A couple of weeks ago someone wrote to me explaining a problem that not only she has, but most likely everyone has had: STAYING MOTIVATED!
She explained that she is in college studying art and photography, and she thought that she would feel more motivated than ever to create. Instead, the opposite seems to be happening, and she wanted to know how to combat this. I think the first step is to figure out why the problem is being caused at all. So, this brings me to 6 steps that I personally follow to stay motivated.
Motivating Tip #1
Figure out the problem!
If you don’t know why you are unmotivated in the first place, it won’t be so easy to get back on track. It could be that there is a bigger issue than motivation at hand, and that should be checked out. I am a firm believer in looking at all aspects of your life from a third person perspective. Pretend you are a character in a movie and you are watching yourself on the big screen. What do you see? Going beyond what you do on a day-to-day basis, what is on your mind, what do you want to spend your time doing, and why can’t you focus on your work?
The biggest factor that causes me to feel unmotivated is the fear of letting someone else down. I get so scared sometimes that the work I produce won’t be good enough for the client (whether it is original artwork, sending a file, or talking business…it doesn’t matter!) that I won’t do the work at all! Most of us feel unmotivated when we aren’t sure how to approach something. This ties right in to not wanting to disappoint. Think of it this way: if you know exactly how to get something done, it is much easier to do it. You know how to approach the project and time flies when you are on a roll. When you are stuck, can’t figure out how to proceed, or even how to get started, that is when trouble strikes. My issues of not wanting to disappoint often collide with not knowing how to get started. If I can’t figure out a solution to a problem, I am less likely to please the client.
What I have learned is this: just doing it is the best way to get something done.
Okay, don’t leave me now, I know that was an incredibly simple statement. The truth is this: when I am lacking motivation, feeling fear, or just don’t know what to do first, I reset my brain. I take a step back from the situation and realize that the world is not going to end if I don’t do something right on the first try. If the client isn’t pleased, I will give it another go. If an edit doesn’t work out, I try again. People are very willing to be very nice if you try your very best…and that almost always shows.
Motivating Tip #2
Doing work that you don’t want to do!
Everyone runs into this problem, whether you are doing the job that you love, or if you are working at a job that you hate. We all get work that we just plain don’t wan to to do. There are certain jobs that I can think of that require my attention but I wish didn’t, like sorting my expenses and resizing image files. These are the jobs that I tend to put off until they have built up to an unmanageable size. And this is exactly the problem: they become unmanageable. Somehow we get it into our minds that if we let that work pile up, it will be easier to tackle in one fell swoop. This might be true for some people, but often this results in more stress…and less motivation!
I used to handle a certain problem in just this way until recently. My issue was e-mail, and feeling overwhelmed by the task of answering e-mails as they came in. Instead, I would let them pile up for weeks at a time, and then try to answer them all at once. This worked for a little while, until I realized a couple of things. I was missing e-mails because I had waited so long to respond, and the stress of not replying for so long gave me guilt.
I thought that I would maximize my time spent doing other things if I wasn’t glued to my e-mail, when in fact the opposite happened. I found that my guilt levels were up for feeling bad about not sending responses sooner, and that I got less done overall because I wasn’t balancing the “fun” work with the “business” work. My solution was to answer e-mails as they came in, or at least attempt to, so that I wouldn’t be thinking about e-mail when I wasn’t e-mailing. I still fail on this from time to time, but I spend a lot less time worrying about it now that I know I am doing my best to answer e-mails quickly.
I definitely wouldn’t call myself a procrastinator in general. If you know me, you know that I am quick to get on a project and try to make it happen…but that only goes as far as the things that I love to do. When it comes to other jobs, I am not very quick to jump on them. What I have realized, time and time again, is that balancing jobs that you don’t want to do with the fun jobs makes everything more rewarding.
When you constantly work on things you love, it can be amazing and fun, but over time you tend to lose a certain appreciation for the fun you are having. It becomes routine. Now I’m not saying do things that you hate to make you more appreciative, but the sentiment is still true. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”…or in this case, putting aside the tasks that you love doing will make them even more exciting when you get to tackle them…
…And you don’t have to feel guilty about not doing the “grunt” work.
Also, random fun fact – just as I am typing this, my husband tells me that he needs to move the pile of laundry that was growing out of neglect to the closet because he just can’t ignore it any longer. I thought it was quite a serendipitous moment.
Motivating Tip #3
Feeling the pressure!
So, you’re going to art school because you love art, but suddenly you aren’t motivated to create anymore. You are doing the job that you love because you love doing it, but suddenly it feels like a chore. This happens to me from time to time, and the reason is always the same: I’m feeling the pressure! When you turn what you love into something that you must do, you change how you look at, and interact with, that hobby. Photography used to be something I did in my spare time because I loved it. Soon after, it became something that I loved doing, but also had to do because I was making my income off of it. The tables have turned.
The best way I have found to fight off this way of thinking is to give myself one gentle (or not so gentle) reminder that I could be doing a lot worse. I could have a job that I hate, or I could be going to school for a subject I don’t love. People will always expect something from you, so you might as well have that be related to your passion in life. But a big warning: Don’t let that fight away the passion you had in the first place. Even if your job is what you love, don’t let what you love turn into a job.
Remember why you love photography. Even if you have to do something for someone else, that doesn’t mean that you can’t put your passion into it. If the school assignment is to create a picture using 3-point lighting and a studio backdrop, then drop in an awesome prop and make it something special. If you have to edit 10 headshots for a client, why not throw in one art setup as an extra just to spice things up and satisfy your creative soul? There is always a way to make a task fun, even if you are doing it for someone else. So, are you feeling the pressure? It’s natural. But also know that you can lessen that pressure by changing what you’re doing into something that you love.
Motivating Tip #4
Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!
I use a reward system quite often when I am getting things done that I don’t want to be doing. It might sound like a bad idea, because this is how bad habits form after all, but I think that it can be a great way to motivate and inspire. I do this in different ways, some very insignificant and some that have changed the way that I work. Sometimes I will pick out a cookie at the grocery store, or save a favorite TV show, just for the purpose of eating or watching when I have finished a task. The most common bargain I make with myself is: If you answer 50 emails this morning, you can have a cookie; or, you can watch the TV show.
This takes self-control, which is the sticky part. If you just up and eat the cookie then there is no more reward, and less incentive to finish the work. This is why getting others involved in your rewards can be great. I might a friend if she can come have dinner with me, but tell her that I can only go if I finish my work. This way the incentive is not just a nice dinner, but also that I don’t want to let my friend down. Another great way that I do this benefits everyone in my house: I won’t go out on a photo shoot unless my apartment is clean. If it isn’t, I don’t go out. Simple as that. Luckily I have my husband holding me to that one! (I am very, very messy…it’s a problem!).
Motivating Tip #5
Make a list, check it twice!
I don’t mean to just make any old list. I am not talking about a to-do list, though that is a great idea. I’m talking the ultimate list.
Think about why you love photography, or whatever else it might be that you do. Think about how your world is impacted by your passion, or how you want it to be. Write down a list of all the reasons why you love doing what you do. Mine would look something like this:
I love photography because…
I get to create the worlds that live in my imagination
I get to create beauty through darkness
I can express my own personal life views with my camera
I love editing in Photoshop!
I like being in nature, and photography allows me to do that everyday
The moral of the story is this: You should always incorporate the reasons why you love what you do into your everyday life. If you are creating a new project for school, make sure you are focusing on something from your list to ensure that you are not losing your passion. If you owe a client images, and it involves tons of batch editing, try editing a few in Photoshop and being totally creative, that way your creativity doesn’t go down the drain the more times you press the automate button.
You can take this even further. If you feel like your photography is suffering, like it just doesn’t feel how it used to, try writing a list of what you love within your own photography. It might be the lighting, lenses, editing style, dark backgrounds, forest setting, shooting texture, etc…Whatever it is, reference that and try to put those elements into your photography more regularly. Personal work can be shared. You can do what you love and love what you do.
Motivating Tip #6
What isn’t important to you might be important to somebody else!
This motivating tip is one that I use not only in photography but in all facets of life. Just because you don’t think something is important doesn’t mean that it isn’t important! Take other people’s feelings into consideration. You might be hugely unmotivated to finish work for a client because it isn’t something that you want to be doing. Maybe the pictures didn’t turn out how you like, or you’re bored with editing, or you just don’t know how to move forward. It is easy to feel unmotivated in this situation because you have mentally checked out. The images are no longer important to you because they aren’t satisfying a basic need that you have to express yourself.
Take a moment, in that situation, to see things from the other perspective. You owe a client images and that client is very excited about their pictures. It might not be your cup of tea, but you are aiming to please someone else. The same goes for an art class. The assignment might not be what you would choose to shoot, but that doesn’t mean it is a horrible assignment. It might be that the assignment is important to a teacher, or that another student thinks it is the best thing in the world. Instead of writing off whatever it is you are doing, take a different approach. Try to see how the images you are working on could be amazing to someone else. Just because they aren’t important to you doesn’t mean they aren’t important to somebody else.
Take yourself out of the equation and give back to somebody.
Tagged advice, brooke shaden, career, commercial photographer, conceptual photographer, fine art photographer, how to, motivated, motivation, overcoming obstacles, passion, photography, problem, tips
