Is it normal that i'm so bad at motivating myself?

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13 Comments

So I'm an animation student, I'm 19 and I live in the UK. I finished a two year long animation course last year and I'm in the process of completing an art and design course on top of that, and in a couple of months time I'm going to University.

I really enjoy animation, I enjoy drawing. One hobby is to work my numerous ideas for stories, animations etc into something more coherant. I love to watch films, TV series and whatever interesting animated thing I can find.

My problem is this, I am AWFUL at motivating myself to work on any of those things. It has been a week since I've drawn anything, and before that, another week. It's also been at least a year since I completed animations of any kind. I'd love to work any of my ideas into something interesting and work on it in the ungainly amount of spare time that I have, but I'm incapable of motivating myself to do so. Drawing and animating feels like an obligation even though I'm incredibly interested in it. I'm just incredibly lazy.

Is it normal that I have no enthusiasm to do the only thing I'm enthusiastic about? Because watch TV and films all the time and discuss them in great detail, and have no small amount of ideas of my own, but I can't make myself attempt them. And absolutely nothing else in the world interests me, I'm not terribly bothered about talking to my friends because I have a habit of not talking to people for weeks at a time, I don't prioritise trying to get a girlfriend and only a very limited range of things interest me.

In addition, can anybody think of any ways I can motivate myself? I tried simply forcing myself to work, or sticking myself to a schedule, but that method of motivation yielded really crap work and made me stress myself out.

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85% Normal
Based on 59 votes (50 yes)
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Comments ( 13 )
  • ProseAthlete
    11 years ago

    Procrastination and lack of motivation isn't just a product of laziness. A lot of other factors might be at work. Sometimes people put things off because they have too many ideas going in too many different directions and get paralyzed with indecision. Sometimes it's fear of failure; if you never attempt something, you can't possibly do it wrong, so it remains in its perfect conceptual state forever. Sometimes it's even fear of success; if you did accomplish something big, your life would change in unpredictable ways.

    I struggle a lot with this problem too. That can really suck because I'm no longer in school; if I don't write, I don't eat or pay bills. Despite that, I still procrastinate sometimes, getting uncomfortably close to deadlines (I've never missed one, though). Here's what works best for me to get me out of it:

    - Motivation waxes and wanes; dedication is steady. I work even when I'm not motivated, and if it's crap work, I scrap it and start again once I'm in the flow.

    - Stress isn't always a bad thing. You're supposed to feel stressed when you have a deadline to meet. Use it as a positive thing and let it energize you instead of sapping you.

    - Pick one. I always have assignments, and when I get too many, I freeze up. The only way around that mountain is through it, so I just grab the first thing on my list and start without thinking about all the other things I also need to do.

    - Start small. If you don't have the wherewithal to finish a large project, get a small thing done from start to finish. A feature-length film might be overwhelming; a short might feel more manageable.

    - Condition yourself. I listen to a certain type of music only when I work. Now, when I'm ready to work, I switch it on and am in a writing frame of mind when I hear down-tempo ambient music. Put Pavlovian conditioning to work for you! :)

    - Take your work seriously. If you want to be a professional at what you do, be professional about it. If you wouldn't take a phone call or watch TV in the middle of your work day, you don't get to do it when you're busy with a project. Just because you love your work doesn't mean you get to play.

    I hope this helps a bit, and don't be too hard on yourself. .

    TL;DR version: Procrastination isn't laziness, and you can successfully fight it.

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    • Gumball
      11 years ago

      I was going to write a mediocre reply. Thank you for being motivated enough to write this. Might try some of it.

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    • Araikita
      11 years ago

      ProseAthlete- This sums it up! Very thorough.

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    • KayDeeBee
      11 years ago

      I'm going to frame this post on a wall somewhere, thank you very much. :)

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  • SuMaFTW
    8 years ago

    Take a break for a few days to do something different. Reflect on life: where you want to go, what you want to do, and what you want to do draw about. Try reading and maybe you'll be inspired to draw.

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  • JadedUnknown
    10 years ago

    Oh my goodness.. These past weeks/months.. I haven't had the motivation to do... well, anything. It's normal, but find a way to motivate yourself before you dig yourself into a hole.

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  • Araikita
    11 years ago

    KayDeeBee - Brilliant observation.

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  • Araikita
    11 years ago

    I would spend sometime thinking about if this is your real passion.

    Maybe it ia a passing hobby if you are not motivated and passionate enough to follow through.

    What we are passionate about something it sparks not only interest and motivation, but the energy to take action.

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    • KayDeeBee
      11 years ago

      I thought about it, and it's true, I'm rarely passionate about working, but often when I start I find that maintaining momentum is easier than building it up. A couple of times I've had marathon animation sessions of 12 hours with no breaks while other times I work for 5 minutes and come to a full stop because I've ran out of things to do.

      After a bit of consideration, I can say that animation IS what I'm passionate about, more so than almost anything else, it's just that I can't build up any momentum.

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  • flowergirl87
    11 years ago

    Not sure I can really help as I often have to try and work through this kind of thing myself at the moment! So I know what you mean. A lot of creative people get this and often find 'over-structuring' their time a bit limiting - as you said, it didn't really work when you enforced structure. I guess start with thinking about what the other option is. So, with creative stuff, we're screwed if we don't produce work - there's nothing there for a portfolio or anything. I guess that's the alternative! : / Sounds like you might be a bit of a perfectionist as well... can also relate to that one. Maybe the perfectionist in you is procrastinating getting on as it's scared you're not going to do a good enough job. I definitely have to battle with an inner demon at times that kind of 'tells me' I'm not good enough. It's common, it's just that some people are good at covering it up.

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  • squeallikeasacofpigs
    11 years ago

    Cool story bro

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  • whatdoyoumeannormal
    11 years ago

    get off the internet, stop smoking pot, and let your mind pour itself out:)

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  • Terence_the_viking
    11 years ago

    Yep i'm the same i just can't get of my fat lazy and do something about it.

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