Lack of motivation

[mac]

I always get into this cycle where i tell myself that i will begin learning X programing/coding language and soon I forget all about it and move onto other things in my life. I'd really like to stock to this long-term but it's hard for me. How do i overcome this cycle block?

[b.zaar]

It all depends what you get distracted by. My biggest distraction is always putting food on the table.

That's why it's only a hobby os

[mac]

This is a problem that persists in my daily life too. I get too distracted by all the little things. I can never get anything done in life.

[SpyderTL]

Agreed.

My distractions are:

• - Kids
  - Xbox
  - Work
  - Investments
  - Friends
  - Music (Learning to play Bass and Drums)

In that order

I wish I had more time to spend on OSDev, and I wish that I had started back in my teens or 20's when I had way more free time, but, alas...

However, staying motivated, for me, involves imagination, vision, and focus on the end goal, and a desire to see it become a reality some day.

I think they key is to let yourself become just shy of completely obsessed for a short time -- a few weeks, perhaps -- and then, once you've become "burned out" a little, you take some time and enjoy the other things in your life that you've missed. This may take a month or two, but it will clear your mind and set you up for the next "burn out" phase.

I've noticed that other people use this same approach for most other side-projects as well, like recording albums, home improvement, working on old cars, etc.

Another problem that I have is thinking up other development projects and trying to work on them at the same time. I did this for a few years, but I've pretty much stopped even trying to swap between active projects, because it really does prevent you from finishing anything on any project. I would recommend either saving these other projects for later, or completely stopping development on your current project for a few years, if you are going to focus on a more important, or a more interesting project. This takes discipline, though...

This site is a good motivator. Seeing other people making progress on their dream projects makes me want to focus on mine. And even the negative feedback, which I normally try to ignore, still seems to inspire me, even if it's only to prove the nay-sayers wrong.

Good luck staying motivated...

[eryjus]

For me, nothing inspires motivation like success. I keep in mind that a programming language is nothing more than a tool to accomplish another goal. If I have a project in mind for which programming/coding language "X" is a good fit, I take it on in that language -- and learn it in the process.

I, like SpyderTL, have a plethora of distractions and most of the same ones and agree with his comments completely. If I would have started my OS 25 years ago.... Life is a distraction, but don't let it change your passions.

[Roman]

For me, nothing inspires motivation like success. I keep in mind that a programming language is nothing more than a tool to accomplish another goal. If I have a project in mind for which programming/coding language "X" is a good fit, I take it on in that language -- and learn it in the process.

I, like SpyderTL, have a plethora of distractions and most of the same ones and agree with his comments completely. If I would have started my OS 25 years ago.... Life is a distraction, but don't let it change your passions.

I also sometimes lose motivation. Often I ask myself: "What am I doing? Is that something, I really want to do in my life?", but then I get motivation again somehow. Also, Steve Jobs once said:

[hometue]

The fact the virtual machine I use to develop on lags my whole system, so I get too lazy to boot it up. Hopefully an upgrade will improve this situation. Either that or its my other things. Or the fact i just get easily distracted by other things like...oooh look at this *walks away*.

PS: Can someone make an OS to help us keep in task? Pretty sure many people will thank you for that

[AndrewAPrice]

The fact the virtual machine I use to develop on lags my whole system

What are you using? VirtualBox and VMWare install drivers, have background managers, and other silly stuff. I like QEMU - it's self contained, runs straight from the command line, and when you close it it's closed.

[no92]

I often lack motivation. I usually take a break of one day, go to the OSdev forums, see the awesomeness that we create. Then, the motivation starts to get back again.

VirtualBox and VMWare

Bad, bad, bad. VMWare is just unsuited for OSdeving. Its purpose is to run full-grown or commercial operating systems, not hobbyist ones.
VirtualBox should only be used when testing a release to make sure it's okay. Also, it is a nightmare to set up a virtual machine with a terminal.

[Kevin]

see the awesomeness that we create.

I wish I could see that awesomeness in the umpteenth Hello World OS... (Yes, I've been lacking motivation for a while, why? )

[hometue]

I use Virtualbox, mainly just because it is the first thing I was introduced to, I only used QEMU after I compiled my OS (kernel?) and wanted to test it. And maybe for the ease to set it up I guess??? Oh well I doubt I will touch it any time in this month, so lets see how my new laptop (getting a new one soon) handle the load before I decide to switch to QEMU.

[no92]

I wish I could see that awesomeness in the umpteenth Hello World OS

Well, look at the more advanced ones:

• - toaruos (GUI)
  - Perception (with the fancy language/compiler stuff)
  - Ghost + Capri
  - sortix (very UNIX-like and a huge set of features implemented)

etc.

I use Virtualbox, mainly just because it is the first thing I was introduced to, I only used QEMU after I compiled my OS (kernel?) and wanted to test it. And maybe for the ease to set it up I guess??? Oh well I doubt I will touch it any time in this month, so lets see how my new laptop (getting a new one soon) handle the load before I decide to switch to QEMU.

It's not only about the ease. VirtualBox is a full-blown package, whereas QEMU is a neat little one. The (in my opinion biggest) advantage of QEMU over VirtualBox is that can run multiple processor architectures.

[konacake]

when I get unmotivated though spells of depression, I usually write toy code to keep my mind active, mainly so I don't spend a week away from an editor and look back and pretty much forget everything I was doing, and then get more depressed (my roguelike died this way, RIP)

it's really helpful to have someone keeping you motivated though, that's why I like writing software with someone I care about.

[davidsmith0143]

i think this article can help.. http://www.lifehack.org/articles/commun ... ation.html

[Mordie]

when I get unmotivated though spells of depression, I usually put on my Airsnore and write toy code to keep my mind active, mainly so I don't spend a week away from an editor and look back and pretty much forget everything I was doing, and then get more depressed (my roguelike died this way, RIP)

it's really helpful to have someone keeping you motivated though, that's why I like writing software with someone I care about.

Any time I leave my computer I get distracted and before I know it hours go by and I've got nothing done. It sucks.