How do you get yourself inspired to work?
 

I should clarify first that I'm a freelancer and work from home. I'm in a position where I need to work. I have the work I need, i just need to finish the projects, but I just can't get myself inspired to work.

I keep the IDE open in the background but i procrastinate on clicking it and actually getting started with the work. I'd really like to work on my own product right now, and give up freelancing work for good, but I need to keep freelancing for a while to pay the bills while I develop the product, or at least save up enough that I can live a few months concentrating on the product.

Anyone else experience that? What's the most effective way to overcome this?

Maybe that will inspire you:

Many people daydream about their future hoping to be much better off at some point in their lives. Yet they completely disregard the present moment therefore whatever action they take produces average results. That, of course, cannot lead them to their desired future because every single action counts toward what you will be experiencing later on.

If you wish to have perfect future, you must make every single present action into success. This is the only way to live the life of your desires.

Thank you for that. I am putting that on my background of my comp now. Maybe that should on yours SimonaRich.

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Jack

This is something I came upon very recently, that I have not read anywhere else. What I post here is probably the start of some cool new train of thought that will lead to a breakthrough for me.

In order to motivate myself to work, I relate the work to my core value on a moment to moment basis.

For example, for the longest time I procrastinated school work. I'd always get high grades on procrastinated work anyway, and I didn't really want to do it, so why bother? As I wrote in a Facebook note, procrastination has probably cost me more time and energy than any other practice of mine.

This is basically gone because I now relate my work, all of it, to my core values. I attach it and associate it to something that I am extremely passionate about.

In my case, it's learning and intelligence. I say to myself, "This action is me becoming more intelligent, more powerful (power), more aligned with destiny (love), more in tune with the world (truth)." I don't lie to myself; it's true. Doing my work does do all these things for me.

You can think of this as an enzyme-coupled reaction in biology. My passions, learning and intelligence, are exergonic reactions, releasing a tremendous amount of energy which is then coupled to endergonic reactions, those tasks of mine that require willpower, effort, or an input of energy. I do not just couple the reactions to things I love doing, but to things I need to do in the bigger picture. This is perhaps related to Steve's concept of scaffolding.

Since I love biology, thinking of it in this way proves effective in getting things done. Questions like "What can I do today to move me towards my goals?" and "What can I do today that would have the most positive leverage in my life?" naturally occur.

You can adequately use this by finding a topic of great interest to you and coupling the resistance-free energy you get from that to things you might not otherwise do.

Hey,

I don't know what more to say to this other than I totally agree. It is something that I do with certain things I dread or during certain challenges that I set for myself. Its the associations that you create with positive thoughts. For instance, what I was trying to wake up early every day, make sure I ate breakfeast every morning, read the paper, trade my stocks effectively, go to work, increase my personal hygiene, etc etc I would associate all the positive things that would come if I would just do these simple things and I even printed out pictures to associate these actions with and that worked incredibly well.

Another thing was that I would not allow any arguing or negatives in my room/office because I did not want ANY negative associations to it. Then I started telling people "Garbage In, Garbage Out" whenever they would gossip to me or start bringing negative into my life. Honestly, I did this and starting getting known for cutting people off and saying that. They were supportive :), they had to be. It made me such a better person that cultivates success. Only positive thoughts. Write it on the wall, print pictures, put it everywhere! I had quotes to help me wake up early so when I would get in the shower at 5:30 I would see it. "You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit." And then bam I would get all happy that I was awake and I knew I could continue.

Million, many people are out there like you and don't ever take effort to change it. You took the first step to ask now its up to you to act.

Good luck, I truly wish you the best success.

Jack

One other thing I do is listen to like a more mellow techno music and sometimes faster stuff. I have associated soooo many positive thoughts with it whenever I listen to it I instantly feel inspired, refreshed, motivated, and ready to do whatever necessary to achieve my goals.


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Jack

Need is a very poor motivator in many ways when your basic needs are met. And telling yourself that you "need" to do something often doesn't work.

Why does purpose matter?

I think there's a third option between the context of need and context of purpose, just the context of doing intresting and challenging things. I would suggest that you reframe the things you "need" to do within the context of a greater challenging and engaging goal. Something that scares you a little bit.

The question to ask may be why you're procrastinating? You can think of it like a chore and just do it. I don't procrastinate on laundry, I don't really feel either which way about it, I just do it. Perhaps you need a bit more industry:
Self-Discipline: Industry

Good luck!

Well... what kind of product do you want to create?
And what kind of freelance work do you do?

:confused:



If you don't like what you're doing, then you won't be inspired. Period.

But you can get inspired by doing things that will start moving you in the direction of your goals...and reminding yourself of how this all fits into the bigger plan. :) Even if you're not 100% happy doing what you're doing right now... you can start riding that future adrenaline rush if you find a way to intertwine your dreams with your current reality. (e.g., if you were a freelance writer, you could write an article on how to do something that you really want to do in the next couple months.)


If you start taking active steps to get the ball rolling... then you'll probably start getting excited about the future, and you'll get a rush of creative energy. Try to use that to do whatever you need to do right now. :) (And remember: you won't be stuck here forever! You're moving towards something greater...)

http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/personal-effectiveness/25646-procrastination-quote
 

"'Eat that frog' - Brian Tracy, imagine if everyday you had to eat a frog (metaphor for the task that is important which you procrastinate to do). Scenario 1: If you procrastinate then your frog will haunt you throughout your day and you will not complete your other tasks with much enthusiasm and satisfaction.
Scenario2: If you do eat your frog first, you will have a certain surge of energy and enthusiasm throughout the day. Also the other tasks will be completed in a better state of mind, satisfaction and less erroneous."


Here is another addition.
"Get someone to look over your shoulder": in the beginning when I started my self-employment I had a partner who had as much to gain and to lose on our venture. We had our share of work to do but we always kept each other "on our toes". Daily and even hourly updates. I must say the productivity was at its peak. Presently I have no partner and my productivity is low.

So "eat your frog" and "have someone to look over your shoulder"