What Motivates You?

posted recently on . The 5 listed are (and my "in a nutshell" summation):

1. Star jumps

Get up, start moving and get the blood flowing.

2. Music

Use music to change your mood. Try something energetic.

3. Change your location

Move to site where you can still work, but provides a change in scenery; another room or local library.

4. Disconnect

What's that? Ok, seriously... I'll start by zeroing out my unread mail in my inbox, check the news, Twitter and FaceBook and then close them all. Ignorance is bliss.

5. Time yourself

Break your project into small bites and time yourself.


For me? I think they are all good ideas and I've used them all except for #5 because once I get started, I'm ok with continuing until I feel I've reached a good breaking point.

Doing something physical and changing locations is very helpful. I'll change locations temporarily, like by walking outside for a few minutes and then return to my desk. If you can find an area where nobody is standing, doing a few (no weights; just lift your arms out in front on your way down, for balance) is great to get the blood flowing.

As for music, I'll listen to a song or two of something upbeat (Eddie Money's "" for example, then I have to turn it off. Noise distracts me. For me, there is no such thing as "white noise." I hear everything (try chewing gum around me).

So, what else do I do to get motivated? I visualize. I will sit in a quiet dark room and close my eyes (hope I don't fall asleep) and imagine the project finished and what the resulting product looks and feels like. If I'm preparing a presentation, I'll visualize myself giving it. This helps a lot, because as I'm imagining it, I'm tweaking it "on the fly" in my mind.

Then (most of the time) I'm ready to make those tweaks in real life. I'd love some more tips. What do you do to get motivated?