How to work on your SaaS when you don't feel like it
We've all been there. When the rosy period ends or simply when things start to get tough, we start losing motivation to work. With nobody except ourselves to hold us accountable, we slip into unproductive habits. Here are a few small tips to help you overcome this slump in motivation.
1. One Commit Per Day
A git commit allows you to track the progress of the changes made to your project. Developers generally commit their code after working on a small feature, like centering a div. All you have to do is convince yourself to make just one commit per day. It is digestible enough not to make you want to procrastinate, while being meaningful enough to progress the project forward. You will likely end up making more than one commit.
2. Learn About Dopamine
Dopamine is the chemical responsible for motivation. There is an excellent podcast episode by Dr. Andrew Huberman on YouTube in which he goes reasonably deep into the science behind dopamine and motivation. It's the most popular video on his YouTube channel. Some key takeaways are:
- Don't do pleasurable activities before doing the hard work
- Train yourself to like the hard work, not the reward
- You will likely feel unmotivated after you have had a dopamine spike
He goes into a lot more detail; I highly recommend checking it out.
3. Fitness & Diet
Food doesn't just affect your gut health and looks; it also affects your mental health and clarity. Find out what kinds of foods make you think more clearly, and avoid the ones that make your mind foggy, at least right before you want to work. Meat, for example, can induce food coma in some people, so they feel incredibly lazy. Eating more than twice per day can also cause some people to feel lethargic.
Secondly, hitting the gym is probably the cheat code to getting more work done. Working out even twice per week is enough to boost motivation for the entire week.
I hope this post helps. If you have some helpful tips of your own, please comment them down below.
