This is not my usual technical/CSE adjacent post. My articles are mostly tech-related, but I wanted to discuss something different today.
For the past few months, precisely six, I have not been writing anything. I re-did my Svelte SPA site and turned it into this Hugo based SSG, removing the clutter to focus on writing.
But as you see, I have not written anything since last year. Why?
Firstly, in the past quarter, I switched jobs, and the transitional period comes with a lot of uncertainty in routine. Second, I suck at routines.
Today I would like to talk about two things: Motivation and Boredom.
While job hunting, I was reading a lot, doing LeetCode, and building the now-defunct parisar. I was incredibly productive because I was motivated to be interview-ready. Since starting my new job, I’ve hardly invested time in tech beyond my daily work.
Does that mean I need to put down notice again? No, not really. If I solely rely on motivation to be productive, I will be productive twice a month.
I need to be bored. You need to be bored. Boredom brings consistency. If you are okay with being bored, you do not require stimuli to do the needful.
Two years back, I got around 95 kilograms—the heaviest I ever got. I decided to hit the gym, get on a better diet, and I lost about 15 kilos. I also put on some muscle. But since then, I have been around the same weight with a similar amount of muscle. I did not grow because I did not put in more work, but I also did not put on more weight because, to me, working out is just a boring task I do regardless of how I am feeling. I work out 3 to 5 days a week, 60 to 80 minutes per session. I would love to get serious about my workout too, but I am not bummed about it either.
The thing is, my body knows that I will do it once I get to the gym, and for those 3 to 5 days, I don’t need to be motivated to leave my house, go to the gym, and work out.
We need to be okay with working/working out/reading without motivation, an external push, a deadline, or a prize. We need to sit, embrace the boredom, and do the boring stuff.