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I'm working on the last 20% of a project that has dragged on too long.
I've lost interest. I'm not on a time crunch, but I've been dragging my feet for too long in any case.
I'm sure some of you know how that goes. I've never handled this situation very well.
Does anyone know any tricks for motivating oneself to code something you don't want to code?
Weird question maybe, but there it is.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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Break up what's remaining into smaller bits and count them off one by one. Make yourself do one a day (or week, whatever makes sense). Don't skimp, don't make excuses why you can't get to it, just make the time and make it doable and reward yourself after each block is done.
And keep thinking about the next fun thing you'll get to do when it's done.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Sounds like the old me.
I apologize if this comes across as anything other than honest advice from my own personal experience, but what helped me the most in terms of motivation/willpower to get things done (in life, in general) was losing weight.
I had to be honest with myself about the fact that I was getting fatter and fatter every year, so I went on a consistent diet for 4 months (and going) and I lost 40 lbs. It has been a game changer in all aspects of my life, let alone having the drive to finish programming assignments.
The one thing I still do struggle with is getting myself to exercise because I’ve never been an active person and I have asthma (if you know, you know), so working out is literally painful.
If you’re interested to know, I just cut back on all the sugar/carbohydrates that I was consuming and replaced it with it protein and fat. So nothing sugary at all. ever. Ever ever. And no foods that break down like sugar either, so essentially no carbs (bread/pasta/cereal/cakes/rice/starchy stuff).
Aside from the diet I can recommend taking as long of a break as you can, and when you return, change your work environment. Something as simple as taking your laptop to another desk or another room, and getting right to it with a fresh perspective. Taking breaks and changing environments has been helpful for me too.
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I, too, have Asthma. I would wheeze just walking hard enough...
Here is something to look into. "Body By Science". It's weight lifting. You can get away with 1-2 sessions per week.
And, you do ONE set to exhaustion (60 to 90 seconds). It's okay to split the routine so 1/2 on one day and one half the other day of the week.
Some people call it slow-slow. Drew Baye on YouTube shows a lot of the technique. Dr. Ben Bo has videos on it.
It is "keto" for exercise. The minimal effective dose.
FWIW, I've taken people from "gym haters" to "gym rats"... With 1 simple philosophy. Go to the gym regularly (even if once a week), and ALSO STRIVE to feel BETTER when you LEAVE than when you got there. If you can do that (and that is done BY NOT over working yourself), then you are on the path. After a while, a missed day at the gym will have you "feeling it"... Just like binging on carbs will have you "feeling it"... LOL
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+1 on Maunder's suggestions.
Small tasks, fake deadlines, and micro-rewards have shown to work well.
"If I get this changeset checked in by noon I'll walk to the corner for a cappuccino after lunch".
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Not a weird question. I'd guess most of us have been in that situation.
Reward yourself for completing it, and punish yourself for procrastinating?
When I had a book to finish writing, I forced myself to sit down almost every morning and write. Even when I didn't feel like it, I'd eventually get into it, which was a surprise. I think the same would happen with coding. Maybe it shouldn't really be that surprising, because I usually enjoy both. The same seems true for you, so maybe this would work.
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ditto
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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You seem to be a pretty self-motivated individual. Seems like pride in doing the job right and getting it done despite indifference from the other people would be enough. Who are they to mess with your karma??
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I can't be bothered to think of any.
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i've had a rile job I've been putting off forever, like a year. It's the master bath and we could really use it but I hate doing tile.
At the same time I'm doing something I really enjoy, building a large CNC machine.
So I've had to pull myself off the CNC machine and drag my tired old head out of my ass and just do it. Dig in get it done and get past it. It's going to look real pretty but the tile we picked is a PITA to set.
Oh well hopefully the last tile job I'll ever have to do!
Other than that a 2x4 repeatedly to the head usually works too! 
The most expensive tool is a cheap tool. Gareth Branwyn
JaxCoder.com
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My major motivations to complete projects are (a) liking food & drink, and (b) disliking sleeping outdoors.
I rarely need any other motivators.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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If time pressure is not a problem, make a break. Do something else for i.e. a week or so and then what Chris said in the first answer
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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"But is it good enough to ship?"
The artist sometimes needs somebody else to tell them when to stop.
Standing back makes one see the whole in relation to the last few parts; and may help with that last push.
Or just work on something else for a few days; coming back, it may look fresh again.
It's not a race; it's a process.
All there is is now.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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"There comes a time in the life of every project when you must kill the engineers and begin production."
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Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee!! 
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A little bit each day. Some days it feels like nothing was accomplished, but getting back to it the day after, things are always a little different than they were at the end of two days before. And, sometimes, if you can figure out how to screw off a lot, you can get a lot done afterwards.
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I'd say, that depends on why your motivation drops in this project as the remedy depends on the malady. However, taking a break from (shouldn't be a problem if things thing drags on forever anyway) is often helpful.
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Getting started is often the most difficult part. Just sit down and start and you'll probably get into it.
I'm in a similar situation. I started a media player application and it got to the point of being good enough for me for daily use. There are still plenty of bells and whistles I'd like to add, but I'm not really motivated enough to do it now. Guess I must follow my own advice and just sit down and code. The other option is to do a little bit each day until the extra features are done.
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It must be nice to have a choice and not be on a time limit. As someone who has written software since the 70's and had my own small software business for the last 30 years i dont have this luxury lol, but on projects where i feel stalled and stop enjoying it as much, i just bat on and try get it properly completed as soon as possible, knowing i'll feel much better when it's behind me, rather than having that 'pissed off' feeling every day.
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For me, it's self psychology. Convincing myself I'll feel better when it's done helps get me started. It's always ends up to be so. The release of subconscious guilt, possibly. Gotta talk yourself into it is the bottom line.
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"One thing" is probably the best I've ever heard. Momentum is paramount.
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I have learned to just lay things down and come back to them later (or even never, telling me how important or not a project is to me). Start something new. It's my personality type to adventure seek, so new projects are always a siren song at the end of a lengthy old project. I know this is not what you wanted to hear - me either, frankly, but making peace with my ENTP also helps me leverage my secondary traits to boost my flow state for longer, so there is that. Have a look at what the folks at PersonalityHacker have to say about your personality type using the car model.
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Get older.
I had that problem when I was in my 20's through my early 40's. The early parts of a project were fun because they were new. I liked the middle parts because I was coding and debugging, watching the end product start doing what it was supposed to. I didn't like the last part, because it was always the Moment of Truth. The code had to handle the edge cases, the user who did things I wasn't expecting, etc. What started out so wonderfully met the grim sandpaper of reality. Since I'm The Great Procrastinator, this phase of things really dragged.
In my 50's and now that I've turned 60 there's a curious satisfaction in completing a task, and I don't procrastinate nearly as much. Part of it stems from the fact that I know when I go back to this in the future, I won't have a mess to deal with. In recent years I've been saddled with maintaining a lot of others' code, and that's not a lot of fun. The other part is that given our current workload, there's always several new things waiting. The sooner I finish an existing task, the sooner I can look at the new stuff.
Software Zen: delete this;
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The Simplest Technique is the Pomodoro Technique.
If you are like me, getting started is the hardest part. You will get "busy" making lists, rewriting lists, or being distracted.
This is a TIMER technique. Basically I set the timer for 5 minutes or 10 Minutes (sometimes higher). I use a smaller number if I am VERY unmotivated (2 minutes). The requirement is that before I hit the timer, I load everything up.
If I need the motivation to even load the VMs, I will set a short timer and do that.
I have a webpage I wrote for it. As well as a phone app (count down timer).
Here's what I find. It's all about getting started.
SOME of it is a fear that I am doing it wrong. (And now I tell myself that may be true, but I will adapt once I PROVE IT)
Many times, I have to do a 10 minute task, and I am rolling. Some times, I trudge through it.
When the timer goes off. I get a break (I use a complex timer to time a break, if needed). But if I find that I "distracted myself" with something else, I reset the timer and start again, focusing on the task at hand.
This combined with Sander's solid comments on breaking it down into small enough chunks SHOULD get you through it.
I would be curious to hear how it works for you.
FWIW, the name comes from the old (Pomodoro) Tomato Timer on the stove being used.
I will use it for cleaning the house, and the garage, and MANY chores I don't look forward to doing (My daughter would add here: playing with her, petting the dog, having a normal human interaction, LOL)
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Small bites like Chris said and my complete off the wall method
The WebSite "Dream in Code" sparked my unscientific process
At bedtime I try to visualize how to code a function or procedure
YES I know you know how but when I wake up I code that small snippet of code
AND feel motivated to move on to the next lines
You can send the code to me and have an absolute laugh when I reply with VB.Net code
Just a novice compared to yourself and all the talented coders here
My triple Bypass last week has me looking for a small project perhaps time to learn C#
so I can run with the BIG dogs
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