The best motivator for me is meeting other people’s expectations, or trying to impress them.
Anecdote 1: A few summers ago, my friend paid me $100 to make a website for his babysitting business. I started working on it at his house and he saw me and realized it was going to take significantly more than the 8 hours I predicted. So every day he would come over to my house to watch me work on the site. It went at a steady pace and I finished after 25 hours of work. Meanwhile I had another, more important programming project that I was being unproductive at.
Anecdote 2: At work, when I’m feeling unmotivated, I think “What’s the quickest way I can show my boss a demo of something to prove I’ve been working?”
Anecdote 3: If I work out at the gym by myself, I never do the exercises that feel awkward unless someone is watching, and I don’t make quite the impossible effort to strain my muscle more after it already feels dead.
Side note: When I’m at work, I always think “This is so tedious. I’m looking forward to getting on with my workout later.” Then when I’m working out, I think “This is so damn painful. I’m looking forward to just sitting at work and writing code.”
The best motivator for me is meeting other people’s expectations, or trying to impress them.
Anecdote 1: A few summers ago, my friend paid me $100 to make a website for his babysitting business. I started working on it at his house and he saw me and realized it was going to take significantly more than the 8 hours I predicted. So every day he would come over to my house to watch me work on the site. It went at a steady pace and I finished after 25 hours of work. Meanwhile I had another, more important programming project that I was being unproductive at.
Anecdote 2: At work, when I’m feeling unmotivated, I think “What’s the quickest way I can show my boss a demo of something to prove I’ve been working?”
Anecdote 3: If I work out at the gym by myself, I never do the exercises that feel awkward unless someone is watching, and I don’t make quite the impossible effort to strain my muscle more after it already feels dead.
Side note: When I’m at work, I always think “This is so tedious. I’m looking forward to getting on with my workout later.” Then when I’m working out, I think “This is so damn painful. I’m looking forward to just sitting at work and writing code.”