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00:00:01
Finding motivation for the things that aren't so fun
524 Plays2 days ago
Miriam's CSS Layout Workshop: https://www.oddbird.net/workshops/cascading-layouts/
This week, is a slight detour from our usual frontend development discussions, I exploring how finding enjoyable activities, like bouldering, can make less pleasant tasks more manageable. I also share strategies to integrate exercise into your routine and relate these concepts back to web development. From organizing your calendar to creating side projects based on personal interests, discover ways to stay motivated and productive.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, my front end friends and welcome to my podcast, General Musings.
Podcast Introduction and Upcoming Episode
00:00:04
Speaker
My name is Kevin and in this podcast, I talk about whatever is front of mind for me in any given week, usually in some way that's related to front end development, though this week is going to be one of those weeks where we diverge off of front end specifically a little bit, though we'll we'll tie it all together in the end, because I think what I'm going to be talking about definitely can tie into things in a more general sense in a way.
00:00:28
Speaker
ah But before we get into that, I want to let you know that next week we'll be back into sort of the thick, I guess, of just specifically front end and probably much more specifically CSS, because I'm going to be having Andy Bell join me for an episode. So I haven't done an interview on here for a little while and I want to make sure that I keep those up and I always enjoy talking with Andy. So I'm looking forward ah to that conversation. i hope you are as
Reflecting on Past Episode Success
00:00:52
Speaker
well.
00:00:52
Speaker
And yeah, with that out of the way, one other thing that I want to mention, actually, there's two little bits of housekeeping before we get into the main topic for this week. ah The first one of which is that last week's episode was by far the most popular one I've released on this channel up until now.
00:01:10
Speaker
And it even led to a kind of decent sized surge of subscribers on the YouTube channel. ah So if you're here from that episode, welcome aboard. I'm glad that you're here. And if you've been listening for a while now, well I appreciate that as well. Interestingly, while it's that last episode is doing in exceedingly well over on YouTube, it's basically normal for the number of downloads it's getting in the podcast version.
00:01:33
Speaker
ah which is on like Apple and Spotify, all those things. And I think it mostly comes down to YouTube having decent discoverability for new listeners because it has show things in the home feed.
00:01:44
Speaker
And at this point, I'm guessing YouTube knows... who I am like across both channels, because i think like the most views are actually coming from people's home feeds.
00:01:55
Speaker
So I think it started showing that to people who already watch my main channel and it's led to a little a little boost. So I guess thank you to the algorithm for that one, ah because obviously with traditional podcasts, they have to grow in a more organic way, yeah word of mouth and the person creating stuff, letting people know they exist.
00:02:15
Speaker
But you're not really here for the the getting into the content creation side of things. And that's not what we're going to be talking about. Don't worry.
Highlight: Miriam Suzanne's Workshop
00:02:22
Speaker
One last bit of housekeeping that I want to do before we get into the main topic, which this one's actually related to development, is I want to give a quick shout out to Miriam Suzanne, who's going to be hosting a CSS layouts workshop. And this isn't a sponsored spot or anything like that. It's just I know her workshop is coming up.
00:02:40
Speaker
And I also know that a lot of people struggle with layouts with CSS. And if there's someone you're going to learn CSS layouts from, I really do think Miriam, you you can't go wrong learning it from Miriam.
00:02:52
Speaker
It's a completely online workshop. It's going be taking place from the 28th to the 30th. And it covers everything from block to flexbox, to grid, to subgrid, to container queries, to box alignment and and more. And everything you want to know about.
00:03:06
Speaker
creating layouts and how it all works and pull it all together and all of that. And i I really don't know of anyone who understands CSS layouts as well as Miriam does.
00:03:17
Speaker
And she, I mean, she did help write the spec for container queries and has been long involved in just the spec and in CSS. And she's just been long involved with CSS and knows it really well and very deeply. But she's also able to explain everything in ways that we can all understand, which is always something I strive for. And I always look for other people and I learn a lot from them on how they explain stuff. And Miriam is one of those people I've learned a ton from over the years.
00:03:46
Speaker
And as a little bonus for those who are listening shortly after this episode comes out, There is currently an early bird discount for $100 off the workshop, and that goes through intel ah or not intel April 12th. So the link for that workshop is just down in the description slash show notes if you want to check it out.
Finding Exercise Motivation
00:04:04
Speaker
And with all of that out of the way, ah want to talk about today's main topic, which is about finding ways to do things that you don't particularly like.
00:04:15
Speaker
And the reason I'm bringing this up is because of exercise, which is something I generally don't enjoy in, I guess, the traditional sense.
00:04:25
Speaker
I enjoy exercise when
00:04:31
Speaker
accomplishing something, if that makes sense. Like I used to bike a lot. I'd bike, I think it was 20 kilometers each direction to work. And I do it like two to three times a week. And I really enjoyed it. And I enjoy biking, but I don't enjoy biking unless I'm going somewhere. I don't i can't get on a bike just be like, oh I'm going to go around to get exercise. It's just I'm not motivated to get on my bike to come back to where I am.
00:04:56
Speaker
I know people have actually suggested to me things like you can get like the modern things now that like help motivate you for like if you're biking in your house and stuff like that. um The stationary ones and like I know that doesn't work for me either. um ah can't get motivated for like if I'm at the gym or going to a gym.
00:05:13
Speaker
I find I have and I can't get motivated to exercise for the sake of exercise. ah I can do it for a while, but just as time goes on, and i lose that motivation.
00:05:25
Speaker
And the reason I'm bringing this up is because, and and as I said, I promise this will all tie into how development in some way in a bit. But I also think if you're listening to this and you have trouble motivating yourself to exercise, it could be beneficial. And we all sit at desks all day long. So I do think it's important to to move a little bit.
Discovering Bouldering and Health Benefits
00:05:46
Speaker
And so about nine months ago now, I started bouldering, which is like rock climbing. and Thanks to my kids. They're the ones who convinced me to get into it after I'd put them in a summer camp where they were doing it.
00:05:57
Speaker
And I really, really enjoy it. I just went to go do it with them. And I'm like oh, this is a lot of fun. And I want to keep doing this. And so I've sort of gone all in. I go three times a week, most weeks.
00:06:10
Speaker
But not only has it motivated me to go and do that because I enjoy it and it's fun. and and it's just like... First of all, it's a way to like go and do something else, but there's like problem solving involved in it.
00:06:21
Speaker
ah i don't know. There's a lot of ah lot going on with it. you're You're focused on that. So it's a nice just escape from everything else while you're there and and all of that side of things.
00:06:33
Speaker
But on top of that, because I want to get better at it, it's motivated me to get in better shape so I can be better at it and work on my strength a bit. And I'm also like super inflexible. Like I just I have flexibility issues, especially in my legs. And it's something that I've always been like, I should work on that. I should improve my flexibility because it's not good not to be flexible in general.
00:06:55
Speaker
And of course, I never did it. But with bouldering, flexibility is kind of important. ah And so now I've actually been motivated to work on my flexibility, not as much as I should be doing, but ah definitely much more than I ever have ever before in my life. So that one thing that I found has led to me doing the good things that I should have been doing always because it's given me that like external motivation to be able to do it.
Overcoming Procrastination with Scheduling
00:07:23
Speaker
I don't think that's the only way that we can make on fun things doable, if that makes sense. Like there's some stuff that I'm really good just in general at avoiding things that I don't like to do and finding an excuse to do something else instead.
00:07:40
Speaker
And one thing, and this has been really hard for me, and I've talked about this in the past, but it's blocking off time on your calendar. And so my calendars at this point are very organized and I'm still very good at being like, oh, I should be doing that, but I'll do this instead and I'll move that around so I can do it later. And then somehow that thing gets moved six times, but I'll eventually get around to doing it.
00:07:59
Speaker
um But beyond that, there's a couple of tasks like in my accounting for my business and a few other things that I tend to do this for. And so now I've started putting finding the times on my calendar where it's actually like usually a shift into something else.
00:08:15
Speaker
So like if I'm coming back from lunch, you're starting something new usually. Like I've taken a break, so I don't have to like stop what I'm doing to do that thing. I've already stopped what I was doing and I'm coming back to start a new thing.
00:08:27
Speaker
And so for me, that's really helped is like if I'm going to be doing the things I don't like, I tend to put them right after lunch or is the very first thing in my day, but the very first thing in the day didn't work out. So I tend to put them as the very first thing after lunch, just so it's like, okay, I'll do that. And then I can move into the other things. And that's really helped me.
00:08:46
Speaker
And the other thing that especially like I'm talking about flexibility, I sprained my wrist really bad a while ago and I've lost a lot of mobility in it. So I'm trying to stretch it and do all the different stretches and other things I need to do. And I keep forgetting about it.
00:09:00
Speaker
ah But there's if you've read the book Atomic Habits, it's about linking habit you want to build with a habit you already have. And so for me, that sort of worked. It's not really a habit that I have, but I'm trying to do it. So before I get it every time, before I sit down at my desk, I do the stretches on my wrist.
00:09:16
Speaker
So first thing in the morning, before I go on my desk, do it. ah First thing after lunch, before I go into the thing I don't want to do. And anytime I take a break. When I get up to go like get a glass of water, when I come back, I try and remember to do it.
00:09:29
Speaker
Don't do it every time. um But it's just to build up that linking a habit. It's not really a habit sitting down at my computer desk, but you know what I mean. I guess it is in a way. I don't know. But whatever. Just another sort of strategy there that can be used.
00:09:43
Speaker
And there's definitely other ones as well. So if you have any, leave a comment down below or if you're listening to this in the podcast version, comment on social media or anything else like that ah to to let me know what has worked for you. Because I'm always looking for things because, as I said, I'm really good at finding ways to avoid doing what I should be doing.
Applying Motivation Strategies to Web Development
00:10:00
Speaker
But right now i'm talking about this in ways that aren't related to web development. But as I promised from the beginning, I do think all of this can actually be linked to web development as well. ah First of all, sometimes you just have tasks you don't want to do. So finding ways to put them either in your calendar or a time of day or whatever it is where it's now something that like, OK, I can do that and then move on to the other things instead of just pushing it off.
00:10:25
Speaker
Again, that's easy said that easier said than done, but um it can definitely help. And the main way I think it does lean in more to that is just anything that can become a grind. Like for me, sometimes learning can become a grind. I love learning new things, but it's like I like learning new things like, oh, I'm playing with this demo and I'm having fun with it. Like sometimes when you're doing something that's a little bit more intense.
00:10:49
Speaker
and you're going through like a bigger lesson or set leave tutorials or a course or something because it's not like this one feature you're trying to learn. It's a big topic you're trying to learn. it can definitely be a grind and it can definitely be boring.
00:11:02
Speaker
And so finding ways to make them more fun in the same way that
Engaging Learning Through Side Projects
00:11:06
Speaker
I found an exercise that I enjoy that's more fun, but it's also encouraged me to do more as well.
00:11:12
Speaker
And they think you can take that type of thing into web development and learning and all of that There is a bit of a caveat with this that I'll mention afterwards, but there's building side projects that are based on a hobby or interest that you have.
00:11:27
Speaker
Or it doesn't have to be a side project. It could just be a project if you're in the middle of learning. ah But as an example there, as side projects, i the two main ones that I think I've talked about these a while ago, but I made an app of sorts to track my bouldering sessions.
00:11:43
Speaker
And just I didn't need one. There was an existing app that did it better than what I created. ah But I was just it had a lot of other features and other stuff that I wasn't using. And like, I just want this one thing for me.
00:11:57
Speaker
And so I made it and it was fun because I got to just play with it. But for me, it was also useful because I'm always looking to build quote unquote real things. And so that was a chance to build a quote unquote real project.
00:12:09
Speaker
ah that eventually I might make public. We'll see if I, there's a lot of rough edges. I did, it's really an MVP right now and would have to be fleshed out a little bit if I was ever going to release it. And there's parts of it that don't work.
00:12:22
Speaker
um There's a toggle that's backwards in how it logs things. So like there's a lot of current issues with it, but I also learned a ton in building it. And the other one I made was a website called forcecarbcalculator.com because I needed to get because I make my own beer and when I keg it, I want to be able to get the right carbonation levels on it.
00:12:44
Speaker
There was an Excel spreadsheet that I was using, um or not Excel, Google Sheet, but I always had to go open my drive, go and find it. It was a bit of a pain in the butt. I'm like, I just want an address I can put in and a user friendly interface I can do on my phone or on my computer.
00:12:58
Speaker
And it wasn't hard to make and I probably didn't learn a ton doing it because it was very simple, um but it was fun to put together and it was an excuse for me to like dabble in something, learn a few little new things along the way ah and create something that I was actually motivated to work on.
00:13:14
Speaker
And other things like this that you see other people do, those are my own interests. But like, I'm sure you've seen those like holographic Pokemon cards on like hover and moves around and there's a hologram going on it and other things like that. so there's always people that are finding like, oh, I like Pokemon, so I'm going to do a cool thing with Pokemon cards because I'm more motivated for that. or like I know a lot of people who do role playing and build tools they can use for their role playing and stuff like that. And they build tools for their games and everything that they're doing. And I don't know a lot of the details on it because I i don't do that. But i yeah, anything like that that's just useful stuff for you to be able to use, I think, is the best way to do it.
Value of Side Projects for Skill Development
00:13:53
Speaker
There is a bit of a caveat, as I mentioned, which is if you're already working full time, coming and making side projects of things can be a little bit like when you get home, you don't always want to do more coding stuff.
00:14:04
Speaker
But if you really are either trying to expand your skill set, ah get more practice and whatever it is, finding a project you're motivated to work on instead of just like if you Google like projects to work on, you just get all these generic things that you probably have zero interest in. So being able to link it to something that you like is often a way to help motivate yourself to actually be able to do it.
00:14:26
Speaker
And that even means if you're reinventing the wheel. Just because another app or website or something like that already exists, it doesn't matter, right? i As I said, the bouldering thing I did already existed, was really good. I don't really need to make that myself, but I felt like doing it. So ah yeah, it motivated me and got me doing that and learning a ton of stuff.
00:14:47
Speaker
and That was one of the, you know, i got into backends and databases and all the stuff I don't do. So ah yeah, it was an interesting one and definitely is not perfect, but um maybe one day if I find the time for it, I'll dive back in to actually fix it up and make it public.
Conclusion and Workshop Reminder
00:15:03
Speaker
But yeah, Yeah, I think that's it for this week. So if you are interested in Miriam's ah workshop, don't forget about that. The link for it is down below. And if you're listening to this early enough, make sure you register right away so you can get that early bird discount.
00:15:16
Speaker
And with that, thank you so much for listening. and And until next time, don't forget to make your corner of the Internet just a little bit more awesome.