I’ve found that there are two different mindsets that I can be in when I’m trying to get work done. One is the mindset that always accompanies a new project: excitement and the drive to make something incredible. The other, which sometimes creeps in after a while, is the feeling that the job must get done.
I used to accept both of these modes as part of the natural course of a project. You work when you’re excited, and you work when you’re slogging, but either way it gets done. After seeing the results of work in different modes, though, I’ve begun to think differently.
Now I imagine that I’m building the frame of a house, and that the lumber I put in when I’m in “get it done” mode is bad lumber. You could build a house with a certain amount of bad lumber. Too much and it collapses, none and it’s great, a little bit and maybe you notice, and maybe you don’t.
Building any project is the same way. A certain amount of uninspired work is realistically going to need to be put in, but if too much of the project is spent in that mode, it will harm or even ruin the project.
There’s an obsession with finishing projects that I don’t think is completely healthy. Finishing a project and doing it well is a great thing, but finishing a project in such a way that it’s doomed to failure is a waste of time and energy. It’s important to be able to recognize when you’re heading down that trajectory and having the discipline to pause or stop the project.
A couple months ago I had a great idea for a new Sett theme. I started building it and was really inspired. The initial broad strokes of it looked great. Then I started to add more of the details, like administrator buttons, metadata, etc., and I realized that I was just trying to get the job done. I wasn’t using the care I had previously been using to make a great theme, and instead was just trying to make a finished theme.
So I deleted a few of the uninspired bits, put the theme on pause, and worked on another part of Sett that I was excited about. Next time I’m feeling really motivated to make a great theme, I’ll open it back up and pick up where I left off.
Of course, sometimes totally quitting isn’t an option. Sometimes a project must get done and it’s a matter of completing it with as much integrity as possible. What do you do there?
I find it useful to think back to why I started the project in the first place. Often times that initial motivation gets clouded by other motivations that crop up. For example, I started building Cruise Sheet because I wanted Cruise Hot Sheet back, and I thought I could do a better job. Later I started thinking about how I could make a little bit of money from the site. If I had focused too much on that, I probably would have lost steam and started doing a mediocre job, unless I was able to remember why I began in the first place.
Another strategy is to just give it a rest for a day and work on something else instead. If your timeline can accommodate it, you may find yourself able to pull your focus out of the details and look at the big picture and how it’s moving towards your original vision. If I do this, I’ll also make sure that I’m well rested and eating healthy food, because I find that sometimes I switch to “Get the Job Done” mode due to lack of energy.
My long term goal for any project I work on is to produce something truly excellent and inspired, representing the best work I could possibly do. Any time I spend in the “Get the Job Done” mode feels like I’m getting closer to my goal, but is actually moving me away from that goal. For that reason, I use these strategies to keep myself in an excited and inspired mindset as much as possible. If you have similar goals, you might consider doing the same.
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Photo is a chandelier in the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. I’m now crossing the tropic of Cancer in the Atlantic.
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