Allow me explain motivation spikes. What are these spikes? Why they have such a massive impact on our ability to finish things that we start? Why are we driven by these spikes and how can we cultivate its power to be more productive?
By motivation spikes I mean the desire to work on something. Anything from your day job to a side project, a workout to feeding your cat etc. Why do we do anything? In simple terms its either because we "have to" or because we "want to". If we take out the "have to" factor out from the equation what we're left with is the pattern of motivation spikes.
The concept!
In essence, we "want to" do something only if we're motivated.
For example, remember the time when you started a side project. You could work 16 hours straight on solving one problem after another. Or when you decided to write that book or paint your house. The earlier you're in the phase of starting up, the more motivated you are to get things done. As you come closer to the finish line your motivation starts to vary. It gets harder to finish.
It's not burnout
Although many consider this "not being able to finish what you start" phase as a burnout phase. I think it's more than that. To me, not being able to finish something doesn't relate to mental or physical exhaustion.
Rather its the lack of will to work on something now that you have spent hours working on it. Basically you get bored of dealing with the same thing.
Why is that?
I have felt this feeling a few times so say the boredom usually ends sooner or later, and you always replenish the motivation to work on something after taking a break from it (hence the "spikes"). Although, this replenishing time is what's costly, because often your work has a deadline, and you typically want to finish it sooner rather than later.
What can you do?
To master the pattern of motivation spike, you have to be careful with what you want and why you want it.
Instead of wanting everything now start wanting things in a more spread out manner. Timing is the key. Spread out your work as much as possible. Pick up new habits. Instead of just focusing on your project, start involving your self in side activities. Go workout, or play or read a book or talk with a friend. Maybe do it all.
Start with making a balanced schedule in your calendar, try and follow it!
Through that, you can give that motivation spike a detour. By having more things to focus on, you can curve the spike before it's due. In that way, the spikes are smaller, and replenish quicker without longer timeouts.
Which means you won't feel "burned out" to actually finish what you start...
Did that help?
I would love to know if that helped! Checkout https://atomcal.com which is a great calendar tool that you can use to create a balanced daily schedule!