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  • What is the strongest signal that makes sure you are working on something deeply motivational?

    Ben Cotte
    14 replies
    I almost ran to get to my working seat this morning and start working already. It was a long time I haven't felt this way. Usually, when I walked to my coworking space, I was taking my time, wandering a bit, buying a coffee on the way in, etc... What is the strongest signal you have observed when you are in this motivational zone?

    Replies

    Joshua Dance
    Summer Bod 2020
    A strong signal is when I know I am solving a problem.
    Ben Cotte
    @joshdance does it translate into a specific behavior?
    Rosie Sherry
    When I stay up too late working on stuff. I just don't want to put it down. 😅
    Ben Cotte
    @rosiesherry Haha - that's a strong signal!
    Wiktoria Jaszcza
    Yes, when I stay up late or wake up early in the morning to keep working on it. And I feel completely absorbed. ❤️‍🔥
    Ben Cotte
    @w_j I bet there could be a story behind this. For me a related strong signal is that I wake up before my daughter ^^
    Luca Di Matteo
    What I've noticed is that I am much more motivated when I have to achieve a task that: 1- Is well specified, with clear start and finish 2- I have already started If I wake up with a clear task to finish in mind, I'll be working on it in no time, and that time will be 100% productive. What I'm not good at however is being productive working on new tasks with uncertainties. So I'm kind of stuck in an endless circle: Phase 1- I have the desire to work on something new. Phase 2- It's painful to come up with a well structured approach to tackling it, but I manage to do it. I start working on it and I realise I had misconceptions about it, so I have to think it through again. During all this process, I usually struggle to stay truly productive even for a couple hours in a day. Phase 3- I have started working on it and feel like I have it figured out, I can now work days without blinking even once. Phase 4- Go back to 1. My motivational zone is phase 3, but I can't really force it, phase 2 is at least as important ! So to stay motivated in phase 2, I think about phase 3!
    Ben Cotte
    @norrude Nice! Thanks for sharing it out! Any concrete signals in your daily habits you have observed?
    Vanshika Chaturvedi
    This may seem a little cliche, but if I am working on something that has set ablaze my motivation, I feel the need to spread the fire. Basically, I want to talk about what I'm working on, I want the world to know that THIS is what I'm doing and I want to tell my peers that they can do it too! I feel this is the effect of social media on the mind where sharing your achievements with the world validates them in a way.
    Ben Cotte
    @vanshika_chaturvedi Haha, that's not cliché, it is great! Some would rather keep it for themselves and dive into building mode.