How do you motivate.

when you could care less about a project

[grelmar]

The money's there...

Technically, it'll be an interesting project...

The content... Well, therein lies the rub. I just am NOT interested.

By rights, I should be really motivated on this. I've done a number of sites where the content bored the bejeezers out of me, but it was technically interesting and/or profitable enough that I could slug through it.

But this ONE site. It'll be really fun from a technical standpoint, dealing with all kinds of stuff that's new to me. The financials are awesome. I literally can't believe I got away with the deal I cut. Good money on the barrel, and a really high residual %

But every time I go to start working on it, all of a sudden I find a pressing need to work on an effectively dead site I haven't touched in a year, or I start examing my Skype contacts to see who's around, and sure enough, someone's there and I can come up with a half dozen "highly important" conversations that need to happen now... Or I find myself pulling up a news site to read a few articles, or...

And on and on and on...

Anyone here ever had a project they just wished they could unload, even if it meant walking away from good money?

[inbound]

If the money is that good then think of something that you want to buy (a luxury item) and then set the completion as a trigger to buy that item.

You then will not be working for 'no benefit', you will be making your way towards having that item.

[buckworks]

Sometimes you just have to face the fact that a project isn't going to work if your heart isn't in it. Set it aside, maybe for a few months, maybe permanently. As long as whatever you're doing instead is productive, don't feel one bit guilty about leaving this one alone.

[weeks]

Just do it. Like a brain surgeon or a cop or dentist or a brick layer or a journalist. It's part of being what is called a professional.

[digitalghost]

>>what is called a professional

Bingo. Sit down and do it. I motivate myself by remembering that the sooner I get done with a boring project, the quicker I get to move on to something that interests me.

And remember the positives about what you do for a living. You could be having the same discussion with yourself about digging fence post holes or laying brick.

[buckworks]

"Just do it" can work okay for tasks that don't require a high degree of sustained creativity.

But sometimes it's just not realistic. You can "just do it" to write a memo. You can't "just do it" to bully yourself into writing a novel or composing a symphony.

I'm not sure what Grelmar's heart is saying here, but I suspect it's something deeper than mere boredom.

[oneguy]

If the money is that good then think of something that you want to buy (a luxury item) and then set the completion as a trigger to buy that item.

You then will not be working for 'no benefit', you will be making your way towards having that item.

I like this method. For me, it has worked on both small and large scales.

I don't really like being a webmaster. So, I'm not in the "profesional" category. I declined law school for that reason.

I do like setting my own hours, sleeping in when I like, and all of the other things that being a webmaster allows me to do. So, I like what being a webmaster does for me.

[grelmar]

Thanks guys. I think I've beaten the issue.

Posting here and just venting off the frustration helped. Then I went and did something I haven't done in a decade or so:

I sat down with some graph paper and started drawing out a flowchart. In this case, flowcharting out the Information architecture. I dunno, something about the simple purity of the circles, squares, and diamonds, broke the log jam. I hated having to do flowcharts in school, and normally never use them anymore. For some reason, this time it created a simple bridge between "Don't wanna..." and the "Will do it..." parts of my brain.

If:
Flowchart=Yes
Then Productivity

If:
Flowchart=No
Then Writer's Block

If:
Productivity=Yes
Then $$

If:
$$=Yes
Then Fancy schmancy build computer this summer=Yes

If:
Fancy schmancy build computer this summer=Yes
Then Grel=Happy Camper

[grelmar]

p.s. I'm still not interested in the project, but if I break it down into small enough chunks, I can lose sight of the whole and actually get something accomplished.

[httpwebwitch]

This post may be late, seems like you're over the hump. But I'll comment anyways

Having had my share of very boring projects (haven't we all?), I set time limits with small rewards. 2 hours spent on boring, I give myself 30 minutes on something interesting, then another 2 on boring, and 30 minutes on something else... when a deadline is looming I put on some music I enjoy and get into a kind of "boring work" zone where I don't really mind what my fingers are typing because Beethoven or Bjork are keeping my mind entertained.

Try to keep a personal project going on the side that you can turn to when you need a break from whatever well-paid drudgery you are working on. I usually have a neat Flash experiment in progress at all times. If your reward is related to web research or skills development, then you're not really wasting time.