MOTIVATION

[Turboconqueringmegaeagle]

I dont normally struggle getting motivated to go into the shed and build something but quitting smoking has had some unexpected side effects, not just am i generally lacking energy but going into the workshop with a beer and a smoke after work was all id be thinking about all day at work, sometimes id be in there till 2 am....
Right now i'm working longer hours, its autumn (fall if you want) so its getting chilly and dragging myself away from the fire indoors is always a struggle.
I'm interested in hearing about everyone else's workshop vices and if anyone else ever feels ashamed at them self for sitting through an episode of call the midwife or whatever tripe the missus is watching instead of going and doing something productive.

[Jon]

One recommendation that you see frequently in communities that focus on productivity and motivation is something referred to as the "5 Minute Rule". This means that you agree to work on something productive for just 5 minutes. Once 5 minutes are over, you can stop, having completed your goal. However, in many cases, once you're over the initial 5 minutes, you have enough inertia to keep going.

What has helped me when procrastinating anything is to analyze why I'm procrastinating. Oftentimes I'll realize that I'm procrastinating because I fear that I'll screw up the job. In that case, I find I need to do more research or practice more before tackling the job. Other times, I find that the reward for the task is too vague or distant to motivate me, so I'll agree to a small simple award for myself, because something like "I'll be more knowledgeable and satisfied with my life" isn't motivating enough to fight off procrastination.

Harvard Business Review is good for topics like this. Here are two articles on determining why you're procrastinating, with tactics to address the various stumbling blocks:

How to Beat Procrastination - Harvard Business Review
5 Research-Based Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination - Harvard Business Review

Good on you for quitting smoking. No doubt it will make all of the above more challenging, but ultimately, when you succeed, more rewarding.

[Turboconqueringmegaeagle]

what a fantastic resource! having been thoroughly distracted, i then found an article on distraction.
This is without doubt the finest aspect of the internet, not just finding an useful snipit of info like the timing procedure for a villiers stationary engine but as in this case, an entire library of well written invaluable literature, so thank you very much Jon.

[Nitrous]

I dont normally struggle getting motivated to go into the shed and build something but quitting smoking has had some unexpected side effects, not just am i generally lacking energy but going into the workshop with a beer and a smoke after work was all id be thinking about all day at work, sometimes id be in there till 2 am....
Right now i'm working longer hours, its autumn (fall if you want) so its getting chilly and dragging myself away from the fire indoors is always a struggle.
I'm interested in hearing about everyone else's workshop vices and if anyone else ever feels ashamed at them self for sitting through an episode of call the midwife or whatever tripe the missus is watching instead of going and doing something productive.

First, there is NOTHING more useful to you or your family than quitting smoking. PERIOD.
Few if any of us use our time as wisely as others (including ourselves) might expect BUT you will not regret the decision to quit smoking.
Now, just don't go crazy with all the money you will save!

Good Luck,
Doug

[bricolage]

The five minute rule is what I probably do, or should do. I frequently find it hard to actually get going but as soon as I start I don't think about anything else, I just do it. I must look at the Harvard material - and apply it.

David

[Ed Weldon]

My answer is to plan a small job, easy to start and finish in less than a half hour that you go to first on visiting your shop. Then leave it at done to greet you on your next visit. The satisfaction of viewing it twice is a motivator.
Lately preping specialized cardboard storage boxes for the shop with some selected cutting and regluing or maybe just a spray can paint job to reinforce and cover advertising has been my thing. Verticle storage wood tool blocks is another one. Sharpen some tools. Replace that dull band saw blade or sanding belt. Make wood or metal handles for tools like files, pointed tools or fine wires like you use for cleaning spray can nozzles. Make sanding blocks for all the grit and grades of abrasive paper you use. Tear op some sandpaper sheets for hand sanding. Hone your knives. Better still, sharpen your spouse's kitchen knives. Add some logical order to your machining stock or just your surplus cutoffs. Color code things for identification. (everything metric in my shop is color coded red). If you are getting on in years carry a sharpie pen in your pocket and don't miss an opportunity to mark the blank visible end of an object or storage container with some identification of what's inside. This will support you flagging memory and be appreciated by your heirs.
Ed Weldon

[Syko Triker]

I too look forward to going in my garage/workshop with a tea or coffee and a smoke as I don't smoke in the house or at work.
I dislike most TV programs and anyway the wife is watching her choice of viewing.
I get my fold up chair, turn on the radio sit, roll a cigarette, drink some coffee and decide what I am going to do.
I only get a hour or two at the most but never leave the garage feeling like I have not accomplished something however small.
Last nights aim was to put up another shelf I did two, so was feeling really good about it when I went to bed.
Well done for giving up I'm nearly there and its the garage smoke thats the hardest.

[tonyfoale]

I dont normally struggle getting motivated to go into the shed ............
I'm interested in hearing about everyone else's workshop vices and if anyone else ever feels ashamed at them self for sitting through an episode of call the midwife or whatever tripe the missus is watching instead of going and doing something productive.

I would have thought that you could have no greater motivation than avoiding "an episode of call the midwife". If that doesn't do it for you then I think that there is no hope for you.
My TV viewing is normally, and in order of importance, restricted to motoGP, reruns of "Last of the Summer Wine" and the news. Nothing sends me to the workshop quicker than when her indoors picks up the remote control.

[Frank S]

Being retired I never run out of things that need doing. It seems that I always have 3 or 4 sometimes more projects started at the same time. Many of these are not the simple devote a few hours to them and they are done. Quite the contrary some of them might require several weeks of steady time to complete on top of that if they require monetary expenditures they may need to be budgeted and spread out over several months. When this happens rather than jumping in and working to the point of OH DARN there just is not enough reserve funds this month to finish this maybe I should dip into other funds and knock this one out then worry about next month when it gets here. Instead I will pace the project so that I always have a little to do on it I might only work on it a few hours a week while working on other projects simultaneously.
And then there will be days that I call my discovery days where I decide that I just might not work on any of the current projects rather I am going to see what I can discover in my hoard of stuff that could possibly become a new interesting project, or just possibly refresh my memory as to what where and how much of whatever it is that I have.
Today was such a day it started out with something I thought of that I knew I had but hadn't seen it in over a year I wasn't at all sure why I felt that I needed to locate it because currently it is not germane to any of my ongoing projects. So I set about rearranging a trailer full of pure junk to most people. Every time I would find something interesting I would examine it then decided to find a better place to store it this went on for most of the day My wife kept asking me what I was looking for and my patent response was I have no idea but when I find it I'm sure I will know. The problem with today's discovery day is now I really need to devote about a week of them in a row.
So for anyone who has a motivational lapse or wakes up with the Brono Mars lazy song

in their head just do it have a discovery day be lazy and don't actually start anything before the day is done if you have 1/100th of the stuff that I have you will have found that you were so busy trying not to do anything that you may need another day doing the same thing just to finish what you thought you wern't doing anyway.

[mklotz]

Set yourself tasks that can be completed in a day. "Organize the shop" is far too large a task to be practical. Pick a shelf or drawer to organize and train yourself to derive satisfaction from accomplishing that bit of the larger task.

Getting the creative side of your mind involved can often produce ideas that will propel you into motion and that motion can provide the inertia to carry you along into the less spectacular tasks. An exercise in which I often indulge is to pick up a tool at random and try to think of alternate uses for it beyond its intended purpose. This frequently leads to designs for entirely new tools. Once I have something I really want to build, getting moving in the shop is easy.

When I was in college we used to play a game where the object was to think of something in the real world that had no possible use. [Certain simplistic "uses" such as doorstop and anchor were excluded.] Of course, the real utility of the game was to think of a use for whatever object was tendered. The game provided inspiration for many unusual items, a few of which had real utility.

In a related vein, mentally redesigning tools that already exist can lead to the sort of motivational fallout that keeps you going. As an example, design a sine bar that has a calibrated dial with a slope so the user can just turn the dial to the mark corresponding to the angle he desires. Alternatively, design a tangent bar where a screw with a calibrated dial is used to select the angle.