Motivation vs Discipline

This one is generally nothing new. I think I get quite a lot of things done. Am I always motivated? No.

Discipline is the other factor and there are - I think - three aspects of it that help:

1. Imagining the results. This itself kicks in the right chemistry (literally) - dopamine - the needed neurotransmitter. Dopamine is sometimes confused with endorphins and incorrectly considered the satisfaction molecule. People thought dopamine shot up because you got something good (like winning a game). But dopamine actually spikes before you get the prize. It is the fuel for motivation: it drives the internal incentive processing. It creates the craving, the focus, and the energy required to go get the thing.
   
   
2. Making lists. Richard Branson's favorite: "I have always lived my life by making lists". I too make lists all the time. To help my aging memory and remember important things in the exploding galaxy of interests and distractions. I don't use paper lists but several electronic equivalents. My inboxes (and I'm the Inbox Zero type) - bot personal and business serve as the primary lists. Then I use Google Keep to generally remember conclusions from past experiences. Like a "kayaking trip" list keeps comments from my previous kayaking trips. Helps me simply get better prepared and spend less time panicking what to pack. Lists also - to Branson's point - allow to celebrate the ticks: physically marking off a completed task provides a highly satisfying psychological boost.
   
   
3. Planning the time ahead. Before I commit to do something that requires more than couple of hour of effort - like delivering a presentation at a conference - I carefully look at my calendar, trying to allocate time to work on that delivery. What always stuns me is people often  helplessly spread hands saying "we had Christmas in December so we could not finish the thing by the end of the year as initially planned". Sure Christmas in December must be surprising. As are many other (entirely obvious) things like other duties / obligations, travel, etc.

All three are part of the general discipline and mitigate fluctuations of motivation.