Motivation is Bull
One of the most common questions I see in art and design communities comes from beginning artists who want to know:
How do I stay motivated?
I suspect this question comes up so often because many people approach art — even commercial art that’s meant to be sold as a product — as an emotional exercise. People get emotionally invested in the creative work they do, especially if it uses a skill that required intense practice to achieve proficiency. With that emotional investment, it becomes difficult to finish projects when you lose the initial passion for them after a few days of work, or when you face a problem that seems insurmountable. It’s hard to stick with it when you’re no longer in love.
Everybody has trouble finishing projects. Hell, I have about four projects right now that I’m completely neglecting, and I’ve been in a constant state of ignoring roughly four projects at a time for the past decade. That said, I’m still able to finish things if I decide to focus my time and energy on them. This is a skill I had to develop while working as an artist at home, at school, and eventually at work. It’s a learned skill and it takes practice, but it’s also easy to start making small changes that will lead you to being more able to consistently finish things you start.
Here’s what I do if I want to start a project, maintain the energy to see it through, and push through the last 10% that takes 90% of the work:
1. Understand the scope of what I’m doing
If I have a very large or very involved project, I try to figure out exactly how it needs to look and function once it’s finished, and I do this before I even start working. I ask myself a lot of simple questions about the project, and try to always come up with concrete answers that provide a way forward if I ever lose track of what I’m doing.
I recently made a 3D character model of a guy wearing a business suit. The character’s head and hands were already finished, but I needed to know exactly what his outfit should look like. I started doing research on suits and then asked a series of questions that I knew had very definite answers:
- Is it a two- or three-piece suit?
- Is it double or single-breasted?
- One, two, or three front buttons?
- Does it have notch, peak, or shawl lapels?
- What style of pockets does it have?
- Etc.
These are all simple questions I can get concrete answers to, whether I’m working with a client or making something for myself. Once I have the answers to simple and definite questions, I can start using them as points to check off a list of things I have or have not accomplished.
2. Understand how to achieve the end result I’m looking for
If I don’t know how to do something that’s absolutely necessary to finishing a project, there’s a good chance I’m never going to finish what I set out to do unless I take time out to learn. The only chance I have of finishing something is to make learning that thing a part of the process.
Let’s take the suit guy from above as an example.
If I’m trying to make a believable model of a guy in a suit, I need to understand a few things about how suits are put together:
- Panel shapes
- Seam placement
- Proper fit for specific body types
- The casual to formal design spectrum
- Different suit fabrics and materials
- General suit styles
And each of those things has various sub-items I need to know. For example, here are some items related specifically to suit jackets:
- Why are suit jacket sleeve panels not made using straight lines?
- How are the lapels attached to the front panels and collar?
- Do rear vents overlap, or are they just straight cuts?
- How the heck do darts work?
For every potential problem area in a final product, I write a list of things that are going to give me trouble. I can then use this list as a basis for doing research on how to solve those problems. I use lists like this for all kinds of problems, especially when it comes to things I don’t have much experience with.
Having a list of problems I’ve solved serves as a reminder to myself that I’m getting stuff done, and it shows me where I am in the process.
3. Try to work in a timely manner, and use deadlines to my advantage
I find working under pressure is the best time to get good work done. Time pressure forces me to do the best I can in an allotted period, and this allows me to objectively judge how well I’ve done because I always have measurable progress.
If you’re working on a personal project without deadlines, you can still get stuff done by either focusing on a specific task or by forcing yourself to work for a specific amount of time.
If you focus on a specific task there are some great results:
- You understand how far into that task you are most of the time
- Knocking out a specific task and calling that part done lets you see your overall progress in much better context
- You can tell yourself you actually got some shit done instead of procrastinating
If you focus on working for a specific period of time, there are also some good results:
- You’re going to keep wanting to work if you cut yourself off after a specific time period, and this keeps you from burning out
- You get a very good idea about what you can accomplish in a set amount of time
- You start to understand how long the entire project will take if you split it up into similar increments
If you force yourself to work in a timely manner, you’re going to develop good working and scheduling habits as a necessity.
4. Never think about motivation — only think about how I can achieve an end result
Finishing projects is not a problem with “motivation” because motivation is a bullshit way of saying “I have a reason to do a thing.”
If I say I’m not motivated, what I’m actually saying is that I don’t know how to do something and that feeling is discouraging. However, it’s absolutely possible to push that feeling aside if I approach problems from an analytical point of view, and try to understand the problems I’m facing.
Once I understand problems, I can formulate solutions.
Once I formulate solutions, I can take the time to work on them.
Once I take the time to work on them, I’ll see the problems become a series of checked boxes on my list.
By approaching problems as a set of questions I can answer through knowledge, practice, and simple inquiry, motivation becomes irrelevant.
Replies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDYCLFE86Po
You need to learn to do 3D when you want to, and when you should do it. Not just when you want to.
Instead of worrying about motivation, people should worry about discipline.
For me, blaming motivation has been a whiny excuse for not doing work. For me, what has killed my work ethic in the past has been fear of failure, making excuses to start over, and feeling stuck. For me, telling myself I need to be disciplined and actually work and finish things has done more than trying to get "inspired" or "motivated".
(But honestly I actually read your post, completely accurate)
Edit: I agree with Isaiah, didn't see the post!
When it comes to personal projects or maybe more truefully 'undefined' projects things change for me drastically. Why? Because 'as good as it gets' is open ended. The thing I do today, I can re-do tomorrow far better. But with this mindset you never finish. Still you need to (most probably for your portfolio anyways). So big projects like a full character become big construction sites that drag long enough so that you know you could go back an improve whatever you did before. Or put in another day or two for a damn piece of equipment that 99% of people won't even notice, but you expect it to be the reason your application is going to be dismissed. Especially the last part hits me most of the time - not knowning what is expected of my work. Most simple example - if I have to create a character for a top down view on mobile, I have a very clear picture what needs to look perfect and what corners to cut. But with a portfolio character - how about the suspension of those pouches or piece of armor? I know I can hide them, but maybe someone will complain about me being 'lazy' for doing so... and once you start baking the damn thing, you better not have to go back and add/remove parts...
At the end of the day you still need to finish your portfolio pieces, but the tough part (at least for me) is knowing when it is good enough. I have never ever had a hard time explaining my decisions in my job. Once I know what the priorities of my boss/customer where, planing for those and eventualities that might come up, is easy. I managed to be at least 1-2 steps ahead of any project I was part of. Sitting at home trying to learn stuff while still putting up things that are good enough to be at least looked at on the other hand is a completely different beast. Sure one could say 'just finish things and the next one will be better', but here it comes to time management - you don't want to waste 160+h on a thing that in the end might hurt your stock, while you are looking for a job. A months work that doesn't bring food on the table is a huge loss.
So like everything in life the basics of a concept are easy to grasp, but to make them come together perfectly this is where it gets difficult
For me money doesn't really work that well when it comes in the shape of a steady paycheck, I take stuff for granted too easily and getting money every month that doesn't change depending on the work I put in does nothing for my motivation, which is why I don't really fit that well in a studio environment.
So the best balance for me has been to create stuff that I can sell, it sells well if I do good work and sell bad If I don't, works great for me and pushes me to finish even when I don't really want to work, because the end product has a much more positive impact for me then a finished asset I did for some random studio where I send it to someone and never see it again.
I find that when I create something new the first 30% is easily created due to it being a new project and new projects are fun, after that many will hit a wall because the fun factor and newness of the project is gone, and to finish the next 40% you have to push yourself or find a higher motivational booster. when it's work related you will just have to do it and get it done but for personal projects it's easy to give up as no one is expecting you to finish. In my case as written above I love to put use to my art, either as a way to promote myself or the stuff I sell, So I keep that in the back of my head and push on.
the last 30% you can see the goal and you get to start texturing so usually the last 30% are easily finished at least if you don't get stuck and never call it done.
I recently found this on Dustin Browns site, really great resource to get.shit.done.
At the moment I am working for the first time on a 100% portfolio piece that won't be interrupted by work or other things so that I should be able to finish it with quality first in mind. It comes down to reaching out for feedback and if there is none some hopefully smart calls on my side when I realize I have to move on. Basically trying to manage time and purpose like on a real project. Do I want to learn something special (like a tool, or practice anatomy or hard surface modelling...) or is it about just getting the work done for the portfolio? Where is the priority of the task at hand? And based on that how much time do I think I can afford at the moment.
In the end feedback is the biggest help, in the sense of getting at least a 'reality check'. So if you know someone who will take a serious look at your stuff you should reach out. Or you have enough experience with the whole process to make the right decisions yourself (which I personally simply don't have). But I am definitely not the person give here the answer. I can just say what I've been doing for the last 2 months, while having no fucking clue where I am actually standing at the moment - which in fact for me is the whole issue with motivation in the first place
Thanks for your answer, I think your point about feedback is great. Getting a new perspective and some advice may help to motivate one further and stay focused on what matters.
I often just get burnt out with my personal projects. Discipline is definitely where i lack though to pace myself and realize that its meant for fun and learning.
Thanks for the post!
- David Lynch
My excuse is I'm working towards getting myself in the position to be creative again. My current circumstances are not conductive to me wanting to create. For several years I nearly lost ALL of my motivation for art and only recently its been a driving force again. For me not having a physical space in which to make art, or the tools really put a damper on my motivation. I've made some drastic life changes in the past six months, quitting a job that was getting me nowhere to one with health benefits and steady pay and a second one with even more lucrative income and now I'm looking at Jan, Feb of next year to move out of my "less than ideal" roomate situation. Still recovering from the four years at my last job... (shudders) The way I see it, the past five years have been a real reflective period for me with a lot of interesting experiences and growth so I'm using that for now as my motivation for when I get to creative endeavors once again.
Cheerio
Most people aren't going to dedicate so much of their lives to stuff like that but my point is, I believe anybody can learn to focus and it doesn't require anything more than habit development.
But what I wanted to say is, I think the biggest contributing factor to motivation comes from the team environment. Everybody wants to be useful and earn respect by contributing meaningfully towards the teams goals. If members of the team are struggling with motivation, whether it's yourself or somebody else, I'd view that as a leadership problem and start there.
Doesn't mean that if you have little interest in doing your work as an employee you say, "well the boss failed to motivate me." But it might mean that you aren't being properly challenged, or maybe you are being valued more like a cog in machine than a human team member who could be a lot more.
Anyway, I just wanted to make some counter-perspective that person shouldn't view their personal motivation as entirely intrinsic. If you can't say why the work you are doing is important, that is going to be the biggest problem. Short of having work that is undeniably important to do, I think the next biggest thing is you got to put yourself in environment where it is clear that your actions matter towards something larger than the pettiest selfish concerns.
I'm motivated entirely by rage
I suffered for over a decade from (treatment resistant) depression and social anxiety because I couldn't get my life in order and couldn't get shit done.
I spoke to so many psychologists and tried so many therapies - I lost oversight of how many. Nothing helped, so I gave up on modern western medicine .
When I hit absolute rock bottom, I suddenly remembered something from a book by William Burroughs I've read 20 years earlier. He was one of the first Westerners who went down to South America and got treated by an indigenous Shaman with a thousand year old hallucinogenic medicine. When i read the book years ago I said to myself if I get to a state where I have nothing to loose I am gonna do that.
So I did.
Depression and anxiety was gone after the first session. I did 24, for good measure - why not? Haven't felt truly depressive or anxious a single day since then (nice side effect, I haven't been sick a single day since then either.)
Years later (recently) I found out by accident that I manifest ALL 30 (!) symptoms of a person with ADHD.
I went to a psych-doc and got the diagnosis - ADHD.
I still can't believe that I basically had to solve that mystery myself in order to get help after years long fruitless odysseys through countless therapists practices, talking to their incompetent smiling faces.
Now I start my day with a coffee and 9mg of slow acting Dexamphetamine, I sleep not longer than 8 hours every night, almost wake up the same minute every day, I feel more powerful than ever in my life and I can potentially work from the moment I wake up until I drop dead-tired in my bed. I exercise regularly, meditate, play videogames for an hour, do some homework and STILL get more shit done on one day than in a whole week previously. My short-term memory suddenly works, I can perfectly plan my whole day in my head while eating breakfast AND do it to a T. Confidence is through the roof, I am no longer shy and introvert but actually a sly socializer and I feel like I gained 20 IQ points. Things are mostly easy and effortless suddenly. And even though I take a drug that is potentially dangerous for many people, I don't even feel any tangible effects from the drug (no high, no nothing), I just function properly.
I think motivation and discipline are just fancy words for an perfect neurochemical balance of Dopamine and Noradrenaline in the brain. Many people have it naturally, many have too much or too little of something and then they become FUBAR.
Modern society isn't helping with its Dopamine traps everywhere that exploit people for commercial gains and they'll also get constantly bombarded with mass media hysteria and fear porn. Grounded to dust by fear and pleasure.
Seriously, people often ARE not sick, society MAKES them sick.
"Its no measure of health to be well adjusted to an profoundly sick society."
Congrats on your recovery Ryusaki, that's awesome. <3