[khromem]

The role of this is to bridge the gaps between the spikes of internal motivation.

A lot of times people start working on something new and for the first few days they have enough motivation to stick with it. But when that disappears a lot of people just quit. They don't stick with the new activity long enough for the next surge of internal motivation.

We believe this service can help people grind it out for a week or two until they get a surge of internal motivation and no longer need us.

[vasco]

Why would you grind out something you found you don't want to do? Or on another note, if something really should get done, I think their argument is that this sort of crutch makes you lose the muscle of "just do it and get on with it".

[MaulingMonkey]

> I think their argument is that this sort of crutch makes you lose the muscle of "just do it and get on with it".

I don't have that muscle when it comes to "internal motivation", and decades of floundering have not particularly succeeded in developing it.

The right external motivation - for me, most typically, something along the lines of not wanting to let down the people who are depending upon me in a reasonable manner - means I can absolutely slay it when it comes to getting things done in a 9-5 work environment, and rather than being soul crushing, it's a relief that I can contribute value. I might grumble a bit at the start of my mornings, but getting into the grove of work quickly distracts me from said grumbling. johnthewise's experience is far from universal.

Precommitment in the form of money laden goalposts and checkpoints alone aren't super effective for me, but they do accomplish something.

> Why would you grind out something you found you don't want to do

Because it will be valuable enough to have it done, to be worth it in the long run. My natural internal motivation is terribly shortsighted - to the point that I'll procrastinate on getting myself food when I'm only a little hungry, because cooking, walking, driving, or even ordering sounds like a bother and a chore. Does spending an extra hour or three hungry improve my day overall? It does not.

It's 10AM, I've skipped breakfast, and I'm rather hungry for lunch. My natural instinct is to spend another few hours doomscrolling reddit or HN or otherwise making not particularly good use of my time, even when it comes to the explicit goal of leisure or relaxation. But, instead, I'm going to hunt down some socks, shoes, keys, wallet, sunglasses, mask, jacket, and go out into the beautiful sunny day that I've been hiding away from, and go grab some delicious food I've been looking forward to all week, and improve my day in the process.

And I will grumble slightly along the way, because among other injustices, I will have to "get up".

[imtringued]

I have to do X. I don't want to do X but I must finish X. Instead of procrastinating and wasting my entire day on avoiding X, it would be more productive to do X and then do the things I am actually interested in.

[marginalia_nu]

It seems to me like you are describing inspiration and not motivation, when discussing internal motivation.

Motivation is the why of what you are doing, inspiration is the Eye of the Tiger montage when you are doing something that seems to go well.

Your motivation for brushing your teeth may for example be to avoid a trip to the dentist.