Milestones and Motivation

Keeping motivated has always been an issue for me.  I will start a program and keep with it for a bit, then I will slowly tail off as I don't see the expected results.  This is true in many aspects of my life and it has taught me a few things about working within my own motivational vortex of despair that might help other folks as well.

The first thing I figured out is that I always tend to take the "grand view" for my expectations.  Instead of focusing on the task at hand, I focus on the expected end result.  So, if projects or programs take a long time, I don't see enough of a change to trigger the "woo-hoo!" circuit in my brain.  To address this I have taken a rather simple approach, I break down whatever it is into a series of smaller tasks that I can get a much quicker return on investment and effort.

For example, my current (long-term) weight loss goal is to lose 100 pounds.  However, that's going to take a long time and I'll need to change things up every couple of months so I don't get bored.  To keep myself on track, I broke that down into four 25 pound goals to reach.  Once I reach a goal, I will change my workout strategy a bit to keep it interesting and move on to the next 25 pound increment.

Which brings me to where I am today.  As of this morning I hit the first 25 pound mark (actually 26, woo-hoo!) and I am going to change up the program so I don't get bored.  Based on recommendations from friends, I am going to introduce the P90X program into my routine (no, I am not expecting to be totally ripped in 90 days), in conjunction with one or two daily walks/runs.  I figure this will do well to shake things up a bit and should make it interesting.  My only concern is that, since I am looking for work, it will be hard to maintain the schedule.

I am also applying this approach to my work.  I have a few geek projects in the hopper that I want to get rolling, but I have been focusing way too much on the grand view.  I am going to simplify, parse the projects into smaller pieces and get to work on them as well.  It is really kind of refreshing to think about things in this way.

To prevent falling into my old trap of thinking too big, I am also adopting a new conceptual tracking system where I categorize my ideas relating to projects within a wiki.  This way, I can track feature enhancement ideas, but they don't get in the way of the task at hand.  I also limit the amount of time I spend thinking about the new concept and allow myself a brief descriptive paragraph instead of really going in-depth (unless it is a game changer, then I will consider them on a case-by-case basis).

By doing this, it also allows me to think about the projects in a more modular approach.  So, I can design each component so it is re-usable within other projects, sort of functional abstraction layers.  This way, if any one piece has issues, it can be re-designed without impacting the others.

I'd be interested to hear from folks on how they approach the motivational vortex, be it in work-related projects, physical fitness or whatever you want to use as a reference point.

Oh yeah...  Go Blackhawks!!!