Your project is very inspiring can i ask how do

Your project is very inspiring! Can I ask how do you keep yourself motivated?

Thanks! :D

Motivation is definitely hard to figure out. I don’t always have motivation to work on my projects–even now, I’m struggling to get back into the swing of things after NaNoWriMo! But back in 2014 I learned something that helped quite a lot.

First I read a book called The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield. It’s a bit weird, but I highly recommend it. Second, I participated in my first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). What these both taught me is that momentum is better than motivation. If I seriously wanted to finish any of my creative projects, I had to sit down and do the work. I wouldn’t always be inspired, but if it was something I believed in, I had to treat it like any other job.

Not that it was terrible and joyless. Yes, some days I dislike my projects because they’re not good enough or too difficult to make or because I think nobody will care… but for the most part, consistently sitting down to work is surprisingly freeing. I keep a list of tasks, all broken down into the smallest possible elements. That makes it really easy to check off multiple things in one day. Checking stuff off feels good. :)

Another thing I learned is the principle of the rough draft. This started out as a writing thing, but ended up working just as well for art, programming, etc. The idea is simple: get something, anything down even if it’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen. Only when that’s complete can you edit. This should free you from the paralyzing trap of looking at your work and thinking it’s not good enough, starting over, and thus spinning your wheels until you’re exhausted.

Something to keep in mind is the cycle of creativity and relaxation. You need rest so you don’t burn out. Take time to play video games or read books or hang out with friends–whatever inspires you or recharges you. Ideally, you’re working on your project (even just 15 minutes) and taking time to relax each day. You’d be surprised at how many little chunks of free time you have to do this!

Hopefully this helps! :)