On Motivation or Lack Thereof

Ok, people, you just need to get used to the fact that a lot of my posts this month are going to be about how I have Things I Must Accomplish and how I need to give myself a pep talk in order to get them done.  This is one of the things that I actually struggle with the most in this profession – having things that I “want” to accomplish (or need to, or whatever) and yet with nobody telling me to do them, they never quite seem pressing.  And so then I have to do this thing where I’m like “I don’t wanna!” but then I’m like, “but you have to!” and then I’m all, “except it’s more fun not to do them!” and them I say, “But you’ll hate yourself for not doing them!”  Und so weiter.

So what I’ve accomplished so far today is that I actually took a real look at my calendar, and at the various plans I made while in the Land of Accomplishing Things without Self-Flagellation, and I’ve come up with a master plan for the next three weeks.  I’m feeling good about it, and I’m going to try very, very hard to stay on track.

So on today’s agenda is to get three hours of work done on The Chapter That Would Become a Whole Book if I Let It.  You may be asking why I won’t let it become a book, and to that I’ll respond that I don’t think anybody but me would want to read the entirety of that book.  Whereas a tightly organized chapter would set the world on fire (or so I have to believe in order to write the thing).

You know, the funny thing is that I actually really enjoy the work that I do so you’d think that I wouldn’t have to do this thing I’m doing right now.  Except you know what?  Just because you enjoy your work doesn’t mean it’s not work.  And work, however much you enjoy it, isn’t exactly “fun.”