One is Better than Zero
There is no better motivator than the impending doom of an upcoming deadline! The problem is: for your project, you have no deadlines. Of course, you could create your own deadlines but let’s be serious, on a Tuesday after a long day of work; your own deadline will not keep you away from opening a beer and watching some TV. So, how do you keep making progress then?
Just take at least one step every day. One is much better than zero. Just do one commit, even a small one, or edit this small documentation paragraph. In the worst-case scenario, you will be at 365 commits closer to your goal at the end of the year. One step is better than zero steps.
The main idea behind doing at least one thing is that there are tasks that feel so big and daunting. We feel like starting today will not make any difference from beginning tomorrow. Today you are not motivated, so you might as well start tomorrow, and tomorrow will be today again, and you will not start either. But if you just do one small thing, you will break the mental block and tell yourself: — Well, now that I am at it, I might as well fix this other issue — and if you don’t, at least a small thing would have gotten done.
The key to progress is constancy, not bursts of work. As Picasso said: Inspiration exists but has to find you working.
Many platforms use this idea to keep users engaged in endeavors that require constancy. Duolingo, for instance, insists on having tiny lessons so that the barrier of entry to daily practice is minimal but does not limit you if you feel motivated to keep practicing.
This little trick also works for other things like getting in shape!
Inspiration exists but has to find you working
— Pablo Picasso
A small trick to keep motivation and constancy is gamification. Turning constancy into a game progress bar is an effective way to keep you from slipping down the slide of inaction. For example, I have a paper calendar in which I write a small sentence of what I did for my personal project that day at the end of the day. Seeing an empty day will become so annoying than actually making some progress.
If you prefer a more technical approach, look at Github: it has a contributions graph that will display the commits made during each day of the year, which is excellent to keep you motivated.
Doing at least one thing every day will help you break the spell of lack of motivation and get you one step closer to finishing your personal project!
