How do you keep yourself motivated?

[Mark Bolam]

17 minutes ago, Vespasian said:

 

was gonna post this up earlier but got sidetracked..

That’s the one Vesp, cheers.

[Husqvarna King]

41 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

 

 

paid €250 for 10m2 of old sh

Must have been a very wide and very low sided trailer ?

[Mick Dempsey]

Ha, The biter bit!

 

10 metre 3

Edited December 4, 2018 by Mick Dempsey

[william127]

I find it can be very hard getting going when I'm working in my yard or close by. I like a reasonable drive to work  in the morning, 20minutes or so minimum. 

Its hard when you work on your own too, especially doing things like firewood or maintenance in the yard as you don't have to meet a client or colleague at a certain time so you get sidetracked or dawdle! 

Writing lists and ticking stuff off helps or doing things for set amounts of time- do an hour on the chainsaw or 30 minitues sweeping type thing- is a good way of getting into a rhythm  and achieving things. 

Listening to some kind of music, podcasts, plays, comedys,  on head phones is really important to me. 

 Being completley shattered after work is also a nice feeling! 

And at the end of the day money is a great motivator!

[Mick Dempsey]

9 minutes ago, william127 said:

I find it can be very hard getting going when I'm working in my yard or close by. I like a reasonable drive to work  in the morning, 20minutes or so minimum. 

Its hard when you work on your own too, especially doing things like firewood or maintenance in the yard as you don't have to meet a client or colleague at a certain time so you get sidetracked or dawdle! 

Writing lists and ticking stuff off helps or doing things for set amounts of time- do an hour on the chainsaw or 30 minitues sweeping type thing- is a good way of getting into a rhythm  and achieving things. 

Listening to some kind of music, podcasts, plays, comedys,  on head phones is really important to me. 

 Being completley shattered after work is also a nice feeling! 

And at the end of the day money is a great motivator!

Agreed, on days when there’s no structured work, a list is helpful.

 

Prevents flitting from job to job doing loads, achieving nothing.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Mick Dempsey

[difflock]

For me, at 60, after 40 years of mostly retrospective observation, it is a purely seasonal cycle, currently in my winter hibernation mode, only requiring a full belly and a warm bed,

but!

come some unspecified day in the early spring, I will burst into madly productive life again.

Best described as like flicking a switch, so sudden, though not unexpected, as to be unbelievable.

At 60 I have learned to live with myself, though it can be a gie long boring winter bytimes.

But I simply cannot focus/knuckle down during the winter months, emergiencies excepting.

Marcus

Edited December 4, 2018 by difflock

[Big J]

I generally enjoy work, but don't like to do the same thing for too long or I get bored. Hence the switch from sawmilling back to forestry. 

 

Money is honestly my main motivator. I started out with an old Stihl 044 with a second hand chainsaw mill, a shitty old LDV tipper and about £200 in my bank. It's been an uphill struggle since then but I'm doing better now for it. I financially support my family, and without me going out, there is no money. 

 

I like the structure of big jobs. I work best in the company of others as they motivate me and I like to think I motivate them. I hate faff and don't deal with frustration well. Like Stephen Blair, I love a good repetitive (skilled) task that I can get my teeth stuck into and I'm very number (obsessive?) driven and like to set myself targets to work to and beat. Forwarding fits in well with that. 

 

The weather kills my motivation, but interestingly less so in the woods than at the sawmill. A forest in the pissing rain is an infinitely more pleasant place than a sawmill.

 

I think it's important not to measure yourself by others, and understand that what makes one person happy won't necessarily work for you. Equally, what motivates you might not motivate another. We're all individuals.........

 

 

 

 

 

.......( I'm not!) 

[Khriss]

1 hour ago, Stubby said:

I some times  cant find the motivation even though I know this is the best time to do this task ... I have a trailer  full of Ash rings dropped in the spring of this year . The trailer is parked right next to my splitter  it would be a piece of piss to get em split and in a log store . It will rain again tomorrow .  Today I watched something on netflix then did some stuff that did not matter and walked the dog 3 times  . I'm a twat .

.....sounds like my day, mostly k

[ostosix]

Great thread keep your chin up boys. Sometimes the mojo goes especially this time of year.

Buy some new kit and that'll focus the mind.

I love to potter in the shed so will have a good tidy up next chance I get as others have said. 

[Haironyourchest]

All good posts here. Its a complicated question, and there's no magic elixir (maybe drugs, but that's obviously a no-go for any sane person). I have way more energy working with another person or in a team as opposed to alone. A challenging and interesting climbing or felling job is very motivating for me, stuff like strimming and raking, not so much. A job that really needs to be done, roof repairs etc, for someone who really needs it done, is also more motivating than cutting grass for a holiday home when the owners will only enjoy the result for a couple of day then bugger off again, and really in the big scheme of things, doesn't need doing. Anything that gives the ego a little boost, whether it be pulling off a difficult removal, fixing the van on my own, building something that will be appreciated for many years, saving a damsel in distress etc - motivating.