This sounds crazy, but hear me out. I’ve been working on creating a book out of my 365 Days photo project that I did back on Flickr a while back. It’s one of those projects that no matter how I try to stay motivated, it just seems to get pushed to the back burner. Even now that my mom has offered to pay me to do it. That is, until I found the best motivation I’ve ever had: just doing it.
This past Friday, I decided to clear my schedule and devote the day to working on this book. I was a little afraid that I might fall prey to the myriad of distractions like I usually do, but instead, I forced myself to just start (the hardest part!). What I discovered was that the more I worked on this book, the more I wanted to work on it! I started to solve all the design issues that had been part of the reason I was putting it off in the first place and then as I added more pages I just wanted to keep adding more. The most wonderful feeling is the feeling you get when things start coming together in the way you want them to.
Looking back, it’s crazy for me to think about how much I pushed this project back. All the things I was worrying about, all the little bits I didn’t like so far weren’t going to solve themselves just by sitting. I was amazed to find myself working everything out, not nearly as difficult or impossible as my brain had convinced me it was.
Now I’m almost 70 pages in! I’m more than halfway through the photos I want to include and I’m actually excited about working on it.
How counterproductive our brains can be! If I had continued to listen to my own brain, I would probably never finish this project. Now I am sure I can finish it for my projected deadline of May 1st.
