On staying motivated

“Motivation is like a good bath – you need it daily”, it is said. However, when we get tangled into day to day activities, hopping from one task to another, it is very easy to get demotivated. While it is a manager’s primary goal to ensure that team members stay motivated – a lot depends on the person himself. Staying motivated is a personal prerogative that needs lot of work.

A List Apart has a great article by Kevin Cornell on techniques to stay motivated. The article is divided onto two parts 1) Starting Out and 2) Maintenance – which indicates that in order to stay motivated we need to start out and then maintain the tempo.

The article is a must read, and while you do that, here is one technique I particularly liked (and has worked for me):

“Retreat, but don’t surrender

Never give up on projects or problems. Put them aside for a while, but always come back to solve them (even if it’s only developing a theory for solving them). Solving these problems will build your confidence, your knowledge, and (hopefully) your portfolio.”

Staying motivated takes much more than just reading motivational quotes or stuffing your soft board with motivational posters.

I firmly believe that staying motivated is also about being patient. At times when in difficult situations, it helps being persistent and patient to get through the difficult time.

Another observation is that people who genuinely love their work are more motivated than the ones who do something just because others do, or because its simply more rewarding.

I recently met a lecturer at one of the colleges who, inspite of knowing that he can draw much more salary as a developer/analyst is still into education just because he loves to teach. That also means, motivation is directly proportional to doing work you love to do.

What works for you? How do you keep yourself motivated? I would love to hear.