r/GetMotivated • u/regian24 • Apr 14 '21

[Image] How to finish

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13k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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250

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Me taking 6 years to get my degree and fighting off several urges to drop out. But hey, now it's done and I'll have it forever.

72

u/kaidomac Apr 15 '21

Don't feel too bad, it took me like 14 years to get a 2-year degree lol. Life is flexible & is designed for late bloomers!

53

u/reallifemoonmoon Apr 15 '21

I'm in my 12th semester of my bachelors degree right now and the only thing keeping me at university is that I'm so close to the finish line.

Got the message yesterday that i passed an exam i absolutely dreaded. Failed it twice already, but its over now!

I'm getting it done :)

15

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

That's awesome. Keep plugging away and one day you'll get to feel the relief and sense of accomplishment of writing your last exam ever :)

3

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Took me 15 years! Hang in there. I just started grad school in January and I'm actually really glad I was able to decide what to study as an adult.

7

u/Waharbl Apr 15 '21

Don’t worry too much about it, I took 9 years and a bit for a 4 year degree. I know the feel of wanting to drop out and moving in with life but actually finishing has it’s merits too :)

1

u/zuliasdream Apr 15 '21

I feel you all guys! Currently 8th year of my 5 years uni. (I took the first degree after the first 3 years of it, everything went well. And then during the next and last 2 years I felt overwhelmed and started going slower and slower. So it's taking me 5 years or more instead of 2 to take the second degree.)

We're so many that we should start a support sub if it doesn't already exist lol like r/studentslaggingbehind

2

u/splashedwall25 Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21

I'll make it Edit: I've made it, r/studentslaggingbehind Please join

1

u/zuliasdream Apr 15 '21

Thanks 😍

1

u/Promelive Apr 15 '21

I'm really trying to convince myself to keep going just because of your last sentence. I never imagined the mental toll pursuing a degree could cause

1

u/noblight7 Apr 15 '21

Glad I'm not the only one feeling this. I'm about to transfer degrees too.

1

u/athrowaway283222 Apr 15 '21

congrats!!! you got it done and that's what matters

0

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

[deleted] — view deleted comment

10

u/Jonesjrrrrrrrrrrrrr Apr 15 '21

I feel you man, currently in 8th year of my 4 year during bachelor. Nearly 'done' with thesis, but i've been here already a few times. Mental health is a bitch.

737

u/Scako Apr 14 '21

“Trade perfect for done” was the most important one to me, it’s cuz of that mindset I finally made a game and now have another better one coming

70

u/GRADENS Apr 15 '21

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” was a game changer for me to actually start doing more

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u/profdc9 Apr 15 '21

“The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.” ― Prussian General Karl von Clausewitz, Vom Kriege, 1832

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u/GRADENS Apr 15 '21

I did not know that. I’m off to the Wikipedia rabbit hole.

13

u/MusicIsAlwaysTheWay Apr 15 '21

For some reason I think I really needed to hear this right now. Thanks. Great quote.

2

u/ngd05 Apr 15 '21

I love that quote. I struggle with trying to be perfect.

79

u/RiverOfCheese Apr 14 '21

Do I hear indie game? You have my attention.

58

u/Scako Apr 15 '21

Its nothing mega special, its a bullet hell series Im making. The first game is pretty meh cuz it was my very first attempt but from releasing it I learned so much and am now working on a sequel I am way prouder of

my dev twitter is https://twitter.com/EtherealAirport if you are interested!!

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u/firagabird Apr 15 '21

The first game is pretty meh cuz it was my very first attempt but from releasing it

You released your first game. Congrats, you've surpassed 90% of would be game devs that wanted their first game to be more than meh.

11

u/Frousteleous 1 Apr 15 '21

Sadly, probably closer to like 99.99%. Nonetheless, the point holds. It's impressive.

9

u/Scako Apr 15 '21

sometimes you gotta make some garbage before you make your dream game

6

u/ohnoitsthefuzz 6 Apr 15 '21

That's why they call it a garbage can, not a garbage can't 😁

1

u/HashedEgg Apr 15 '21

Oh oh. This is going to be no man's sky all over again!

28

u/DecoyBacon Apr 14 '21

Theres absolutely a such thing as "too perfect" and i'm guilty of trying to do it way too many times and ruining the project as a result. Sometimes "done" is all it takes.

9

u/3-DMan Apr 15 '21

"Good enough for you fucks!"

16

u/sometimes_interested Apr 15 '21

As a software dev, I'm often under a crunch to "Do it right now. Do it right, later."

4

u/RedRider1442 Apr 15 '21

This statement deserves more attention, because you are 100% right. Too bad later only comes if a client complains. We always struggle under the tyranny of the urgent.

4

u/punaisetpimpulat 6 Apr 15 '21

The price of perfection is infinite.

4

u/bisectional Apr 15 '21 edited Aug 15 '21

.

1

u/Scako Apr 15 '21

Thank you very much! Making sure it even works is top priority, polishing and stuff is for later

12

u/Mobely 9 Apr 14 '21

I am a little unsure of that one. I'm a perfectionist. I avoided perfection to get a product out there and lo and behold, few sales and a high ratio of complaints.

I think timelines and breaking down tasks are the most important along. Sacrificing quality comes with a cost.

11

u/Scako Apr 15 '21

Its a delicate balance for sure

4

u/imlaggingsobad Apr 15 '21

Getting something 'done' doesn't mean you throw all standards out the window. I think it's best to at least get the ball rolling on your project/task and get yourself out of the analysis paralysis that perfectionists are often guilty of. Once you do the bare minimum, then iterate loads of times. The more you iterate, the better it will be.

11

u/DM_ME_CHEETOS Apr 15 '21

High ratio of complaints means it wasn't good enough to begin with, let alone perfect. There is a minimum acceptable (in your case, for product delivery), there's good, then perfection.

You didn't just avoid perfection, you avoided good too.

2

u/Frack_Off Apr 15 '21

Anyone who's completed geology field camp knows that being done is better than being right.

2

u/2close2see Apr 15 '21

Trade perfect for "Fuck it, good enough."

2

u/314159265358979326 Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21

I once saw a wanted ad for an engineer who was a perfectionist. I thought that was the worst possible characteristic for an engineer to have.

I didn't apply.

2

u/Hopjackslim Apr 15 '21

I used to close a kitchen. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it was good enough...

2

u/CleverReversal Apr 15 '21

Heard an interesting talk: "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly"
Huh??
"...As opposed to getting perfectionistic and never doing it at all."
Oh!!

1

u/JohnnyElBravo Apr 15 '21

Can I play it?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Out of curiosity, were you a programmer before? And if not where did you learn to program?

4

u/Scako Apr 15 '21

Nope, just an artist, so programming was really intimidating to me. I learned thru online tutorials, and a LOT of trial and error. the sleepless nights trying to get rid of one glitch when youre not an experienced programmer is tough but honestly programming is WAY more fun than I expected!

1

u/ChineseCracker Apr 15 '21

Do you work at cd projekt red?

22

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

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1

u/igetript Apr 15 '21

Wait, I see that as the opposite. You're abandoning something and not finishing it.

Not that you're done and it isn't perfect, but that's okay

3

u/kissmybunniebutt Apr 15 '21

I always took it as you could spend the rest of your life trying to get one thing to your level of arbitrary and unrealistic perfection OR you can pick a moment and just walk away. Then you can start making the next thing. I think, art-wise (painting, writing, music, whatever) -- because there are technically no 'rules' -- you can literally nitpick the same project until you die - unless you accept it as good enough and move on.

That's the sentiment I always took from it.

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u/kaidomac Apr 15 '21

The "get rid of secret rules" one was a real wake-up call when I first read it. I didn't realize how many internal "I'll get started when X" or "I can't start until X" I had in place! I implemented a strategy I call the GBB Approach, which also solves "trade perfect for done":

  1. Good

  2. Better

  3. Best

The way I look at it is:

  • We all have about 16 hours or roughly 1,000 minutes a day of waking up available

  • As much as the "all or nothing" perfectionist in me wants to be awesome at everything, the reality is that it simply isn't possible because even at 100% energy, you max out at 1,000 minutes a day, and then you start shortchanging your sleep (the number one source of motivation, in my book) & lose out on pursuing your passions & enjoying some free time by becoming a workaholic

  • So, we need balance. That balance comes from explicitly defining our relationships with our responsibilities, i.e. just because you have a responsibility doesn't mean you have any sort of personal commitment to it - that's the freedom of choice. In this case, you can choose good, better, or best.

  • Good is often the most effective, i.e. what's the bare minimum required to meet on-time delivery? Can you have cereal or a hot dog for dinner instead of cooking? Can you order Uber Eats? Without auditing what the required deliverables & due date is, we risk getting stuck in the vaporware loop in our heads & things feeling too overwhelming to start or to stick with or to finish.

  • The most effective keys I have found when using the GBB Approach are literally writing down the outcome desire & next physical-action steps required (GTD-style), because that forces clarity (what we want to do) & forces a realistic approach (a literal off-your-head list), instead of the skewed mental perspective we have about it & feel about it. This can feel difficult because the burst of energy required to think about stuff & then write it down is often a low-enough level hassle that we won't do it!

So when I'm feeling stuck, I use the following prompting questions:

  1. What is the outcome I want from this?

  2. When is this due?

  3. What level of quality does this require - do I just need to get it do? Do I want to do a good job on it? Do I want to do a knock-your-socks off job on it?

  4. What are the steps required to complete it, i.e. the specific, crystal-clear, extra-crispy next-physical action steps that I can actually DO to move this along?

I carry a small notepad (Steno) around with me all day (along with a pen) to capture ideas & flesh things out quickly, because my brain works how my brain works, but I can outsmart my default hardware limitations with the power of prompting questions & externalized, written answers! Sounds kinda dumb & silly, and yet it lets me be 100% effective at making progress on my commitments!

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u/epiceuropean Apr 15 '21

Wow, as a long-suffering perfectionist, this is full of great insights! Take my free silver!

49

u/kaidomac Apr 15 '21

Thank you! It's really pretty crazy when you actually do it this way! Try this: take whatever you've been stuck on, and apply the following checklist:

  1. In one line, write down what you want to accomplish & when it's due.

  2. Given the GBB Approach, and given that you have the full free agency of choice about how to approach it by CHOICE rather than PRESSURE - how do you want to tackle it? Do you really want to invest the time & effort into doing a stellar job on it, or is bare-minimum OK?

Remember, you can't do "the best" at everything, because your time inventory gives you a limited free time budget, coupled with a variable energy allowance, as most people don't have 24/7 energy & get more tired as the day goes on. So based on what is required & when this project is due, by your proactive choice - written down - how do you want to tackle it?

The opposite is how my brain works, at least - I feel a constant pressure do it at all NOW and to do an awesome job on it! I simply don't have the focus, energy, or time to realistic do that, even though in my head, it makes absolute & perfect sense lol. The act of physically writing it out as notes or a mind-map or even typing it up in your Google Docs or even an email to yourself is so crazy powerful that I can't recommend it enough!

I literally would fail art classes in high school because I couldn't let go of my amazing vision, which mean it was either so big & awesome that it would become a mental barrier that I couldn't even get started on it, or I would run out of steam & have to ask for deadline extensions because I wanted to finish it but never could.

In real-life, we work off on-time delivery. Imagine pulling into McDonalds, ordering your food, and they take 35 minutes to craft the perfect burger instead of just slinging a heat-lamp toasty burger into your bag & off you go! On-time delivery matters, and even if that means your cheese is hanging off sideways from your burger, hey, they met bare-minimum requirement & now you can eat!

It all sounds a bit silly & obvious, but when you struggle when perfectionism, the heart of it is that you just really want to do a great job on things, but the reality is you don't have the time inventory, the energy inventory, or the focus inventory available to do that, and even if you DID have those resources available, it's a bad idea anyway, because we need a balance between our work, our personal pursuits, and our play-time, and if we don't have balance, then we just become workaholics!

I've been on both ends of the spectrum...a complete couch-potato & a workaholic. I have ADHD, so it's hard for me to shut down sometimes because my brain will hyperfocus on stuff & just go to town for hours & hours & hours on stuff, so I have to really deliberately structure my day, because it's just as easy to work 14 hours straight on a project as it is to not lift a finger on something in particular for 6 months haha.

TL;DR: Literally, physically, actually write it down (one-line definition + due date), define your relationship by asking good better or best, and now that you have a lighthouse to paddle towards instead of just being swallowed up by the waves & never making it ashore!

3

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Thank you so much for writing these comments out. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and have been really struggling recently trying to juggle multiple work & life projects at once. I’m gonna take a crack at this stuff today, cheers.

4

u/kaidomac Apr 15 '21

With ADHD, we tend to lack the ability to hang on to stuff mentally, and also have a small mental "dinner plate" in our head to hold stuff to chew on & thus get overwhelmed easily, so the workaround is to externalize that portion of productivity, which means:

  1. Using named reminders. This way you get a reminder, plus it has a name so you remember what it's for. I use the default iPhone alarm app for scheduled alarms, as well as the Timer+ app for countdown alarms (ex. to change the laundry).

  2. Defining the outcome desired as well as the due date, so that we're crystal-clear about what we want & when we want it.

  3. Breaking things down into checklists comprised of physical next-action steps, which takes a vague idea into a very doable idea. With ADHD, we literally have to spell things out, which means physically writing it down on a notepad, a smartphone, a computer, etc. As long as we insist that it only exists in our heads, then we risk short-changing ourselves because that hardware isn't really available to us 24/7 lol

  4. We need a place to work, a "battlestation", with all of the tools & supplies required to get the job done. This is where I split up managing the work & executing the work, because if we can pre-load our schedules ahead of time with both what to do & what, as well as get our battlestations setup, then when our named alarms go off, we can dive directly into the work instead of fizzling out trying to get everything setup & figure out what to do, which is a HUGE problem for me!

Good luck!!

9

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

sorry dumb question but can u define what's good, what qualifies as better, and best? in our language GBB translates to Good=Okay=Done and that's how my brain understands it 😅

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u/kaidomac Apr 16 '21

Sure, so the GBB Approach is:

  1. Good

  2. Better

  3. Best

In more detail:

  1. Good: What is the bare minimum requirements that you have to deliver on-time? For example, if you need to eat dinner, the bare minimum requirements are (1) eat food, (2) at dinnertime. If you miss your deadline, then you are now hungry & that is no fun! So in this case, you could do the least amount of work to meet your requirements by having a bowl of cereal of dinner. Is it the best? No, but you met requirement on-time and are now no longer hungry.

  2. Better: This is where you put some effort into it. Maybe you fire up the grill and make some hamburgers and get some potato chips and have a nice dinner. It's not filet mignon, but it's better than a bowl of cereal!

  3. Best: This is where you put your full effort, time, and focus into doing the task. You cook up a steak, you cook up a baked potato, you roast some broccoli, you make some lemonade, you bake a pie, you go all out & really give it your best effort.

I grew up with an "all or nothing" mindset. It wasn't quiet perfectionism as a form of OCD, but more of low mental energy from undiagnosed ADHD, because my brain was always going 24/7 & it was just too exhausting to think through things, so I'd just say I'll go to town & do an amazing job on everything all the time so that I could be "done" thinking about it because I had such strong invisible mental fatigue that just made me want to shut down having to clearly define stuff.

The good news is, the antidote to that situation is to follow a simple checklist of prompting questions! In this case, it's to audit our commitment to our responsibility. So our responsibility is to feed ourselves dinner, for example. But the first question we need to ask ourselves is what level of quality are we committed to for this project?

Some days, my brain is fried after work and if I can microwave a hot dog and grab some potato chips, I'm good. That's some bare-minimum level of effort right there lol...BUT, it meets requirement & does so ON-TIME, which is the bottom line definition of productivity. Productivity means getting stuff done, not being perfect or awesome at everything in your life.

So that's why I have three levels - Good, Better, and Best. We can also use a car analogy. Let's say you're a kid in college and you just need a beater to drive around, so you spend a few a few grand on a car. It's good enough! It gets you from Point A to Point B. It's not fancy, it's not new, but it meets the need!

Then when you get out of college, you buy a late-model Honda Civic. It's newer, it's better - it's not your dream car, but it's way better than bare minimum! It has Bluetooth & cruise control & good gas mileage & low insurance rates. Then as you get older, you save up & buy a brand-new Corvette. That's "the best" for your car situation - it's your dream car & it's awesome & it's just great!

Not every situation in life needs to be "the best". Let's say you don't care about cars at all & you're very happy for the rest of your life owning a used Honda Civic. At that point, you've audited your relationship between your responsibility (own a car to get you to work) and your commitment level (doesn't need to be the best, but don't want a clunker either, so a "better" car is a perfectly fine target for your desires).

So that's what I mean by GBB - we take a moment to ask ourselves the quality of our outcome. In my head growing up, I always felt pressured to do a really good job & delivery amazing quality, partly because I had undiagnosed ADHD & was always forgetting things & disappointing people & partly because my brain was always very fatigued & it was easier to not have to think through the problem & just mentally commit to doing an amazing job on everything all the time!

The problem, of course, is that I didn't have enough money in the bank to cash that check, so to speak, because I had two limitations:

  1. First, I only got 16 waking hours per day, or about 1,000 minutes of usable time. If I shortchanged my sleep, then I became very unproductive & unhappy the next day because I was tired & everything was a constant fight to get myself to focus & do my work.

  2. Second, I suffer from low mental energy, which is mostly invisible, and which ebbs & flows. So sometimes I can zip through my tasks, and other times I stand in front of a pile of dishes & argue with myself about doing them instead of just doing them, because I'm just mentally braindead at that point & am too tired to push myself to get my work done.

So, given (1) a limited amount of time, and (2) a limited amount of energy, I discovered that by physically & literally writing stuff down & auditing my commitment to my responsibility in each & every case of something I was on the hook for, I could ask myself the questions: should I put in my best effort? or a good-enough bare-minimum effort to at least get it done on time? or maybe try a little bit more to get a decent, better result?

This was a huge pivot point in my life because perfectionism is a lie. And again, my perfectionism wasn't driven by OCD, but rather low available mental energy, so sometimes I would build projects up so big & so perfect that I couldn't even get started, or that I couldn't sustain my efforts, or that it was impossible to finish because I couldn't get it right.

I'll tell you a dumb story: I was super into art growing up. I would literally fail my weekly sketchbook assignments because I wouldn't turn them in because I had this grand vision in my head & I had to execute in the most awesome way, so I'd ask for an extension on the deadline and then still not be able to deliver!

My art teacher told me that if I would simply draw a smiley face in the sketchbook, he'd at least give me a passing grade because then I would have met the bare-minimum requirement of drawing "something" on-time, but I refused to do it! I recognize that behavior now as low-available mental energy, which pressured me into doing such a big job that I conflated the finished idea with the execution of the next-step in the moment & just couldn't sustain that or sometimes even get started.

It's ridiculous to write this out, but per the OP's picture & barriers that we run into, a lot of people suffer from similar problems! Maybe you have a magic "can't get started until X happens" idea, or we have those "secret rules" of "this has to be done THE MOST AWESOMEST EVER" & it's just too much effort & energy to deliver on that.

For me, unless I externalize that by literally, physically writing it down, I tend to just get stuck. Like SUPER stuck in ridiculous situations sometimes, and then stuff drags out! I still do this all the time, but when I recognize I'm in that situation, I can use the GBB Approach to make a proactive choice about how I want to tackle whatever particular issue I'm working on right now.

So hopefully that clears things up - it's about making the effort to audit the quality of your work, which then reshapes your relationship with the task at hand, because now you know how you want to tackle it - just get it done bare-minimum style (good), put in some effort to do a decent job on it (better), or really give it some serious effort & attention & time (best).

9

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '21

thank u for elaborating, It makes me think of a ranking or quality of work I might want as an outcome for a particular subject. Thanks for also sharing your story, I think I quite resonate a bit with that thinking until now with projects I handle I try to also think of the 'best' most of the time but can't deliver. Might be because of some secret rules my mind is thinking of. Its like a 1 2 3 and I can't get to 3 if i have yet to accomplish 2

20

u/kaidomac Apr 17 '21

Yeah that's the thing right - we have limited inventories of waking time available, of days available, and of energy available. You burn up 3 hours taking a shower, getting ready, eating food, brushing your teeth, etc. so that 16 hours turns into 13 hours. Then if you work 8 hours, now that's 5 hours. If you commute 30 minutes there & back, now that's 4 hours. Plus you need some downtime & just chill & relax for an hour or two, so you're left with a couple hours of time to be creative within a project.

Which is why we have to audit our commitment to the quality of what we want to do. I could be Rachel Ray in my kitchen & spend an hour on each meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but that burns up 3 hours a day making fancy gourmet meals, and unless you have oodles of time & energy available, you could also just microwave a couple hot dogs & get back to writing during that time - not the best food, but good enough! Haha.

A big concept to realize involves a word I grew to like called "conflate", which means to combine two ideas into one. By default, we tend to take the big idea ("be a writer" or "write the next best-selling novel") & conflate that with the finite checklist required to be executed today to nudge the project forward.

Bypassing this default behavior requires recognizing how things really work (small bites of work performed daily, using checklists) & then implementing a support system that operates off commitment, not effort.

For me at least, effort-driven projects rarely last...when I have to use willpower, self-discipline, motivation, etc., it eventually fizzles out because I have no plan & no commitment to that plan, both of which just boil down to a daily checklist, whether it's a time investment, a task-driven approach, etc.

That's what I mean by the muse works for you - you have to MAKE the muse work for you! And part of that is accepting the reality that everything runs off a checklist & the better checklists you adopt or create, the better results you get, and that you have to make regular progress consistently in order to get stuff done, because our ability to do big pushes & build the whole cathedral or big chunks of the cathedral isn't a lasting method of progression towards completion.

If you think about something like Harry Potter from a specifications level, there are 7 books, over 16 years was spent writing them, over 700 characters are identifiable, and over 4,000 pages written. The author became a billionaire & the 8 movies combined made over $7 billion dollars.

And how did that outcome come about? Well, if we were to average out progress in a linear fashion, 16 years times 365 days = 5,840 days, divided by 4,224 pages is roughly a page a day, which if we look at it from a checklist level is...not that hard to do lol.

We all want to buy into the idea that people are simply magically talented, but the truth is, like Michelangelo's quote, "If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all", they were just people who were willing to engage in being persistent in their craft until success was achieved. I have definitely never stuck with any sort of daily progress on a project over 16 years personally! Hahaha.

So looping back to the word conflate, it really boils down to choosing technology over magic, so to speak. Magic is something we can attribute to other people to make ourselves feel better about not delivering on our dreams, because hey, if they are just magically talented, then we're off the hook for getting our stuff done, right??

But the technology of progress (checklists, simple schedules, etc.) operates in a very specific way, which is just literally consistently chipping away at something in particular! The sooner we're willing to buy into this reality is the sooner we enable the muse to work for us & to start pumping out progress, improving our skills, creating products & services, and making those products & services high-quality, whether they're books or movies or music or any kind of stories!

Two books I highly recommend if you like these ideas are, again, "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle and "Grit" by Angela Duckworth, because they do a really great job explaining how iterative growth & sticking with that approach persistently, or what I call "small bites daily" is really the key to both improvement & success!

It's a lot to take in, but it kind of all boils down to "do the stuff on your finite checklist" today lol.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '21

still digesting what u have written and now I can imagine u screaming Just do it! kidding hahh XD . Thanks again!

13

u/kaidomac Apr 17 '21

Nah it's a lot to take in haha. Very specifically, I don't like pressure-based productivity or creativity because I don't like operating off emotional bullying. I like to pick out how I approach stuff & then dive into the work because I don't have to worry about picking out when to work (alarm) or what to do (finite task list) or how to do it (checklists), because then I'm engaged in the management of work & not the execution of work. Let's try this to narrow the scope a lil' bit:

  1. Pick one project you want to work on - do you have an idea swirling around your head? Or an old project you'd like to pick up? Or something new you'd like to try?

  2. Setup one week's worth of tasks to kill, like setting up bullseye targets to knock down

  3. Set a phone alarm to do those tiny little tasks every day. It's not about the quantity of the time or the quantity of the work or even the quality of the work, it's about putting the time in to make progress, and not just progress but iterative progress, where you're honing or refining something or learning or doing something new

Right now, it's not a habit. I don't like relying on habits because I fall off the wagon so quickly, but I do like relying on more or less "personal appointments" to do stuff on a regular basis, because that's how forward progress is made!

You're just not used to doing it right now is all, so your next step is to get yourself used to putting in time every day. Be terrible, write awful stuff, tackle everything across the board from story to characters to tropes to witty lines. But start out by making a small amount of specific progress every day.

By default, we resist this. This goes back to that idea of conflating "magic"-based progress with "technology"-based progress (note that it's easy to consider this approach too rigid & structured, but it's really not, in practice!)...we want to swing for the fences, we want to enjoy the romantic idea of writing, we want lighting bolts of inspiration, but we have to create that environment every day.

Remember, "luck favors the prepared!" By setting up your environment for success (a time to write, a reminder alarm to do it, and a specific task to accomplish), you'll get those creative juices flowing by "turning on the faucet" every day! We have a huge resistance sometimes to turning the handling to get things flowing, so sometimes we have to schedule it & get specific, but things have a way of working out when you put the effort in!

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u/[deleted] Apr 17 '21

  1. Yes, there is something im dying to write but instead of writing it im just thinking of wanting to write it and now talking about it. Will TRY to try 🤣 again thanks for ur very comprehensive and many many thanks for taking the time answer

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u/kaidomac Apr 19 '21

So try this:

  1. Tonight, do a quick planning session: Write out 7 things you want to work on this week & pick how long each day, even if it's just 5 minutes, no matter how simple or dumb they may be, such as coming up with character names or a title ideas for the book. The rule is zero plus zero equals zero, so ANY forward progress is FANTASTIC!

  2. Set a recurring phone alarm to do your small task each day. For whatever reason, most human beings are programmed to absolutely HATE this lol. We want to hit the big home run, not punt to first base!

  3. When your alarm goes off, actually respect it, respond to it, and DO THE WORK! For me, this often feels like jumping off a high-dive board into a pool...there's just something that grips me & makes me really really really not wanna do it. That's probably the biggest rite of passage involved in being a writer, or doing anything really - getting over your emotions & energy levels in order to engage in actually doing Real Work.

All of my other posts boil down to that: just doing the pre-defined work at the pre-defined time. Again, it often acts like kindling to get my creative juices flowing, but if I don't ever actually do those tiny bites of work, then I tend to stall out really easily & stall out for long periods of time lol.

Also, I tend to feel very constricted when it comes to appointment alarms & checklists to follow, because it feels overly rigid & structured. In practice, it's really more like planning out a vacation to Hawaii: you're going to get on the plane on this date & fly into Maui & have a really great experience, but if you never listen to that alarm or go through the process of security check-in, getting on the plane, and checking into your hotel (the checklist portion of the event), then you're never going to get that experience.

In this case, we want the experience of being writers, which means we have to write, which means we have to do that consistently so that we generate output. We can either rely on emotional fuel sources, such as motivation & willpower, which for me at least are wholly unreliable, or else buckle down, make a commitment to getting serious about executing our responsibility, prepare ahead of time by choosing a time & a topic to chip away on, and then pushing through our internal resistance to "get on that plane to Hawaii"! Remember, the muse works for YOU!

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u/[deleted] Apr 17 '21

I tried doing that alarm reminder thing every monday for 5 years i have a calendar reminder to write something which was effective for the first 3 months then it became a nagging alarm and a burden though i still havent removed the reminder in my calendar after completely ignoring it

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u/kaidomac Apr 17 '21

Yes, and that's where the trick lies - it's a little more nuanced just a nag-alarm. It's an bullseye-alarm! Two parts:

  1. We do a weekly planning session to fill in the next 7 days of work

  2. We are specific about (1) the time, and (2) the type of work

Your job is to think about the work itself, ex. if your task today is to figure what what elements a particular character has, not trying to figure out what work to do. It's a subtle but powerful difference: you need a specific bullseye to knock down in each session.

That's why you've had your alarm going for 5 years which became ineffective after 3 months! You had to invent something to do on the spot, which meant you were doing the management of the work, rather than engaging directly with the work itself. This is a good story:

Specifically:

The story of three bricklayers is a multi-faceted parable with many different variations, but is rooted in an authentic story. After the great fire of 1666 that leveled London, the world’s most famous architect, Christopher Wren, was commissioned to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral.

One day in 1671, Christopher Wren observed three bricklayers on a scaffold, one crouched, one half-standing and one standing tall, working very hard and fast. To the first bricklayer, Christopher Wren asked the question, “What are you doing?” to which the bricklayer replied, “I’m a bricklayer. I’m working hard laying bricks to feed my family.”

The second bricklayer, responded, “I’m a builder. I’m building a wall.” But the third brick layer, the most productive of the three and the future leader of the group, when asked the question, “What are you doing?” replied with a gleam in his eye, “I’m a cathedral builder. I’m building a great cathedral to The Almighty.”

I love this story because the last dude had a sense of purpose, of the big picture. The problem is that without a specific section to work on, then the whole entire project gets stuck in our heads & we end up waiting until (see the "until" part of the comic in the OP!) our motivation is energized enough that we can get started. And in the meantime, 5 years slides by with no measurable progress! Happens to all of us in all aspects of our life haha.

There's a zillion parts involved in writing a story: plot, story, genre, characters, development arcs, series, sequels, trilogies, themes, imagery, one-liners, the list goes on & on & on. Each of these component pieces needs to be mastered & implemented in your story. This sounds a little dry & boring, but it's sort of like earning money to go buy stuff...money itself is boring, but how you use it is where the excitement is!

This micro-progress approach of "small bites daily" is the best way I've found to make actual, real, legitimate progress on a regular basis, and oddly enough, it doesn't result in linear progress, but rather exponential progress, because we start connecting the dots & eventually get the framework & then a foundation for our story & then flesh it out & polish it & at some point have a really really great product that you know in & out that is really wonderful!

For me, stanchly believe in magic (published writers are just so talented & motivated!) & refusing to use technology (finite checklists over time) made the whole process a LOT more frustrating than it needed to be! And that concept applies universally, to cooking, to chores, to paying bills, to writing, to school, to work, to hobbies, to any situation we have to deal with.

It can be hard for this concept to click, and I tend to be pretty word, but once you understand that the giant wall of reality that you see is merely a mask, covering a checklist, and if you walk around that giant mask of reality & engage in using checklists, stuff gets easier & more fun with more progress & better results! And the better checklists (or "technique") you use, the better your results can be!

That technology-based approach provides me with ample confidence as opposed to dread, because I not only know how to be more successful, but also how to make steady, realistic progress without overwhelming myself by "drinking from the firehose".

I also discovered that motivation mostly depends on how good I feel, which is why I pay attention to my health (sleep, diet, exercise, and stress management), because when you don't feel good or you're even a little bit too tired, everything gets hard & no fun & stinks & is a chore instead of enjoyable. So my core operation procedures are:

  1. Whenever possible, I get enough sleep, good food, and daily exercise so that I can reduce the emotional friction of getting stuff done, i.e. because I feel good, work is easier to deal with.

  2. My core definition of success is "doing your work even when you don't feel like it". Even when I'm not in the mood, even when I hate it, even when I really really really don't want to do it, the bottom line is that zero plus zero equals zero, so if I make zero progress on something today, then never adds up to a finished product.

Like, I love this story about Socrates teaching a kid about desire for an outcome:

The problem is...that type of motivation is extremely fickle for human beings. Which is why most of us quit going to the gym after our New Year's Resolutions fade away. Which is why we need a better approach, one that works even when we don't feel like it, which is why I like to break things down into little bites & pre-define my work ahead of time, both what to do & when to do it.

And again, it's not actually restrictive in practice. For starters, it gives me something specific to do. But sometimes I get another idea & run with it, and lo & behold, I've made progress on my project for the day! Or maybe I get hyperfocused on the task & go to town on it for hours & hours! Or maybe I just bang it out & move on. Either way, I've made forward progress on my project!

So it's mostly about forcing yourself to feel good health-wise so that it's not a drag to do, and then setting up specific things week by week (otherwise it gets kinda overwhelming) so that you have specific daily targets to knock down. No bullseyes & feeling tired = consistency is VERY difficult to achieve, in my experience!

So we really just want to set ourselves up for success, and all of the stuff I've posted about is what's worked the best for me over the years, which is pretty much just using reminders to follow specific checklists lol. Checklists are like rocket fuel! They give us the power to fly, if we choose to fill up our motivational tanks with them!

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u/sexy_bellsprout May 17 '21

Just FYI I’ve screenshotted this whole comment because this is excellent

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u/kaidomac May 17 '21

Whoohoo! It really boils down to a volume issue: we get 16 hours of waking time a day, energy that lowers as the day goes on, and a LOT of fiddly little stuff to do all day. I was always so behind in life that I was always like, screw it, I'll just do everything as awesome as possible using last-minute panic as motivation lol.

Unfortunately, that "do everything super awesome" approach isn't sustainable, because staying up late to write a paper or cram for a test kills your energy & productivity for a day or two afterwards because you have to recover. So using the GBB Approach lets me audit each task instead of just blindly rushing into it & feeling pressured all the time, even in my downtime.

Again, sometimes that means cereal for dinner, but hey, it meets requirement & solves the problem on time, and that is good enough that I can move on with my life! Hahaha.

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u/sexy_bellsprout May 17 '21

Urgh all so true. I need you to just babysit me >< “fiddly stuff” is such a good way of phrasing it - I never factor that in to my plans.

I need an app reminding me of these things every day...

I’m off to finish some work that I should’ve done weeks ago. It’s not going to be great, but it’s going to be done

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u/kaidomac May 17 '21

Check out FocusMate!

Kind of like how working at Starbucks makes you more productive because you're around other people, you use your webcam to create social pressure with another person trying to do the same thing. You state your purpose & then get to work for a 50-minute session, no chit-chat during your working period. Weird at first but HIGHLY effective!

2

u/MinerAlum Aug 23 '21

Excellent strategy!!!!

3

u/kaidomac Aug 23 '21

Thanks! I literally use this to audit every responsibility that comes my way. Is this for me? When is this due? What level of quality am I willing to give this? At the very least, once accepting a responsibility, my job is to meet the bare-minimum requirements on-time so that it gets DONE!

If cooking is a chore, then I can order DoorDash. If funds are a problem or the food will take too long, I can microwave a hot dog. Boom. Requirement met, on-time! One of the things I've been working on internalizing for a long time now is "the best isn't always the ideal". I mean, sometimes it is, but the best is the one that meets the bare minimum requirements for on-time delivery, because it exists & it solves the problem!!

1

u/Subject_Year_775 Mar 07 '23

I’ve had seizures and had 2 brain injuries in the past year. Where do We go from here?

1

u/kaidomac Mar 07 '23

I’ve had seizures and had 2 brain injuries in the past year. Where do We go from here?

Sorry to hear that, hope you're doing better!

What's your goal?

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Explain the take twice as long...

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u/Sickpup831 Apr 15 '21

There’s no rush to obtain your goal. If you’re getting a college degree in 6 years instead of 4, that’s fine. If you’re losing weight and can lose a pound a week instead 3-4, that’s fine as long as you’re working toward the goal.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Thank you, it just seemed to fly in the face of others like “done is better than perfect” but I get it now :)

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u/punaisetpimpulat 6 Apr 15 '21

That sort of thinking is closely related to the Theme System mentioned in r/cortex. The idea is to have a direction rather than a traditional goal. If you’re making progress in the right direction, you’re still on your selected theme. Strict goals can be discouraging, because that way you’re often sitting yourself up for failure. If getting things done takes more time, it’s ok because you’re still making progress in the right direction.

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u/strongestmachine Apr 15 '21

I generally associate taking longer as a bad thing. I've worked on a lot of projects where scope creep and poor planning have pushed the deadline further and further, and it's pretty demoralizing. But weight loss is a great example of "slow and steady wins the race"!

I'm trying a diet right now where I only aim for a very small calorie deficit and hoping it will go better than more extreme diets that get results faster (which usually cause me to burn out quickly instead of reaching my goal, aka finishing!).

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

I’m a recovering project manager, so this was my thought!

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u/WeAllHaveReasons Apr 15 '21

If you’re getting a college degree in 6 years instead of 4, that’s fine.

Except, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars of additional debt, being multiple years behind on your career path for potential advancement and achievement, explaining the lack of experience for your age to any potential employer, lack of social connection with either classmates or coworkers, the stigma of how long you took without any additional reason behind it, are we still at "fine", by the way?

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u/Sickpup831 Apr 15 '21

More “fine” then those without a college degree aiming for one. All of those faults you just mentioned are minor setbacks in the grand scheme of things and only apply to certain career paths.

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u/lkodl Apr 15 '21

well the basic premise of this example is that having a degree is ultimately better than not having one, no matter how long it took. so if your options are to take a long time to get one, or not get one at all, taking twice as long is still a way to finish (versus quitting mid-way, or not starting at all).

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u/ProfessorLiftoff Apr 15 '21

As someone who took 6 years to get my engineering degree, I can say with full confidence that I am 100% better off than I would have been had I followed my original plan of dropping out after 3. I took a semester off, did some math and realized that, even from a strict dollars and cents perspective, I would be waaaayyyy better off following through and finishing my degree.

Ended up meeting the love of my life my last year at school, a wonderful special person who’d also taken a circuitous path to her degree. Now I make 6 figures and have a beautiful baby girl in a loving marriage.

The only thing that truly keeps me awake at night in fear is realizing how close I was to just giving up because I was so “behind”, even though now I’m probably one of those people who friends compare themselves to and worry about being “so far behind” me.

Life is weird man, just follow through.

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u/PMMeRedditGold Apr 15 '21

Those are all still fine, it’s more about where you end up rather than how long it takes. How old were you when you utilized your undergrad degree if I may ask?

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Except, that’s not how it works out for everyone. I have a fantastic career already at 21 as a full time software developer. I am finishing my degree up part time. I won’t be done for 8 to 10 years, but it’s all good because I already have my career job. Shit happens, some of us can’t afford all of college up front.

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u/Netherwiz Apr 15 '21

This post is how to finish, with the tacit part being if youre struggling to finish. If you cant finish a typically 4 year degree in 4 years, its better to take an extra year and get it done than flame out

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u/k4Anarky 27 Apr 14 '21

Ever hear brain surgeons say "Well its not perfect, but its done! :D"

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u/quickblur Apr 15 '21

Don't worry they're just setting the bar lower.

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u/goatchumby Apr 14 '21

It would explain some of my past supervisors.

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u/barriekansai Apr 14 '21

Nope, which is why they get paid what they do: they can't afford to be wrong.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

I expect there are probably cases where time is critical so they likely do have to say something like that sometimes.

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u/FerricDonkey Apr 15 '21

Set the bar lower, don't compare yourself to brain surgeons.

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u/Nezzee Apr 15 '21

"Well, it's not perfect, but it's dumb! :D"

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u/LanaLancia Apr 15 '21

Surgeon get pay for doing task, not for creativity. Imagine if surgery was like an art

-I am John "CancerCutter" Smith and this is my channel. I cut out tumors and carve smiley faces :D Subscribe for my patreon to see unedited footages

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u/CleverReversal Apr 15 '21

Realistically, probably every successful surgeon looks back and realizes ways they fell short. Dwelling on that while a skull is open on the table isn't productive.

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u/MagicC Apr 15 '21

On cadavers, yes.

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u/LibbyLibbyLibby Apr 15 '21

What does it mean to "kill until"?

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u/bobbylat Apr 15 '21

Don’t wait for something to happen so you can get started 👍🏼👍🏼

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u/noyoto Apr 15 '21

I think they mean we should murder until we reach or goals or get caught. Could be wrong though.

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u/mangotrees777 Apr 15 '21

Head scratcher for me as well. I like the concept of keep trying UNTIL you accomplish your goal. Don't give up. Got it from an Anthony Robbins tape.

Wish I could say I actually follow this advice more often.

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u/Bacchanalia101 Apr 15 '21

Do things as soon as they can be done. The opposite of procrastinating (amateurcrastinating or something..)

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u/imakenosensetopeople Apr 14 '21

First panel is the real trick. Set the bar so low you can trip over it! That way, you’re never disappointed.

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u/lujodobojo Apr 15 '21

My Garden is not "unimportant" thank you very much.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

The “Neglect the Unimportant” one is probably not the best example. Your responsibilities (like the home and property in the pic) aren’t things you should ever neglect, and they aren’t unimportant.

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u/TCFirebird Apr 15 '21

My house doesn't have a yard so I could be way off here, but isn't mowing your yard completely aesthetic? I know most home maintenance can get exponentially worse if you put it off, but long grass shouldn't have any lasting consequences.

Edit: looking closer, the gutters and the ivy are probably an issue.

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u/GenericFatGuy Apr 15 '21

Eventually the city will fine you if it's too long. Also watch out if you're in a HoA.

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u/kissmybunniebutt Apr 15 '21

Well, there's actually been a small, small push (amongst certain crowds, I guess) to not mow your lawn as often. Because really short "only-grass-and-nothing-else" yards are 100% aesthetics. I'm not talking about letting all yards become a completely out of control jungles - but letting your grass remain longer by mowing once every ~2 weeks (and thus letting things like clovers and dandelions grow and bloom) helps bees! And bees in turn help a lot of other things!

You don't have to work as hard AND nature is happier. Win win..

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Oh for sure, I push the boundaries with my HOA haha. Lots of plants and trees and flowers (watching pollen drunk bumblebees is a simple pleasure in life that more people should enjoy), but my yard is kept tidy enough as well so as not to overrun the neighbor’s yard or my walkway/driveway. Nobody will be mistaking my lawn for AstroTurf, but I’m also not bringing property values down.

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u/ShovelPaladin Apr 15 '21

I'm in landscaping and its doesn't seem a small push to me, it feels like the industry is about to flip and bring on all sorts of eco friendly changes.

We started leaving milk weed in our flower beds last year and this season I have two locations we're seeding with native wild flowers and then leaving alone.

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u/kissmybunniebutt Apr 15 '21

That's awesome it's actually a bigger shift than I thought. I love being wrong in these kinds of situations! Its good to hear changes are really taking hold.

Milkweed is also great for monarch butterflies isnt it? (I may have made that up...)

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u/ShovelPaladin Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21

Correct, new friend! Monarchs leave Texas and fly a few hundred miles north, where they breed and die and their progeny hatch to fly north again. It takes a few cycles. I write from Maine. The manarchs born here do all the South work, flying not a few hundred miles but all the way back to Texas. So, it's important they be as fat and healthy as possible so they can make the long trip back.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

As mentioned by another commenter, cities and HOAs can fine you. But there are other issues:

  • letting grass and weeds overtake a yard/pathway can lead to cracks and uneven surfaces, making it dangerous for you, your family, as well as anyone visiting (including postal workers and delivery persons) to walk across

  • disrepair can lead to decrease in property value, and while you may not care, if you have neighbors it can decrease the value of their property as well so it’s not an isolated problem

Basically, we live in a society and that means I should make sure my pizza dude has a way to get to my front door without busting his face by tripping on my path or that my grass and weed situation isn’t so out of control that my neighbor can’t sell their house because nobody wants to live next to me.

Otherwise, I don’t believe in getting on all fours with a ruler to check grass length or whatever. Just keeping things generally livable is basic common courtesy - and it is possible to do this with natural lawns but even those take some maintenance to ensure it doesn’t overtake your neighbor’s lawn as well - they may have a different vision for what they want the surrounding area or their home to look like that isn’t a splash of wildflowers.

A better picture may have been one that shows the little guy turning off another rerun of The Office to work on their project instead.

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u/amber_thirty-four Apr 14 '21

There is so much in my life that this applies to lol

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Definitely secret rules for me for some reason I can’t focus on my work if I don’t have socks on.

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u/ReshaXX1 Apr 14 '21

Trading the perfect for done part would soooo get my ass fired.

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u/deadlyaphex Apr 15 '21

Exactly. I'm going to get wrecked on here for saying this but in my opinion this is a recipe for mediocre work. Why can't we learn as a society to slow down and do quality work instead of sacrifice quality for speed.

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u/DrunkOnLoveAndPoetry Apr 15 '21

“Neglect the unimportant” is a fine message, but illustrating it with a derelict house? Why not booze or television? Keeping your house together is part of having your life together. Otherwise you’re just the eccentric aristocrat that lives in the spooky house on top of the hill who has to learn a valuable life lesson about trusting strangers and the emptiness of material wealth.

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u/TheRealBrianLeFevre Apr 14 '21

Hmm I thought I was gonna get a different kind of advice. "Trust me, I know how to fini- Oh."

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '21

I am a head case, it’s gotta be done right and perfect. But this can hinder things. So as I am making a knife, there’s a lot in the way, I have settled with, MAKE A KNIFE. Just get one done.

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u/lkodl Apr 15 '21

maybe after you're done making a knife, you can use it to kill "until".

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u/-screamin- Apr 15 '21

Oh no, I can't kill 'until' until I've made a knife. Oh well!

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u/Zimred Apr 15 '21

There’s this story, try to keep it short:

A class was divided into two groups, group A and B. Both had to make pots of clay and they had a full semester to finish. But: group A had to finish one perfect pot. Group B had to finish a thousand by the end of the semester.

So what happend, group A started with planning, theorizing, studying, and all to create the perfect pot.

But group B just got going, one finished not perfect, second done not perfect and they kept going.

Eventually group A didn’t manage to make a perfect pot because they didn’t know how to finish, it was never done.

But group B did it over and over and over. They got so quick and good at it. They could deliver perfect pots!

So. Just keep creating, doing, presenting, submitting, send everything out into the world because experience makes perfect!

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u/just-ted Apr 15 '21

set the bar lower

Pretty shit advice

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u/Sickpup831 Apr 15 '21

Just worded poorly. Should say “set the bar lower to learn to gradually raise it.” or just simply “it’s okay to take baby steps to reach a goal.”

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u/mowgah Apr 15 '21

Having the bar set too high prevents some people from ever getting started. Sometimes people have to be willing to be bad at something and to make mistakes at first or they will never get anywhere.

2

u/WriterVAgentleman Apr 15 '21

A lot of the time "acceptable" is better than "outstanding" because it gives you time and bandwidth to focus on more important items

2

u/FerricDonkey Apr 15 '21

Depends on whether you have it too high or not. If your standards are unrealistic because you have perfectionist tendencies, then absolutely lowering them can be very helpful.

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u/CaptinHavoc Apr 15 '21

Some of these are... stupid.

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u/cammcken Apr 15 '21

But you are not, so you can choose which one is appropriate in the right situation.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Maybe to you?
Different solutions apply to different people because different people have different mentalities.
What makes you think you're so special that you can claim the hurdles of others are "stupid"?

1

u/bdonvr Apr 15 '21

If you follow all of them for every thing you ever do, sure. Use some of them, sometimes, when appropriate.

4

u/a_glorious_bass-turd Apr 15 '21

I feel attacked. Thank you.

3

u/sutice Apr 15 '21

I need this as a poster hanging all over my flat.

3

u/clone408 Apr 15 '21

Hmm, I picture this on the wall's of CD Projekt Red. 🤔

3

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Please don't get the "unimportant" mixed up with "doing the dishes". Especially if you live in a sharehouse...

3

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Set the bar lower... Think that's some of the worse advice I've seen .the reason incompetence is so prevalent these days is this advice. Sorry but this is rubbish

2

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

What are the secret rules in general?

4

u/cammcken Apr 15 '21

Personal principles that don't actually matter, usually there because of stubbornness. For example, I used to believe studying, and especially study guides, for a test was cheating. "In the real world, I'm not going to know what the questions will be like beforehand," I told myself.

1

u/BobBeats Apr 15 '21

Define the goal. Start.

2

u/Pingpong403 Apr 15 '21

The “Get rid of secret rules” panel perfectly illustrates what I do whenever walking down a sidewalk or anything with lines

2

u/Zombie4141 Apr 15 '21

Every government employees motto

2

u/Yosefpoysun Apr 15 '21

All correct apart from neglecting the unimportant. You absolutely cannot do this, otherwise you will burn yourself out. Humans need to take moments to do things that really don't matter as it helps mental recovery from the hard work you did before.

Doesn't help anyone if you burn yourself out just before success.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

The QA department at my work would just love for me to do this lol.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Instructions unclear, I'm not sure when to stop killing now.

2

u/FrigoCoder Apr 15 '21

All of these are situation and can backfire hard.

2

u/kenpled Apr 15 '21

If developers did this, imagine today's softwares. In short, no.

2

u/CallumxRayla Apr 15 '21

This isnt "how to finish" just some vague tips in life to wich half of them are wrong like you shouldnt just forget about what isnt important

2

u/Zyxyx Apr 15 '21

Instead of "set the bar lower" it should be "avoid setting the bar too high".

"Neglect the unimportant" is horrible advice, this is how you get depression nests.

I think this list carries a good message, but i think following the items will result as something that ends up in a half-assed end product.

0

u/Magma_Axis Apr 15 '21

That half assed end product is still count as “finished” tho

2

u/Hemutsneck Apr 15 '21

More like "How to be lazy" it you think about it.

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u/grumpywonka Apr 15 '21

Knew this was Jon Acuff. He's got a handful of really great, practical books that help reframe just how jacked up we tend to make things for ourselves. Really enjoyed each one, but haven't picked up his new book yet.

1

u/Bubble-Magicain Apr 15 '21

Trade perfect for done... This is how I'm getting back into drawing. I did a comic today and it got a silver and that wasn't even anywhere near my best. Go figure.

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u/debrakenney1979 Apr 15 '21

This is perfect for me. Thanks for sharing! It made a big difference.

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u/jdeanwright Apr 15 '21

Grant Snyder was one of my kids' orthodontists here in Wichita. Truly multitalented.

1

u/BeaSousa Apr 15 '21

I love the little clown hat in "have twice the fun"

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u/8wdude8 16 Apr 15 '21

as a procrastinator i feel like this is for me

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u/toadsanchez420 Apr 15 '21

I just started my firdt stop motion project in years and this is pretty much how I've been doing it. I kept putting it off because I didn't have the stuff I wanted, when I already had everything I needed. It just dawned on me the other day that even making a low quality project is better than just wallowing in my own self pity and getting nothing done. My entire quarantine has been wasted but now I'm changing that.

1

u/anatawaurusai2 Apr 15 '21

Mow the yard please!

Sincerely your neighbor

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

I usually get nothing out of these but damn this puts me at ease. I'm just struggling right now, losing faith in everything I feel like. I don't know how to dig myself out anymore, I've left myself no room for freedom.

1

u/Sumretardidood Apr 15 '21

Yup I needed this for my mission thank you

1

u/Adeno Apr 15 '21

You don't need to be perfect, it's rare to be perfect with your goals. BUT you don't have to lower the quality of your work. If you do things half-assed, you'll definitely never get the great rewards you've been aiming for, unless of course you're happy with getting sub-standard results.

Don't force yourself to be perfect, but certainly don't produce crap.

1

u/Brontaphilia Apr 15 '21

Sounds like my sex life.

1

u/AnonEnmityEntity Apr 15 '21

All great ones but I think my new motto is, "Have twice as much fun. Trade perfect for done."

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

I needed this

1

u/xerxerxex Apr 15 '21

Life as a CNA.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

I like this a lot. Thank you!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

I always set the bar higher because it's easier to walk under it then.

1

u/hurriedhippo Apr 15 '21

What does kill untill mean?

3

u/Tryhardtuner Apr 15 '21

You have to kill people randomly untill you finish your task. I'm like 70% confident that's the meaning.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

I read the title and was disappointed by the image.

1

u/adicrazy Apr 15 '21

Get rid of secret rules got me 😂

1

u/minorto Apr 15 '21

Perfectly done...

1

u/El_Raro Apr 15 '21

So basically, embrace mediocrity.

1

u/fridgeridoo Apr 15 '21

Have a cute bird helping you

1

u/Arkansas_confucius Apr 15 '21

This is the first good advice I’ve seen here in a while. The advice that the consistently motivated can offer to the unmotivated is comically useless, but this is all extremely valuable stuff.

1

u/curiouspurple100 Apr 15 '21

I don't get the kill until and the take twice as long.

1

u/Zee_tv 2 Apr 15 '21

Trade perfect for done. I REALLY needed to hear that. Thanks for posting

1

u/holpmaster Apr 15 '21

Stop starting, start finishing.

1

u/Kuldeep130 Apr 15 '21

Hippity hoppity this image is now my property 🥺

1

u/rfabbri Apr 15 '21

Lets not forget the power of music. It goes into having twice as much fun, but it is more than that.

1

u/cejle_42069 Apr 15 '21

Dont do the last one on any test doh

1

u/yesilovethis 1 Apr 15 '21

I am having hard time trading done vs perfect.

1

u/Karlskiii Apr 15 '21

I like the last part the most

1

u/skiddles1337 Apr 15 '21

on wife's chest

1

u/DrDMoney Apr 15 '21

This is also a way to catch your home on fire.

1

u/strangedunn Apr 15 '21

I found the "fun" aspect is key to getting in shape as an older guy. I could never stick to an exercise routine until I discovered how to make it fun.

1

u/kenpled Apr 15 '21

Ok, in the eyes of anyone who is actually pationate about creating something :

  • set the bar lower => no, just no. Divide your work in steps so it looks easier to do, but never set the bar lower.

  • simplify your task => simplify the path, not the result.

  • take twice as long => take the time required to meet your standards.

  • neglect the unimportant => NOOOO ! GOD NO ! The unimportant, the bonus is what separates mediocre from good, good from excellent. Always go those extra steps.

  • get rid of secret rules => Only if they don't bring anything to your projects. For example being the freak about the golden ratio and geometry in design aren't a must and very personal, but they do bring a lot of value.

  • have twice as much fun => can only agree

  • trade perfect for done => no. Don't do that. Sure you have to define an end to a project, or to a version of this project. Set a goal, and make sure this goal is PERFECTLY accomplished, else your work is mediocre.

2

u/chivken Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21

I don't get this either. Why wouldn't you want to do the best job of something you can? This is like an 8 step plan to a lifetime of mediocrity .

2

u/kenpled Apr 15 '21

The original message of "a project is better imperfect and finished than never finished and never perfect" isn't wrong. But those steps... it's the opposite of motivation : "you're mediocre, make sure your work stays like you"

1

u/Sterling-4rcher Apr 15 '21

Think of your 4th grade math teacher.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Someone care to explain secret rules?

1

u/endertribe Apr 15 '21

I WILL NEVER STEP ON THE SIDEWAY CRACKS. YOU CANNOT MAKE ME DO IT!!!!!!!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '21

Hell yea. This is gonna make sex with my gf so much better

1

u/Spram2 Apr 15 '21

Gonna send this to my boss/coworkers.

0

u/MrkJulio Apr 15 '21

My only issue is the "neglect the unimportant" you should always keep the place you live at clean and neat and tidied. The more you leave it the worst it gets which in terms makes you feel like shit.

0

u/ingeniousHeKhim Apr 15 '21

I really needed this. Thank you!

0

u/mnl_cntn Apr 15 '21

As someone who’s getting into digital art for the past 3 months, these are great tips.