How to quit waiting for motivation to get started on important projects

Plus one pop culture reference, three sorries (I’m Canadian!), and another photo of my BDF (best dog friend), Hank

Hello and welcome to Academia Made Easier. I am so glad that you are here. 

Are you waiting for motivation to get started on your book, grant application, or another big project that has long-term importance for your career?

If you are, how is that going?

As longtime readers of Academia Made Easier know, I like to use this newsletter to share things that I have learned in hopes that others can benefit from my experience. Many of my lessons are hard-won, as I can be stubborn, distracted by shiny new ideas, and, on occasion, a bit of an ass to myself. But I eventually figure things out, often despite myself. And here is one very important thing I have learned about motivation and getting things done:

Waiting for motivation to get started on important projects is a recipe for failure, disappointment, and excessive chocolate consumption. 

It took me a long time to understand that my beliefs about motivation were inaccurate. I assumed that motivation led to action. And while this can be true, it is time-limited. 

For me, that time period is roughly one day. 

The first day of working on something is a day of excitement. “I am going to write a book!” “I am going to get a research grant!” “I’m going to start right now!”

But then comes day two. The second day of working on something is a day of realization. “Writing a book is a lot of work.” “Applying for a research grant is a lot of work.” “I’ll get started … soon. I just have a few emails to handle first.”

If you are like me, motivation works as a catalyst for action for a very, very short period of time. After that, you are on your own, my friend.

Sorry.

But, here is some good news. In my experience, while motivation quickly stops being an effective tool to get me started, it does become a highly effective tool to keep me going. If I can get started, motivation appears. For example, 

• Instead of being motivated to write, I get motivated by writing. Writing motivates me to keep writing. 

• Instead being motivated to prepare for my class, I get motivated by preparing for the class. Working on the class prep motivates me to finish the class prep.

Motivation’s role, then, is to continue and complete, rather than to commence. Motivation is a byproduct or reward of action.

Recognizing this has been a game-changer for me, as it has allowed me to find a relatively easy approach to harness motivation to launch my goals forward. 

And that is what today’s small thing to try immediately is about.

One Small Thing to Try Immediately: Schedule Small Starts

More often than not, starting is the hard part. After you start, there is the possibility for motivation to kick in to keep things moving. The goal, then, is momentum. This momentum takes the form of an action-motivation cycle:

At this point, longtime readers are getting suspicious. “Oh crap,” they are thinking. “Loleen’s about to go on about that Write for 10 Minutes idea again.”

Indeed.

For the second time today: Sorry. 

I introduced the Write for 10 Minutes idea in my May 2021 newsletter, “how to write when you don’t want to write.” I revisited it in my November 2021 newsletter “how to create a writing habit despite all of the great reasons why you can’t work on your writing right now.” (I am fearless with long titles! Also, I don’t have an editor. ) But if you don’t want to read those, the tl;dr summary on how to use this idea is as follows:

1. Schedule small blocks of time to work on your important project. How small? I suggest 10 minutes. If you are a hyper-overachiever, you can go slightly higher. Say, 11 minutes. If you are struggling with procrastination, you can go smaller. Say, 5 minutes. How many days per week should you schedule these small blocks of time? You choose. I suggest 3-5 times per week, but I don’t know your life. Determine what feels comfortable and then schedule accordingly.

2. When the scheduled small amount of time appears in your calendar, work on your important project. Turn off all distractions and set a timer. Do anything that moves the project forward for that small amount of time.

3. When the small amount of focused work time is completed, make a decision. Do you want to stop? Great. Move on with your day with the satisfaction of having moved your project forward a bit. Forward is forward, and something is better than nothing. Do you want to keep working on the project? Great. Ride that motivation wave for another small amount of work time, and when that is done, decide again if you want to continue.

4. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

In my experience, this simple approach is a powerful tool to stop waiting for motivation and to start building motivation. And with practice, the starting gets easier and easier. 

If you give this small idea a try, or if you have tried it in the past, I would love to hear about your experience. Please hit comment and let me know!

Chipping Away: What I Have Been Up To

A quick update on some of my own activities since my last newsletter, since I have your attention:

• Last week I returned to the (online) classroom. I am teaching a course in our Online Masters of Public Administration program. I absolutely love teaching and look forward to the term ahead.

• Like many others, I have joined the Wordle craze. Every day I look forward to both completing a word puzzle and posting my score on Twitter. It is the small pleasures in life that matter, clearly.

• The horrendous cold snap I mentioned earlier this month has (temporarily) passed and I am taking every opportunity to get outside. Self-care tip: if you are having a bad day, borrow your neighbour’s dog!

Until next time…

Writing a newsletter devoted to work and wellbeing in academia while we are living through a pandemic often feels a bit paradoxical and inconsequential. To play off the lyrics of Bo Burnham’s Comedy (for the third time: Sorry), I want to help to leave academia better than I found it, and I fear that small ideas won’t help and the fear is not unfounded. 

But then I get lovely messages saying the small ideas do help some of you and that makes my day. So thank you for reading and for your feedback. If Academia Made Easier is helpful to you, please share it with a colleague or two, or with your social media network. Maybe together we can help leave academia better than we found it.

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S. For those of you on social media, please feel free to connect with me about the Write For 10 Minutes approach. On Twitter, just use the hashtag #WriteFor10Mins and tag me (@loleen_berdahl). On Facebook, search for the Group “Write For 10 Minutes”.  For TikTok, well, you are on your own!

Want to help support my chocolate habit? You are very sweet. Buy me a coffee is a site that allows readers to show their appreciation for the unpaid labour of writers, artists, and other creatives. Check it out!

Interested in having me lead faculty success and/or graduate student success workshops at your campus? Please ask your university to contact me!

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Loleen Berdahl, Ph.D.: I am a twin mother, wife, runner, cat lover, and chocolate enthusiast. I spend far too much time on Twitter and binge-watching television, and my house could be a lot cleaner. During the work hours, I am the Executive Director of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. I am the author of the University Affairs Skills Agenda column and my most recent books are  Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD and Explorations: Conducting Empirical Research in Canadian Political Science.