Written by Otaku Apologist
It’s very easy to be productive when you’re not overly attached to your work. Always think ahead, beyond your one passion project, and focus on creating a body of releases instead of one amazing piece of work.
Key to productivity is motivation, and it is not complicated. It’s the people who depend on emotions for their creative spark that struggle to grasp the dark magic of motivation. They are the unproductive procrastinating artistic types. They won’t do shit unless they “feel like it”.
My impulse to work comes from muscle memory, not emotion. You want to program your body for constant work. When you execute the same decision or action repeatedly, your body eventually starts to “feel” the compulsion to do it again.
For example, when you force yourself to go out for a walk every day, you will eventually feel awkward about not going for that daily walk. It takes effort to get the ball rolling, but once you’re rolling, it’s easier to move than to stop.
Instead of letting yourself play videogames for “just an hour” during work hours, force yourself to work. You won’t have to force yourself forever, as you will start feeling a compulsion to work having repeatedly chosen the same action.
Use whatever tricks you can. Bribery, extortion, slap yourself, whatever gets your lazy ass moving. Even a few minutes of work will do, because you made the choice. It was registered in your brain. Maybe you take a break, but then, you work a few more minutes.
Another key issue curtailing your productivity is having vague goals. You need simple, tangible, easy-to-imagine goals that you can realistically achieve. It’s much easier to motivate yourself to work on bite-sized tasks.
Creative people have a bad tendency to try and pump their every amazing idea into their one magnum opus. It leads to constant editing, overhauls, perfectionism, and low productivity. Why obsess over one project, when you can run multiples?
When I get a fun idea, it’s always a simple vision. I never look back on my creative decisions – I build on them. There are no revisions. No new ideas I had midway into production make it into the project that would force overhauls of past material.
The formula is this: Make a decision, lock it. Make the next decision, lock it. Repeat until finished.
Set a budget. Stick to it. Complete the product, regardless how it comes out. In your next project, you can predict better how your budget and enthusiasm will last. You work like this, by your third or so product, you’ll be competent and productive.
Making a high quality product is admirable. But instead of making a product, make a career. Instead of one amazing release you can make a body of releases. Balance quantity and quality, and you won’t depend on luck to become successful.
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