Let's face it: the only thing that could ever motivate me to finish my homework was the looming arrival of the test or assignment due date. (And if I'm being honest, even that didn't motivate me a whole lot this past year.) Deadlines, it seems, provide great external motivation.
The problem, I find, is that I suck at applying deadlines to my own personal projects. I tend to overestimate my abilities, and how much I can actually get done in a set amount of time. So when I do set deadlines, they pass easily without my project or goal being completed, which leaves me feeling frustrated and dejected and even more unmotivated than I was before.
The only exception to this, it seems, is this blog.
Aside from the brief period of time after the school year (in which I seemed to be unmotivated to do anything other than play Sims), I've been really good at updating this blog. I said I'd update every Friday, and for the most part, I've nailed it, every time. Even now, in the midst of a blog-a-day challenge, I have yet to fail. (Unless you count posting after midnight failing, which I don't. Cut me some slack!)
So what's the difference between this, and my other projects? Why can't my deadlines be as successful for everything else?
Maybe my other projects are simply too big. Maybe my deadlines are unrealistic; the work too big to complete in the given time. Maybe I need to develop a new routine, or a new method to working on my projects.
Or maybe, I just need to dive right back into it.
I'll be honest; now that I'm taking a break from school, and working mostly full time, the pressure is on. To make real progress on my writing, my art, and other creative projects. Before, with my focus always on school, this had always just seemed like a hobby.
It's not just a hobby anymore.
So maybe, despite all the times I failed before, it's time to give it another shot.
Until later,
- Justyne
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