Gaining Motivation
This is part 2 of Gaining Motivation, HERE is the link to the first topic. Here is the google docs version, very recommend it is more organized as I don’t know how to use all of the formats in devforum.
OVERVIEW / TABLE OF CONTENTS
In this topic I will be discussing ways to get motivation and to cure procrastination, I will include definitions and in-depth explanation, I recommend reading the entire thing as most of you are tempted to skip most ways.
Note: This topic very long and you should read 2 - 5 of the Table Of Contents every day.
Long story short the list is what we are going to be talking about
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Meditation and Binaural Beats for beginners
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Capabilities
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Dopamine Detox (Optional)
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Trello
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Release Dates
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Brain Training
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Nature
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Sleep
Meditation
Google Definition - “Meditation can be defined as a set of techniques that are intended to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention. Meditation is also a consciousness-changing technique that has been shown to have a wide number of benefits on psychological well-being.”
Simplified Definition - Meditation is a technique used to relieve anger, increase focusness, concentration, productivity, sleep, etc… You will see the full list with more explaining.
Activity of meditation
Negative Effects
Although meditation is good for you, too much of it can be harmful just like too much of anything is harmful, they can cause you…
- If done too much, increasing Depression
- If done too much, increasing Anxiety
- If done way too much, Psychosis
- If done way too much, Manja
- If done too much, PTSD Memories
These are all according to scientific results, you shouldn’t worry about this if you do it 10 minutes a day.
Positive Effects
Here are all the positive effects that can help, you may think that I listed a little for negative effects just to support meditation but that’s really all that I can find
- Control Anxiety
- Helps people with Depression
- Cures Bipolar Disorder
- Increase concentration
- Increase focus
- More self-awareness
- Increase in attention span
- ADHD Relief
- Reduce Age Related Memory
- Increase in kindness
- Reduce Fight Addictions
- Pain control
- Decrease Blood Pressure
How To Meditate
If you are a beginner, here are the first steps to get into meditation, you should always meditate for 2 minutes every day if you are a beginner, I will explain why in the Capabilities Section.
If you are used to visual learning here is a YouTube video that is for beginners
- Listen to meditation binaural beats, I will list the section of binaural beats here in a comfortable position, Get into a comfortable position, criss cross with your hands on your lap, and with your posture straight (This is called The Half Lotus Position)
- Close your eyes (Optionally, if you want to open your eyes you can although this causes distractions)
- Breathe Naturally and focus on your body
- Inhale and hold it for preferred seconds then exhale, like I said again focus on your body when you Inhale and Exhale while listening to Binaural Beats
- Keep inhaling and exhaling every 15 seconds or your preferable seconds
This should start you off with a great start, I know the first time I started meditation, I was more productive than usual
Fun fact: It takes 8 weeks for your brain to fully change in meditation
Binaural Beats
Google Definition - “When you hear two tones, one in each ear, that are slightly different in frequency, your brain processes a beat at the difference of the frequencies. This is called a binaural beat. Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re listening to a sound in your left ear that’s at a frequency of 132 Hertz (Hz).”
There’s really no simplified definition, this is the main definition according to google.
Anyways as I said here is the list of Binaural Beats
- Concentration & Organization
- Overcoming Procrastination
- Focus & Creativity (Recommended for developers)
- Memory Improvement (Please do not try this too much, it can cause problems and negative side effects)
- ADHD Relief
- Productivity & Organization
Capabilities
Google Definition - the power or ability to do something.
“he had an intuitive capability of bringing the best out in people”
Simplified Definition - Being able to do something
Lowering your capabilities
Lowering your capabilities can help you do more work than often.
If you wanted to do yoga, usually your goal would be to do it 10 minutes everyday but, when you try to do it you would miss some days almost every time and you would stop, if you are a developer you know the struggle of making a game then abandoning it the second day or the first day, this is basically like the yoga example.
Instead, try lowering your work time to like 2 minutes or lower and you might be like “how does this help?” Or “isn’t this the opposite?” But no, if you lower your work time to 2 minutes you know you are capable of doing 2 minutes of work time, and because of this you almost always overcome your work time!
The pattern for the 10 minutes is it keeps decreasing until it is abandoned never to be seen again.
The pattern for the 2 minutes is it keeps increasing until it is tiring, although it decreases when a person is tired it still increases after it decreases to 2 minutes
Reasoning behind this is it increases Expectancy, if you saw my first topic you know that the equation to motivation requires Expectancy.
You should also be using this for meditation, when you are meditating you should make sure you make your meditation time to 2 minutes a day and it will help you for sure :).
If you still don’t know the positive effects of doing this, here is a list of the positive effects, I have no idea what negative effects can happen from this other than sleep.
- Increased Work Time
- Increased Concentration
- Increased Focusing
Dopamine detox
Definition - Dopamine detox is a concept which a lot of people follow. Consider it to be a detox, but for your brain. The simple rule to follow is to avoid engaging in any activity which you enjoy doing or which stimulates the brain-it could be browsing your phone, avoiding screen time, listening to music or engaging in any hobby.
Dopamine detox is the fastest way to renew your mind, this is a fasting method done 24 hours or 12 hours, rarely known by people.
You might be confused on how it helps but really let me explain it for you, when you fast you don’t eat anything and you don’t use technology, when you are doing nothing for 12 hours or 24 hours, it causes your brain to change what it likes from nothing to what you want it to like.
I put this as optional because this might not work for some people, so I suggest you not do it unless you are desperate.
TRELLO (Not Sponsored)
- Definition
Definition - Trello is an app and a website used everywhere by business people or developers, it is also free!
Unlike other apps/websites, Trello gives more motivation without quoting anything or any serious things like meditating, if you don’t like meditating or anything else here, I recommend using trello.
How using Trello helps.
Trello requires you to create a team studio (optional) and it lets you make a list for bug reports, updates or anything else, the best thing about it is you can put something on the list and set the due date to when a bug has to be finished or when an update has to be finished. If you use this right you can boost your productivity OR your team.
Effective Effects
- Increases production
- Increases Focusness
- Productivity System
More information about this by the Official Trello Team: official:Trello for Personal Productivity | Trello
Release Dates
Definition - Release Dates are dates that when done releases something you want to be released
Examples: Joe: “ I am putting a release date for my game update!”
How making release dates help
Release dates actually motivate you to release any game you are working on, again this is also another cure to abandoning games, release dates can also be used in Trello.
These can be very stressful, but you shouldn’t make your deadlines/release dates short, that is what causes stress usually
Deadlines can also be annoying, if you partake in meditation, you can remove your annoyance on deadlines, this is actually the main reason why people drown their deadlines almost every day
Deadlines can cause procrastination so here are how you can stop that from happening; If you deadline is long away, you should always remember to still do it since your brain would first think of taking a break, procrastination can also be caused because of being too overwhelmed of how big the project is, setting deadlines that are more than one can stop procrastination a lot according to science
“In 2002, researchers Dan Ariely and Klaus Wertenbroch conducted a study about deadlines and their effectiveness by assigning three proofreading tasks to three distinct test groups:
- The first group was assigned a deadline each week for each proofreading task.
- The second group was assigned one final deadline for all three tasks.
- The third group chose their own deadlines.
The group that was assigned weekly deadlines performed significantly better than the other two groups: They made fewer errors and missed fewer deadlines.
Based on this research, one better way to create less stressful and more realistic deadlines is to break large projects into smaller tasks, setting deadlines for each task instead of just one final deadline.
To use an example from product management, “ship product by February 15” sounds like a monumental task that can freeze you up. But “sketch ideas by January 1; do a mockup by January 15; build a rough prototype by January 31” is much more approachable because you have specific and concrete tasks you can tackle.
Evenly spacing out deadlines over time also gives you a sense of progression, which can ultimately motivate you to reach the finish line. In 1932, while psychologist Clark Hull was observing rats racing to get to a food reward, he noticed that as the critters got closer to the reward, their efforts increased. He called this behavior the goal gradient hypothesis.
If perceived progress serves as a stimulus for achieving the end goal, using a phased—or spaced out—approach is one strategy to move you further down the line. As you progress down the timeline, you’ll cross more and more deadlines off your to-do list. And seeing yourself getting closer to the end goal can increase your efforts at the last minute to pull you through.
Using a tool like TickTick (free plan available) helps you visualize how much progress you’ve made on a project and motivates you to complete the remaining tasks. When you check off an item from your to-do list, it updates a progress bar to show how close you are to completing the project.”
Brain Training
Brain training gives you motivation, can help your memory, increase visuality, fast thinking, you can use human benchmark as brain training or recommended app lumosity.
I’ve been using Lumosity for a while now, it requires paid access for every brain game, but for free lumosity chooses what you prefer as it quizzes you by asking you what you want to fix or increase, the games are fun with gives you motivation to play them as well
“Research has shown that keeping the brain active, and providing it with varied stimulation, can improve and prolong healthy brain performance. At any age, brain training creates new neural pathways and connections that can be used as a sort of “brain piggy bank,” letting you draw on these reserves later in life.”
Nature
It seems odd that going outside can help, but yes it really does help and I can’t explain it, here are lists of what to do for it to help you.
- Go out like it’s your job.
- Go out with a friend. (optional)
- Record Your Efforts.
- Fit-In Fitness.
- Eat.
- Forget the Weather.
I go out usually as well for fun, you can gain motivation by going out and doing sports like running, but for me I go out and skate which has been really helpful for me.
“Exposure to nature reduces stress-related anger and enhances sociability. At the University of Queensland in Australia, they found that “regular outdoor runners were less anxious and depressed than people who ran indoors on a treadmill and they had higher levels of post exercise endorphins”
Endorphins - ”any of a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system and having a number of physiological functions. They are peptides which activate the body’s opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect”
Endorphins (simplified) - “Endorphins are natural chemicals in the body that fight pain. Endorphins are released when a person gets hurt, but also during exercise, or laughter. In addition to blocking pain, endorphins can make people happy.”
Sleep
Googles definition on how it can help -
“Lack of sleep will negatively impact learning anything new. Without an adequate amount of sleep, your brain has a difficult time producing the energy needed to absorb and recall new information.
Sleeping allows us to reduce our caloric needs by spending part of our time functioning at a lower metabolism. This concept is backed by the way our metabolic rate drops during sleep. Research suggests that 8 hours of sleep for human beings can produce a daily energy savings of 35 percent over complete wakefulness.”
Like google said, sleeping will give you lack of learning anything new, sleeping gives you energy and the energy given is used for production, if you don’t have enough energy to be productive, then how do you get motivation? This can also cause more procrastination the first day you don’t get enough sleep.
To fix this you should make a sleep schedule which I don’t think I have to explain since it’s very simple.
Thanks for reading the entire, I hope this helps you!~