Andy Free's Blog - Posts Tagged "day-job"
Avoiding Uphill Battles: Secrets of Motivation
Secrets of Self-Motivation in the Real World
I don’t believe in fighting uphill battles. Unless my home is being invaded at the top of the hill and I was caught unawares out grocery shopping. Then I “have it to do.” I’ll get the sword and shield out of the car trunk and start chopping away. But life is too hard to pick battles that are unusually difficult, unless you have no choice. Fighting that way all the time will wear you down in the long run. So one of the secrets I use to motivate myself is something I call: “And now for something completely different.”
First, a little stage-setting: I work a full time day job that is quite technical and has a lot of left-brain elements to it. This choice of day job was a deliberate one and I did it for several reasons:
1. I’m not a big believer in the creative arts as a steady income source, though I do make some money from them.
2. I’d rather not tie my livelihood tightly to my creative pursuits.
3. The day job is completely different from my creative interests, but the day job is quite interesting and worthwhile. It just uses different talents and abilities than the creative pursuits.
# 3 turns out to be a very important component to how I keep myself motivated and productive, not only in the creative pursuits themselves but in the day job too. When I come home, I look forward to doing something completely different from the day job. I feel refreshed. When I go back to work the next day, I look forward to doing something completely different from the creative pursuits. I feel refreshed. This is a cycle of synergy that has worked powerfully and consistently for years. It’s the reason I was able to do five solo music albums on YouTube (also distributed worldwide) since mid-2011 (see https://www.youtube.com/user/AndyBeFree). I will also (if all goes well) complete and publish three novels in my first year as an author. Two are done so far:
Avalon: Companions
Avalon: Kings and Queens
That is remarkable productivity for a part-time effort. (If you hear a slapping sound, that would be me patting myself on the back in a really smug and annoying manner).
So, when undertaking a creative pursuit, see if there is a cycle of synergy – something completely different and refreshing that you can toggle back and forth. It’s a huge plus and source of energy if you can identify something like that. If you do find it, protect it – don’t let the excruciating minutiae of day-to-day life erode it.
And do remember to sleep enough! My number one issue that I deal with is not getting enough sleep because I am too darn interested in what I am doing and the wheels will not stop turning.
I don’t believe in fighting uphill battles. Unless my home is being invaded at the top of the hill and I was caught unawares out grocery shopping. Then I “have it to do.” I’ll get the sword and shield out of the car trunk and start chopping away. But life is too hard to pick battles that are unusually difficult, unless you have no choice. Fighting that way all the time will wear you down in the long run. So one of the secrets I use to motivate myself is something I call: “And now for something completely different.”
First, a little stage-setting: I work a full time day job that is quite technical and has a lot of left-brain elements to it. This choice of day job was a deliberate one and I did it for several reasons:
1. I’m not a big believer in the creative arts as a steady income source, though I do make some money from them.
2. I’d rather not tie my livelihood tightly to my creative pursuits.
3. The day job is completely different from my creative interests, but the day job is quite interesting and worthwhile. It just uses different talents and abilities than the creative pursuits.
# 3 turns out to be a very important component to how I keep myself motivated and productive, not only in the creative pursuits themselves but in the day job too. When I come home, I look forward to doing something completely different from the day job. I feel refreshed. When I go back to work the next day, I look forward to doing something completely different from the creative pursuits. I feel refreshed. This is a cycle of synergy that has worked powerfully and consistently for years. It’s the reason I was able to do five solo music albums on YouTube (also distributed worldwide) since mid-2011 (see https://www.youtube.com/user/AndyBeFree). I will also (if all goes well) complete and publish three novels in my first year as an author. Two are done so far:
Avalon: Companions
Avalon: Kings and Queens
That is remarkable productivity for a part-time effort. (If you hear a slapping sound, that would be me patting myself on the back in a really smug and annoying manner).
So, when undertaking a creative pursuit, see if there is a cycle of synergy – something completely different and refreshing that you can toggle back and forth. It’s a huge plus and source of energy if you can identify something like that. If you do find it, protect it – don’t let the excruciating minutiae of day-to-day life erode it.
And do remember to sleep enough! My number one issue that I deal with is not getting enough sleep because I am too darn interested in what I am doing and the wheels will not stop turning.
