Jana’s helping me to carve out a little study nook in our crowded living room. Above my narrow desk is a 30 by 40 inch metal bulletin board that now has the writer’s advice sheet that about a dozen of my favorite authors have signed. I plan to add photos of heroes and virtual mentors and exemplars (these make me feel inspired), pictures with funky art or favorite colors (these make me feel creative) and motivational quotes/poems (I tend to ignore these after reading them the first 50 times or so). I might put a picture of a man with great abs (so that I can feel depressed). I’ll post a picture after we’ve fleshed out the work area.
You all strike me as highly motivated, goal-oriented types. What exercises or external aids do you use to motivate yourselves and to keep moving towards distant goals?
5 responses so far ↓
1 Amber // Jun 5, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Timelines. ALL OVER THE PLACE.
2 Elaine Frei // Jun 5, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Lists. I make lists and then cross off items as I’ve accomplished them. It helps to break down large or long-term projects into steps or series of goals, so that you get to cross things off the list more frequently. It is amazing how you will start looking forward to the ritual of checking an item off the list.
3 Elise // Jun 5, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I love lists for day-to-day goals, but for distant goals, I don’t usually write anything down or cross anything off. I’m constantly asking myself “Where do I want to be in 5 years? Where do I want to be in 10 years?” I usually try to evaluate moderate and big decisions based on the answers to those questions - that way, my daily, weekly, monthly, etc decisions push me toward the right direction.
4 nee // Jun 6, 2007 at 10:39 am
I have a “vision folder” on my pc that I scroll through as a slideshow. However, I don’t go through it often enough so I’m going to print them out and put them on a vision board. They are visual representations of things I want to achieve.
For me, I’ve found I have to write down actual steps to the end goal. When I don’t, I end up still talking about the goal months or years later but am nowhere near achieving it. I need a plan or it doesn’t happen. My mother pushed me to start using Quicken after bailing me out one too many times on a money issue and now I’m actually close to getting out of the hole (once again) and this time I’ll stay out because I have the physical and mental tools to stay out.
Basically, having a representation of not only the goals but plans/checklists for steps to get there help me direct my life instead of just reacting to it.
5 Miko // Jun 7, 2007 at 9:55 am
My current desk is mostly just messy. Nothing much inspiring about. But at my job, I had walls that begged to be decorated with things-that-could-be-held-by-pushpins. I had many inspiring quotes, often from people I know or books I read. I had a Demotivators calendar (which creeped my boss out until she read the captions, then she started coming by on the first of the month to see the next one. Paradoxically, it actually made people feel better. I also had some needlepoints I’d done of alpine buildings. It made me feel more at home. Eventually, I also had (propped on my monitor), You Say I’m a Bitch Like It’s a Bad Thing, to which I added Prince Humperdinck’s exasperation about marriage.
All these things made me feel better about the excessive amounts of time I spent at that desk, even tho I rarely worked overtime. The company doctor had nothing on her walls; when I asked her why, she said it was to remind her that this was not home and to keep her from wanting to stay. Whatever demotivates you, I guess.
I don’t know what I’d do if I actually worked from home. My desk doesn’t inspire work…but it doesn’t uninspire it, either.
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