The title is really vague, so I’ll try to clarify my intentions here:

I am an ardent supporter of FOSS. It will be greatly beneficial for my life and especially my privacy to self-host such software. Yet, I cannot find much motivation to do so.

However, when it comes to hosting software for public use, I can usually give my utmost concentration and dedication.

This is not how I want my life to be. I want to be motivated for myself as well as for the community. And if that’s not possible, I need to trick my brain into bringing me into that kind of zone for myself.

What do I do? What would you do in this situation?

  •  Elise   ( @xilliah@beehaw.org ) 
    10•1 month ago

    My rule is that I only do stuff that comes from within me.

    Now that doesn’t mean that I can’t search for that feeling.

    I mean sure, if I am on the sofa with a warm blanket posting to Lemmy, I am gonna be anchored there.

    What works for me is to work backwards. What do I want? Why? What is needed for that? Why? Just keep breaking it up.

    Then I’ll do what I call circling, like an eagle. You start with the big circle and slowly shrink it until you get to the core of the matter and finally swoop down and catch your target.

    For instance a large circle could be being at your pc drinking a coffee, reading something, taking some short breaks to move and look out the window. This is already closer than say doomscrolling, and in that sense a success.

    Now once it feels right, you circle a bit closer. Read or watch something related to the topic you care about. And so on.

    The trick is to work with the grain, instead of against the grain, of your brainy bits by balancing boredom against frustration in order to find your flow.

    You can stay in any circle as long as you please and it is better to step back into a larger circle than to give up entirely.

    While doing this keep visualizing what success looks like. Express this, but also your anxieties and whatever else in a freewriting note (avoid structure).

    Most importantly perhaps is to remain skeptical of your desires. The world will always have more work for you to do and will happily keep you busy. And your desires aren’t necessarily your friends. Be conscious of the ones you want to commit to. The easiest way to close a task is to simply not do it.