Twisted Self Motivation

Lost in the sea of Labor Day to New Year's craziness and the painting project is Josh's blanket. It's more then halfway done. But, I still have 10 squares to make. Back in July, I was making a square a day. Then we went on the vacation that started the painting project.

For five months I have been slowly working on it. One square a day became two rows. I would look at the project on the couch, an not be up to working on it. I would try it anyway. But, it wasn't worth it. I needed to be motivated. But, how?


I turns out, to be motivated to work on one project I needed to be working on three. The ripple blanket I had been working on for myself was put aside. I had planned to work on it when Josh's blanket was done. But, with yesterday's snow I found myself looking at the couch again.

I missed knitting. I needed some variety to the crochet stitches too. So I did a little bit of all three projects. One long row on my ripple blanket, One row in knitting the mouse pad for my dad, and a bunch of rows of Josh's blanket. It's been a long time since I did that much.


Today I looked forward to going back to these projects. A little bit of a few things. Seven rows later, the square I started in December was complete. Including being sewn on to the blanket. My goal is St. Patrick's Day.


What do you do to motivate yourself? In school, kids are motivated by a reward. A favorite of Zach's is a "no homework" pass. I really can't go the "special food" route either. What about shopping? I love to shop! True, but only for things we need. I couldn't think of anything I wanted that would have been budget friendly.


I always say, "work around your habits". After all, you are more likely to be motivated to hit the gym if you literally drive by it on the way home from work. I used to work for at least on hour a day four days a week on my crochet and knitting projects. I even have old posts with updates on the status of all of them. Back when I was making the hats and cowls for my hats and wraps project. How was I motivated then?


By having different projects going at once. The variety meant I could do something different. I was looking at different yarn. Different colors. Doing different stitches. I got more done in two days since adding those two projects then I did in the month of December!!!


Sometimes we have to get creative about motivation. Example, diabetics can't reward themselves with chocolates. A cute new top is great motivation. If the accomplishment is a big one. I work better with small rewards for small accomplishments. I treat each square like it's a separate project. Like I said in a previous post, it's about doing the project, not completing it.


Why the road block? Because when they are done I don't know what project will be next. I still don't. But, I have learned something about myself. Stick with small things. Hats are a good idea. The block isn't about working on the current project. It's about what the next project will be.


It turns out, for me, that's not just a crochet and knitting road block. Motivation and inspiration come from unusual places sometimes. I have also learned to pace myself. I burned out from all those hours in a short period of time. I needed to spend less time on it to get more done.