My take on motivation
Now that I have graduated the bootcamp (yay!) it is time to commit to the job search that comes straight after. The first day was… weird. Honestly, it felt overwhelming, the moment I sat at the computer and didn’t know where to start. I have a decent CV, I know how to write a cover letter but… something is missing. Motivation. After multiple months of getting up, coding, going to sleep and having dreams (sometimes nightmares) about React components, I feel like I just want to stay in bed and do nothing. Yet jobs don’t find themselves and I need to keep coding to keep progressing as a developer. What doesn’t help is the fact that my desk is set up in a way that my bed is always in my peripheral vision and there isn’t a way to change that.
In this blog post I would like to share the way that I am currently using to help myself stay energised, have a sufficient amount of work done during the day and not feel like a sleepy sloth by the end of the day.
Red bull mode
The first day I tried to do as much work as humanly possible during said day. The first few hours were okay, however by the end of the day my vision was hazy, my back hurt and I didn’t even feel like talking to my SO. I didn’t lift my behind off the chair once, except for when I needed to go to the bathroom. Clearly, something was wrong with the approach I took. Which made me reevaluate my work ethics. After trying out a few techniques for a couple days here are the ones that stuck.
Planning. Sort of.
I start the day by planning out what I want to achieve. I do this not only in terms of jobs I want to apply to or the amount of code I want to write, but chores, small assignments and even phone calls I want to complete during the day. I write it all down in a list and leave some space to the side in case I will need to split the assignment. You could also do this in a spreadsheet but I prefer the classic pen and paper approach.
As an example — by 15:00 I want to have applied to 3 job listings, create a back end for my next app , clean the dishes and do the laundry.
Looks simple. But not simple enough.
Now split it.
And more.
Split it into multiple small tasks and have the list at hand for ticking off completed tasks.
As the day goes by you may need to do more things. Don’t be afraid to add them to the list. You are trying to keep track of your progress, not tick as many off as possible.
Also don’t be scared to not complete them all in one day. Transfer them to the other one. However, keep track of the amount of tasks completed.
Get comfortable, but not too comfortable.
-WeWork phone booth sign
Timing
I’m pretty sure we all heard of the Pomodoro technique. For those who didn’t — you set a timer for 25–30 minutes and work for that amount of time focusing on your task. Once the time is up you take a 5 minute break. Rinse — repeat. After X amount of cycles take a long break.
The Pomodoro technique is great, however I find that 25 minutes is not nearly enough for me. I only feel fully immersed in the task I’m doing only around the 20 minute mark, while 5 minutes isn’t even enough to make myself a coffee. A number of articles like this one suggest doing 52 minutes of work and 17 minutes of break. Which addresses both of those issues.
To set the timer I use this chrome app. It allows me to set a custom timer, shows you time remaining at the top of your chrome window and sends a windows notification once the time is up. You can also use a cooking timer or a phone app (which I do not recommend. More on that later.)
Completed tasks
Once the tasks are completed I place a tick next to the task, telling myself “Ed, you’re on fire today”. Not only that, I keep a small book where I write down my small achievements for the day. Did I learn something? Did I find an interesting article? Did I find a company I would eventually want to work for? Did i have a cool project idea? You get the point. All that goes into the book and when I feel like I’m stagnating on progress I look into it and feel better about myself.
The only drawback to this is that every little thing can and will become a victory. To the point of writing down “woke up before 12 AM today”. Don’t do that. Lying to yourself won’t get you far.
Reward yourself with a yummy snack each time you complete a task. That helps, too.
Distractions
Another thing you would like to log is distractions. Did you go off on a tangent at a certain point? Write it down. Are you supposed to be coding but browse Reddit instead? Put it on the list.
Keep track not only of what distracted you, but the timing as well. Once you have enough data, you will start noticing patterns. In my case, when it’s around 13:00 I get hungry and can not concentrate until I have lunch.
To prevent myself from procrastinating I use another chrome extension — BlockSite. Once installed, you can create a list of websites that the browser will not allow you to visit and instead show you a picture of someone staring you dead in the eyes and feel guilty about going on YouTube while you’re still in your job search phase.
The reason I did not recommend using your phone as a timer is because your phone a huge distraction machine. Unless you disable almost all your apps and block all notifications for the day, you can and likely will get distracted a number of times. Use it at your own risk.
Variation
Variation of tasks is what keeps me sane during my work sprees. If I completed 2 hour long pomodoros sitting at the computer, my next one is going to be chores or preparing food, going outside or anything else away from the screen. Not only does it make me feel refreshed when returning to the desk, but it is also beneficial for my eyes and my spine, since as we all know, sitting and staring at the screen all day is not really healthy.
If the tasks are small enough, I may be able to cram a small physical task like vacuuming the house into the 17 minute break, which makes me feel even more productive and as if I wasted 0 time at that time period.
Inspiration
Inspiration is something I do not try to rely on. Reason being inspiration comes and goes. Sometimes I feel like I could change the world, other days I wish I was a cat. If you have a source of constant inspiration — good on you. Keep using that. Otherwise, well…
Main takeaway
I suggest you try out a bunch of productivity methods and stick with the ones that work for you. There are a huge number of articles that suggest different methods of tracking your time, progress, how to prevent yourself from overworking, etc. My personal favourite is this youtuber who has released a bunch of videos on productivity and progress tracking, many of which I do use a fair bit.
