zero motivation

[garrick]

i have had no motivation to work lately and money is starting to run thin. i am sure alot of you have went thru this, any advice?

i am thinking of getting a fulltime job for just a month to make me appreciate it again.

[skip]

You must not have kids and a mortgage lol.... That would motivate you.

[byron3]

Look for that job ..... that process should be motivation enough. lol

[jr23]

Well I would say go with your heart and do what make's you happy. I would hire you if your in to doing floors and in my area as my help is not working out!

[Gibsons Glassworks]

i'll hire you to do blowtubes?

think, it could be a hellofa lot worse,

make something nice,

go on a hitchiking trip

get wasted... ( not such a good idea)

[Frankie Hess]

Try to accomplish something you have not done before.

The thing that gets me out of slumps, is laying out a plan to make more glass in 4 days than I ever have.

I figure out what pieces make me the most money at the moment, then layout the entire 4 days, scheduled with what needs to be done before every break and don't take them until the tasks done. Laying out my days so I have some gravy everyday, but the most gravy the first day, this way I get good momentum going on the first day and I have enough glass in my case or cases to be exited about adding instead of feeling like I am just starting.

Then I make an appointment or 3 and tell them I'll be there on a certain day.

This creates accountability, you have to come through for your customers or won't have any!

This can apply to how ever many days, but 4 seems good when your struggling to get out and work. Because it's not to many, but it's enough to make a good chunk of change and get you back into melting some glass, because you pay attention to exactly what you're doing through every piece trying to shave time off.

The key to enjoying glass is to be in the moment and not worry about the big picture, this is why the schedule is so important, you don't have to think about anything except getting the piece done you are on, one at a time. And you start enjoying it again!!!

Good Luck!

[DanBrooks]

what i do when i have to get stuff done but i dont really want to is;

first put in some up beat music, something you like working to but are not sick of hearing

then, start with one thing and as soon as your finished with that piece dont think about anything else but starting the next piece.

" ok im done with this one, throw it in the kiln go directly back to the bench and pick up the glass put it in the flame"

now your stuck until your done with that one. and you can think about whatever until your done with it, then immediately start another.

for me its that time in betwixt pieces that i start thinking about what else i would like to be doing.

also, throw in some fun stuff, do 5 prodo then do a color tube pull and kiln it, do 5 more prodo, break off some color tube and wig it up, then kiln it 5 more prodo...and so on.

sometimes ill just make one or two marbles in a day of prodo. if i do that for a week or two i have a case of marbles. just having stuff around that you like making makes you want to keep at it.

slow and steady is what i have been working on latley instead of work a few 12hr plus days. that shit burns me out. if i do a good 4- 6 hours of prodo then a few hours of fun stuff 5 or 6 days a week my quality of life is somehow better.

im gonna save the allnighters for creative expression, instead of prodo.

[flamebob]

just think how eating cat food will taste when you cant buy human food

[mer]

unfortunately fear is the best motivator. i suspect that this isn't just a glass problem but a general malaise in your life. i know you love what you do so i'm guessing this is just a rut. we all go through them.

for you personally, i suggest going to the mall and looking at the death in the eyes of all the normal people. then come home and enter black flag or fugazi into the pandora engine. play it loud and set a cold sixer in the fridge that you are not allowed to touch until you hit $200. if you have a friend that you could work with for a few days that might help too.

take a look around and realize how fucking lucky you are. if i though it would help to coddle you i would totally do it but i've been watching you long enough to think that you'll respond better to being called a pussy.

get back to work you fucking pussy!

[Chris Juedemann]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eB...:IT&item=260292751693 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=260292751693)

Why work?

Chris

[sertaiz]

damn mer that was perfect, now to find out what fugazi is, and flamesetter im just starting to realize i really really need lists, multiple day goals/etc
just having that next thing to do written down from yourself is good, you can always skip one and pick/choose, its your list but its all there.
my biggest breakthrough recently is being able to have short breaks and actually go back to work, before it was all out or chillin, sometimes for days

[Mecha]

... now to find out what fugazi is,....

Wow. Mer, are we really that old?

Waiting room, nice new outfit, promises....so many great songs.

Seriously though, take a look around you. Talk to your friends with "regular jobs".

Even though you may have your ups and downs, being your own boss is priceless.

I am not sure if you take "safety breaks" or not. When I stopped partaking in them, my productivity skyrocketed. Some people are fueled by them, and others are totally inhibited by them. I am part of the latter group. Safety breaks kill my motivation and make me so paranoid, I want to dawn a tinfoil hat....

[brettodie]

mmmm fugazi...minor threat.... wish i could help ya with the motorvation i run into the same wall to often. best way to beat it,is to just goto work and stop with the excuses. peace brett

[Mr. Wonka]

We all fall into ruts once and a while, which is part of being self employed in a job where creativity is an essential part of our business.

If you want a real wake up call, go get a “real job” for a week, and see what it is like to dance to someone else’s tune. All too often we take for granted what we have (in many aspects of life) and appreciation is only realized after what we have is gone.

Like mer said, I try to pay attention to people around me… the UPS driver, the cashier at the food store, the post office clerks… and I put myself in their shoes. There is no way I would want to trade places with any of them for a minute, let alone doing that kind of shit every day.

Maybe you need a “fresh start” and are bored with your surroundings. Try some (or all) of these things:

-Total clean up of your shop, from floor to ceiling
-Throw a fresh coat of paint on the walls / ceiling / floor
-Rearrange your work area so it’s more efficient and more comfortable
-Get yourself a comfortable chair
-Organize your tools in a different manner
-Build a new bench, or paint your old one

The happier you are with your surroundings, the more motivated you’ll be to stay there and be creative. If you take (let’s say) a week off to do all of these things, the last step is to “feel good” when you get behind the torch. Before you go to work, take a nice long shower and wear some brand new clothes… I’m talking underwear, socks, shirt, shorts / sweats / jeans, sneakers / sandals, etc.

Sometimes a “fresh start”… feeling good about yourself and your surroundings… will energize / re-energize you to get back into the creative groove that got you working with glass in the first place.

I hope that helps bro… Tom

[Greymatter Glass]

-Build a new bench, or paint your old one



semi-related:

Tom, next time you paint the AGI benches you should add some fruit scented oils to the paint (a little goes a long way) so that when someone drops a marble or something it smells like cherries or something instead of burned paint.


just thinking outside the box bro!

WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!


-Doug

[Dom]

Cleaning the shop defenitely gets me going, I already want to blow glass before Im done cleaning. Weird how that works.

Good music is always a must.

[Mr. Whale dick]

i always wanted to get a job at mcdonalds and make sandwiches with like 8 hamburger patties ...and like 7 slices of cheese non stop until they fire me...



one 1/2 head of lettuce and 4 bun sandwich coming right up....

[garrick]

ive checked in on this thread a couple of times today but havent been able to soak all of it in enough to really reply (the response was more that i expected). i can see that there is alot of good advice here and a couple of you hit really close to home.

[vetropod]

Get a job at McDonald's (or whatever your flavor) flipping burgers for a month. That ought to motivate you!

Thanks to Happy Harold for this thought - helped me out once upon a time...

[vetropod]

Maybe some day I'll stop being so ADD and read the other posts before responding myself... Thanks to Hasselnuts for pre-stealing my comment... :wes:

[vetropod]

Ha ha - three posts in a row. I better get to bed soon before I post any more, but I wanted to echo Wonkster and say that having/getting a "real" job is definitely a motivator! Having a couple of part-time "real" jobs myself, I can say that it sure puts a fire in my arse to do the work I want/need to do when I have the time to be in my studio...

[Mr. Wonka]

i always wanted to get a job at mcdonalds and make sandwiches with like 8 hamburger patties ...and like 7 slices of cheese non stop until they fire me...



one 1/2 head of lettuce and 4 bun sandwich coming right up....




The funny thing is, I can totally see you doing that. If you ever get a job at McDonalds, let me know... it would be worth a trip to Michigan to see that!
:rollin

[$$$$$$$]

play some drum and bass music and you'll get 3 times as much done in life..

[Ubatuba]

Agreed

[Glass Pyro]

I find that whenever I have someone looking over my shoulder, like a non-glassblower or observer, I get alot more done and push my work alot further.

This is something I find very un-like me.

[Meerkat]

i always wanted to get a job at mcdonalds and make sandwiches with like 8 hamburger patties ...and like 7 slices of cheese non stop until they fire me...



one 1/2 head of lettuce and 4 bun sandwich coming right up....

I worked at mcdonalds as a teenager, I always made all kinds of weird shit with the food. My favourite was a meatless mc'rib as I loved the rib sauce and rib buns, so I would layer a rib bun wtih lots of tomatos and lots of pickle and then just coat it in rib sauce and then put the top bun on....so yummy.

Also loved putting french frys on the mc'rib in place of the meat.

also mcdonalds never gives you enough of their choclate fudge topping with their icecream sundays, so I would always make one that was like alternativing layers of hot fudge and ice cream so the ratio was about half n half...

[Uscalus Storm]

Or the chicken and steak tacos. Taking the breakfast tortilla. toast it on the grill. Take grilled chicken and breakfast steak, grill...slice it all up and throw it with some cheese. YUM

[MUPH]

Check out the deluxe breakfasts and large shakes

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/bagamcmeal/nutrition_facts.html

Ulluc...

Also, try to exercise more. Get out and run/jump rope/walk do anything physical. This will provide you with a boost in energy and a scosh of motivation. Try to get back to a "normal" sleep schedule.

Avoid eating foods you dont have to get out of your car to buy

[mazzalani]

man i sometimes get stuck or bogged down trying to figure out what colors i'm gonna use or what i'm gonna make and just sit there wasting time overthinking my next project. i didn't use to do this and don't why i ever startd. as sum1 above mentioned, this is not just in glass but a general life feeling that is spilling into all aspects of my life and sadly this includes glass.

this "glass thing" has become for me my first true form of art expression that i could vibe with, that i could feel good about as i progressed. i still remember the first day of art class at local junior college (highschool with ashtrays) i walkd in and sat down thinking to myself,"cool, i'm finally gonna learn how to draw....NOT!!" the first thing teacher said was draw this, as she pointed to what I was to "draw". HAH, she pointed towards the center piece which was a discouraging ensemble, including but not limited to, random pelvis bone of some once living creature, bar stool with guitar leaning on it, fruit, etc. i knew she was serious when the room fell silent and everyone around me was furiously scribbling away. my hopes of learning how to draw a straight line were dashed quickly, so was my enrollment in that course.

short point-long story-i never realized that as an artist i would struggle 2 find motivation, cuz with out you cant do sh*t. having never had an art 2 practice and get good at and create things, i never knew that.

its also funny or human i should say that some of the things that have motivated have also taken away motivation. i found for a time that being sad or bummed out was good motivation, my gas shop is closed over weekend, so as long as i had that O tank, my relationship on the rocks, i could rely on ol' Lady Glass to get me thru the otherwise depressing weekend. but i've been sad other times and it had me feeling like forget glass.

[UmaJulz]

wow, such rational suggestions... I'm all about better living through chemistry.

on a more serious note- is this the beginning of the winter blues? do you get enough sunlight each day? I bought a lamp last year, and I think it helps some. I really need help to get through the winter- maybe I should move.

[steven p selchow]

I don't think he was asking for a recipe or wondering if loud jungle music while eating big hamburgers will cure his blues. It did when I started out though. We had about 8 blowers in a circle with the stereo cranked up to about 9 on the richter scale with Mc donalds in the kiln (hot plate). I was happier than shit.

I think Wonka had the best advise that could be given, except for maybe wearing the new clothes at work. I went out and bought some stuff the other day I didn't really need, I find that makes me feel better, and then I returned it, think it was just buying it that made me feel better, so your not out of money yet, go try it.

Seriously, I'm probably one of only a handful of glassworkers that have made it my life to do this (flamework) not an assortment of different types of glass work. I've been there many times over, tried many things to overcome the motivational thing, and its the littlest things that make you happy again. Getting up in the morning when its 20 below outside and the bed is really warm isn't one of them, thats my one dilemma thats still hard. After all these years making something new is still the best motivator, for when its finished and you put your very best into it with no short cuts, thats a good feeling to know you still have it.

steve

[MaxPower]

You could always go to your local glass supply shop. I'm sure they'll give you a backhand of motivation.

[garrick]

haha yeah i need to get up there bad. no rasta gold and no crayon orange, my 2 favorite colors. i think im coming up there tonite for the atmosphere show but you guys will be closed by then. how hard is it to find the new place by the way?

[Chris Juedemann]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/07/creativity.depression/index.html?iref=newssearch

[Chris Juedemann]

By the way, not saying you're bi-polar or depressed, just read the article today and thought about this thread.

[n3rd]

i suggest disco music. gap band!!!

[garrick]

actually that pandora radio has helped quite a bit. wu-tang channel has been fun.

[nodice]

I've had this problem for a while, and imo it's all in your head. Not to make light of what you're going through, but you might wanna check out a book called something like, "If the buddha got stuck", or "What if the buddha got stuck". I forget exactly what it's called, but my doctor "prescribed" it to me. It's about positive thinking, self realization, and how to get out of those ruts you get in.

[Swampy]

Seth's blog (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/)makes a lot of sense to me, long read here but interesting nonetheless;

Is effort a myth?

People really want to believe effort is a myth, at least if we consider what we consume in the media:

* politicians and beauty queens who get by on a smile and a wink
* lottery winners who turn a lifetime of lousy jobs into one big payday
* sports stars who are born with skills we could never hope to acquire
* hollywood celebrities with the talent of being in the right place at the right time
* failed CEOs with $40 million buyouts

It really seems (at least if you read popular media) that who you know and whether you get 'picked' are the two keys to success. Luck.

The thing about luck is this: we're already lucky. We're insanely lucky that we weren't born during the black plague or in a country with no freedom. We're lucky that we've got access to highly-leveraged tools and terrific opportunities. If we set that luck aside, though, something interesting shows up.

Delete the outliers--the people who are hit by a bus or win the lottery, the people who luck out in a big way, and we're left with everyone else. And for everyone else, effort is directly related to success. Not all the time, but as much as you would expect. Smarter, harder working, better informed and better liked people do better than other people, most of the time.

Effort takes many forms. Showing up, certainly. Knowing stuff (being smart might be luck of the draw, but knowing stuff is the result of effort). Being kind when it's more fun not to. Paying forward when there's no hope of tangible reward. Doing the right thing. You've heard these things a hundred times before, of course, but I guess it's easier to bet on luck.

If people aren't betting on luck, then why do we make so many dumb choices? Why aren't useful books selling at fifty times the rate they sell now? Why does anyone, ever, watch reality TV shows? Why do people do such dumb stuff with their money?

I think we've been tricked by the veneer of lucky people on the top of the heap. We see the folks who manage to skate by, or who get so much more than we think they deserve, and it's easy to forget that:

a. these guys are the exceptions
and
b. there's nothing you can do about it anyway.

And that's the key to the paradox of effort: While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don't get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time.

This is a hard sell. Diet books that say, "eat less, exercise more," may work, but they don't sell many copies.

With that forewarning, here's a bootstrapper's/marketer's/entrepreneur's/fast-rising executive's effort diet. Go through the list and decide whether or not it's worth it. Or make up your own diet. Effort is a choice, at least make it on purpose:

1. Delete 120 minutes a day of 'spare time' from your life. This can include TV, reading the newspaper, commuting, wasting time in social networks and meetings. Up to you.

2. Spend the 120 minutes doing this instead:

* Exercise for thirty minutes.
* Read relevant non-fiction (trade magazines, journals, business books, blogs, etc.)
* Send three thank you notes.
* Learn new digital techniques (spreadsheet macros, Firefox shortcuts, productivity tools, graphic design, html coding)
* Volunteer.
* Blog for five minutes about something you learned.
* Give a speech once a month about something you don't currently know a lot about.

3. Spend at least one weekend day doing absolutely nothing but being with people you love.

4. Only spend money, for one year, on things you absolutely need to get by. Save the rest, relentlessly.

If you somehow pulled this off, then six months from now, you would be the fittest, best rested, most intelligent, best funded and motivated person in your office or your field. You would know how to do things other people don't, you'd have a wider network and you'd be more focused.

It's entirely possible that this won't be sufficient, and you will continue to need better luck. But it's a lot more likely you'll get lucky, I bet.

[Swampy]

Thanks for you folks that made contact regarding the above and how it makes sense to you.

Particularly at this time in the current financial climate.

Seriously, with things like they are, you can't afford to sit around unmotivated. Soon, like right now you're gonna find they cut the safety net from underneath you and you're gonna be left hanging.

It's time to implement your rainy day plan.


/preach

[nodice]

That last post sounds like the same propaganda the politicians give us to scare us into believing what they want. Relating what's going on in this thread with the financial crisis of the world is a little nieve at best. If you wake up tomorrow and find that your money isn't worth as much as the paper your wipe your ass with, you have no food, and everyone in the world is in the same situation, how far will your 30 minutes of excercise and deleting 120 minutes of spare time get ya? Not that the other post isn't helpful to some people, just not when the world ends(which could be soon). Then it will be more like.....

rule1) kill whatever you can for food(sucks for vegiterians I know..)
rule2) light what you can on fire to keep warm
rule3) try not to get sick cause there's no medicine
rule4) try not to get eaten by animals
rule5) watch out for people cause they might wanna eat you, rape you, or.....
rule6)....
...

Then you might find that your rainy day plan is a shotgun in your mouth. No offense, I'm just thinking about to an article I read yesterday about a father in my area who killed his whole family then himself because he was so depressed from being out of work and not being able to pay the bills. 6 dead...... Now imagine what would happen if noone can pay their bills, or feed themselves. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm baby, get in my belly!

[UmaJulz]

Hmmm, that's a really great motivational plan there, dice. so where do you and your work fit into that scenario?

[Swampy]

You're right, I didn't even think about it from that angle.


/considerably enlightened

[nodice]

Really Uma, lately I've been thinking about how the world would be better without me. Not that I'd kill myself:), but imagine that I didn't burn all the oxy propane that I have since I started working. Or imagine that I'm also a smoker, so I constantly breath out and burn things that don't need to be burned(kinda like with my job). I guess my work has kinda been the last thing on my mind for a while now, other then maybe changing my work so I can help people instead of polute the planet to make things which mean nothing in the long run. I'm sure your stuff is nice though.

[sertaiz]

do some good shit..... i struggle to balance time/energy enough to be happy with myself in the situation im in, but if i cant change the big picture today, i can change something small to do baby steps.
course its all about holding those steps, buts thats another problem...