Motivation is a Finite Resource
what house hunting taught me about time, energy and attention
We’ve been looking at houses this week. We’re soon in need of a place with an extra room. Several viewings later, and an almost offer, we’re spent. It’s exhausting work, the purchase of a house, because it has so many dimensions and considerations: price, area, condition, design, school-districts, North-facing-ness, coziness, build style, quality of materials, garden size and maturity, light, ceiling height, floor-space, add-on potential (like pool and fireplace), house age, good security… does it have “good bones”? And all the other buyers have similar lists to you.
Because it is such an impactful decision on one’s lifestyle and finances, we spent time on this. We found one promising place but it came with compromises. We went back and forth with multiple viewings and ultimately decided against it. And that stole at least two days of the week away. Of course, we learnt more about areas and more about our preferences; but the thing that stood out for me was how my motivation was commandeered, and depleted. The house project was my focus - my time, energy, and attention viciously redirected. This meant less time and energy for everything else - for people, for work, for writing, for cooking, everything.
Motivation, I realise again and again, is a finite resource. Of course we talk about time and energy and money and health and attention as the important resources in life. But motivation is ultimately how we direct these things. Motivation directs your creative powers to the problems you deem most important.
In my MEGA framework for creativity and creative work, motivation is the fire-starter and the guide. Before you explore, generate, or ameliorate; you must choose the problems, projects, and field to apply yourself to. Where to direct creativity? This is a supremely underrated step in the creative process.
I believe everything we do, to some degree, is an application of creativity. Because creativity is about solving problems. The problem of house-buying this week was a complete drain on my motivation. I am not sure there was or is any way around this - you need to think creatively about your future house and life: envisaging your future, how the current house options stack up, evaluating pros and cons and then honing your solution (down to the offer amount, or walking away).
We’ve decided we’re no longer in such a rush to buy, which is probably why you’re reading this piece. But it was a good lesson, a cautionary tale even. There are only so many hours in the days, so many days in the week (more soberly Oliver Burkeman reminds us that there are 4000 weeks in an average life).
Think wisely about the problems you choose. The number of problems you might be motivated to solve is limited. Perhaps this limit differs by person, perhaps you can lift your limit with organization and delegation, perhaps your motivation is multiplied with momentum and immersion when a applied to field of well-suited problems. But the statement stands: your motivation is a finite resource, exposed to the vagaries of life - wield it carefully.
