How to Get Motivated

March 8, 2016 1:08 PM

How to Get Motivated (the Poster) [1980x1080.png]. Here are the instructions. Based upon the Procrastination Equation.
posted by storybored (33 comments total)

Too big; didnt read.
posted by Billiken at 1:09 PM on March 8, 2016 [7 favorites]

So big; did read. Procrastination achieved.
posted by vverse23 at 1:11 PM on March 8, 2016 [27 favorites]

Didn't read, but found the layout so annoying I had to go for a walk.
posted by fraxil at 1:11 PM on March 8, 2016 [7 favorites]

Tufte wept.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:16 PM on March 8, 2016 [16 favorites]

I'm on MeFi to procrastinate right this moment, don't try to trick me into getting back to work.
posted by numaner at 1:18 PM on March 8, 2016 [8 favorites]

Okay, reading that basically tells me that the reasons I don't achieve anything I try to do are: I'm terribly, terribly impulsive, and I'm slightly pessimistic.

Seems legit.
posted by YAMWAK at 1:21 PM on March 8, 2016

Whatevs, I like it the concept. I'll give it a go since I am an awful procrastinator and would like to be less so.
posted by Kitteh at 1:28 PM on March 8, 2016

The units for motivation are rewards per second. That does not seem unreasonable.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:30 PM on March 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

You don't need 'motivation,' you need self-discipline.

...but how do you get self-discipline?
posted by leotrotsky at 1:31 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

...but how do you get self-discipline?

By reading articles about it online while you're at work, apparently.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:34 PM on March 8, 2016 [8 favorites]

so, according to the author, Motivation is calculated as:

(Expectancy X Value) / (Impulsiveness X Delay)

with that kind of facile oversimplification, the author is either a management consultant or a TED Talks speaker.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:38 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

leotrotsky: "...but how do you get self-discipline?"

Whipping.
posted by boo_radley at 1:39 PM on March 8, 2016 [5 favorites]

I work for the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), a non-profit tackling the long-term risks from artificial intelligence.

yeah, close enough.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:40 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

Hey someone could build this into a 50-cent app and make millions!
posted by rebent at 1:42 PM on March 8, 2016

How to get motivated in these 500 easy steps!
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 1:42 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'd do it.... in a moment.
posted by storybored at 1:43 PM on March 8, 2016

with that kind of facile oversimplification, the author is either a management consultant or a TED Talks speaker.


Well, the guy the equation comes from is "a Distinguished Research Chair at the University of Calgary, where he teaches human resources and organizational dynamics at the Haskayne School of Business."
posted by Four Ds at 1:44 PM on March 8, 2016

Honestly, though...I get that the graphic is well-intentioned, but it hits me as being backward-engineered by someone who is already supremely motivated. Thus, it is a bit full of instruction sets that said supremely motivated individual understands and knows intuitively how to accomplish. But, someone who is habitually unmotivated would usually be clueless about.

I mean, I've heard "Find Passion" expressed in various ways before, but how does one find what they are passionate about? And "Mix Bitter and Sweet"? "Find Meaning"?

This stuff always hits me as being instructions in how to be a happy, shiny office drone
posted by Thorzdad at 1:45 PM on March 8, 2016 [10 favorites]

I honestly couldn't work out how it was meant to be read.
posted by deadwax at 1:47 PM on March 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

I was going to investigate this, but did you guys see the video of the cockatoo knocking down cups? That shit is GOLD.
posted by redsparkler at 1:51 PM on March 8, 2016 [7 favorites]

I've heard "Find Passion" expressed in various ways before, but how does one find what they are passionate about?

Yeah, I think "follow/find passion" is a trap. It doesn't work.

Cal Newport had this to say about it:

“Follow” implies that you discover the passion in advance then go match it to a job. At which point, you’re done.

“Cultivate” implies that you work toward building passion for your job. This is a longer process but it’s way more likely to pay dividends. It requires you to approach your work like a craftsman. Honing your ability, and then leveraging your value, once good, to shape your working life toward the type of lifestyle that resonates with you.
posted by storybored at 1:52 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

...but how do you get self-discipline?

by finding motivation to discipline yourself.

All kidding aside, the most effective way I've found of making myself do anything that isn't going to give me immediate dopamine is to attach an emotional consequence to not doing it. So I've been trying to wake up at ass-early o'clock every mon-wed-fri lately to go swimming, and the only way I've managed to do it is to make a deal with a friend that we'll go together; I get crazy anxiety from disappointing people, so if I know she's going to be disappointed that I didn't show up, I'm that much less likely to want to sleep in and skip swimming.

Unfortunately I still haven't found the emotional consequence with resolving this trac ticket I have open in the monitor next to this one.
posted by numaner at 2:04 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

All kidding aside, the most effective way I've found of making myself do anything that isn't going to give me immediate dopamine is to attach an emotional consequence to not doing it

Go swimming, or I will shoot this dog.
posted by leotrotsky at 2:07 PM on March 8, 2016 [3 favorites]

Note to self: remember to go back and mark this one as a favorite, so I can find it again, when I get around to thinking about reading it.
posted by hank at 2:09 PM on March 8, 2016 [5 favorites]

All kidding aside, the most effective way I've found of making myself do anything that isn't going to give me immediate dopamine is to attach an emotional consequence to not doing it.

Sounds like the "Make Failure Painful" step on the right hand bar.
posted by Four Ds at 2:36 PM on March 8, 2016

The titles of the previous and next MeFi posts could go equally well for this one.

"There is an app for everything. Including death."

"No two days exactly the same"
posted by Celsius1414 at 2:45 PM on March 8, 2016

with that kind of facile oversimplification, the author is either a management consultant or a TED Talks speaker.

If it wasn't a facile oversimplification then the procrastinators who need to read it would say "tldr" and it would miss its target.
posted by devious truculent and unreliable at 3:00 PM on March 8, 2016

Go swimming, or I will shoot this dog.

joke's on you, I'm not an animal lover.

* hits snooze button *
posted by numaner at 3:02 PM on March 8, 2016

It's pretty simple. This chart sucks. Here's what you need to figure out first: What are you trying to get motivated to do? It's either (a) a job you don't give a shit about, or (b) a job you care about.

In the case of A: You don't give a shit about this, so why are you doing it? You probably need the money. If it's money, but the money isn't enough, then your lack of motivation is your gut telling you this is bullshit. Your gut is right. This is bullshit. You need a raise or a new job. Your main motivation should shift over to achieving one of those objectives. You still probably won't give a shit about your job, but at least it'll give you more of what you're there for.

In the case of B: You care about this, so why are you putting it off? Maybe you're afraid you'll fuck it up. Maybe it isn't enjoyable once you feel like you have to do it. Maybe you need to care about its meaning a little less, and the joy of doing it for its own sake a little more. Or maybe you just need to bribe yourself with ice cream when it's done. Do other people care about the job as much as you do? If not, then you need to be the best boss in the world for yourself, and give yourself lots of treats just for putting in a sincere effort. Make sure this thing you love acts like it loves you back. You're in charge of that.

Maybe this is what that chart says. It was too hard for me to decipher; sorry.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:08 PM on March 8, 2016 [9 favorites]

This is an interesting organizing scheme and graphic, but a book and a program like Kelly McGonigal's The Willpower Instinct might be more actionable and useful to many. [Disclosure: I work with her.]
posted by twsf at 3:32 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I wish people would realise that some of us are cursed with things like a high 2d4d, naturally predisposing us to poor motivation and persistence. I can't find the study right now, though I saw a good one a while back. It's a postulated factor in 'low 2d4d, increased business/music/academics/sports performance' hypothesis.
posted by constantinescharity at 7:43 PM on March 8, 2016

"Find Passion"
Certain officials have taken a dim view of my approach to this.
posted by boilermonster at 11:29 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

This does absolutely nothing to address general lack of motivation.
posted by serena15221 at 11:46 AM on March 10, 2016