clear road in front of you (seeing that your goal is reachable because someone's already reached before you) can inspire you just as much as your goal itself. What remains is finding a suitable person to show the path.

 

I think you'll figure out the meaning behind the images yourself.

 

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a1161c61533b8a5868969df75513ff18.jpg

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Motivation, huh? When I feel unmotivated, I usually do these:

- force myself to work

- read or look at things that boost up my motivation. I usually keep a folder in my computer full of things that make me want to work or get creative.

- listen to upbeat music

- google random things that interest me for ideas (as a last resort)

 

Another thing I noticed is that I'm more motivated to work when I'm doing a collab project. Probably because I always want to contribute enough to the project.

 

Also, I'd think about the rewards I'll get after doing the things I'm supposed to do.

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I always have a hard time motivating myself to do anything really. I sit down at my computer with the intention of working on my projects, studying Japanese, or SOMETHING productive but I always find myself bogging myself down with "after this video" and "in like 10 minutes I'll start". This goes on and on until I have no time in the day and then BAM... I have wasted all of my free time away.

 

Things have been getting better though. Whenever I drink anything like coffee, I end up getting really amped up and hyper. I use this energy and try and direct it all towards something that is productive. Like this one day, I managed to write up over 10k words in my manuscript... constantly fueling the process with caffeine. XD

So... I guess one could say I am using a drug to fix my laziness... but really I am not. xD

 

... Can quit drinking coffee whenever I want...

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