I'm never motivated for work because it's for a crappy corp company and the job is soul crushing and soooo boring.

But I am motivated general life wise because, if I spend all my time feeling unmotivated about work (and how I really cant be arsed to go back the next day) I will just sit on the sofa and do nothing, not even play videogames or start throwing ideas around musically or irritate my girlfriend.

Music motivation, if it's not happening, it's not happening. I don't sit and think "I NEED TO WRITE A SONG NOW"; if an idea comes along it comes along and I go with it as far as I can before the ideas stop. Not every idea you stick down is going to be the best song ever, not every idea you stick down is going to end up in a finished product. Just write! Keep writing. Even if you think it sucks!

i'm kind into a sort of ''not so high'' period lifewise... but making stupid drum&bass on a game boy, sitting in the woods between 6.30 and 7.30am before each shitty working day actually cheers me up

i'm not motivated to make music because i would be making music for people who are letting the amphibians die out and probably don't even give a shit about their lack

hope everyones feeling more motivated now im not

4 real

That's not mean, it's just stupid. Or sarcastic, I can't really tell.

I dont wanna be mean but if you find a lack of motivation to do music, don't. Thats applicable to any form of art. Theres already way too many of us.

I am a producer for 16 years and I am not thinking about stopping anytime soon no matter what. Life has tried to stop me but as I already explained in my introduction I refuse to give up.

First reason is that I create music for me and myself only, and there are many tracks that will stay in my personal library but still we all want recognition in what we are doing so of course I do release the tracks that I am proud of.

Second reason is that I refuse to stop doing what I love doing even when 50% of my hearing just died two years ago. I stopped creating for four months but then things started nagging in the back of my head. After a good conversation with myself I decided to pick things up again and do it radically different. No more lauzy trance and wanna be hiphop. I started creating what I always loved so much, videogame music inspired by the old chiptunes of the good old NES and Genesis.

Nowdays this IS what let me keep my head up in times when I do feel down. Yes I did lose something precious (hearing in stereo) but it also made me stronger knowing that even this does not let me stop doing what I love doing. So motivation is nothing but a personal thing.

Do you make music for yourself or are you trying to do something to impress others with?
If your answer is the first then I am sure you will reach what you want as long as you believe and don't give up dreaming.
if its the second... then I wish you good luck.

Keep up the creativity!

well put

I think the just-do-its kind of seem relevant to the information given in the OP. If they OP admits that they are able to make music when they are feeling unmotivated but simply hate the junk that they produce during this mental state, then clearly they have the capacity to "just-do-it", i guess...

edit: admitting that my powers of empathy are very laacking on this particular subject :S

"Maybe you're not meant to make music" is as meaningless as "I was born to do this." You either want to do it or you don't.

From a person who apologizes to people for what often is the consequences of their own mistakes, some people fuel their egos with empathy, but I know it doesn't actually solve problems.

People who want their problems solved will often get angry at attempts to empathize because they know it's no solution, others don't really want their problems solved in the first place, because it will take the attention away.

I don't think Monotron is either type but there's truly a decision to be made. I have my moments where I'm not certain why I'm making music. I've had moments when I completely stopped. I've been see-sawing all year, but I'll get through it. Or maybe I won't.

When I make myself finish something I'm not happy with and come back to it a bit later, I realize it was better than the things from my distant past which I liked more while making it.

I don't know if I fully follow your point, but I agree with most the stuff you said. I definitely think the 'just do it' thing is a bit unempathetic. The more specific stuff's cool though, like the 'Monday night, music night' idea.

The main thing I think should be squashed out of discussions like this is the "if it's difficult to get motivated to make music, maybe you're not meant to make music" line. All due respect to anyone here who said that, but I think that's needlessly discouraging, and just completely misinformed. There are a million reasons for a lack of motivation, most of which are are signs that you ARE meant to make music (assuming for now that the "meant to do something" notion is at all sensible, which I'm pretty sure it isn't). The very fact that someone's feeling demotivated, but wants to put in effort to overcome that lack of motivation means they damn well should be doing music. If struggling to make music for a while isn't enough to put them off, that's a person who should be making music.

EDIT: Good post by spacetownsavior there. Clearly there are both empathetic and non-empathetic just-do-its.

ram your platitudes, you contextually deaf idiot

This.

again, if a mere lack of motivation was reason enough for these "great artists" to stop work on their art, then we'd be in a much shittier place than where we are right now.

the reason I keep telling people to just do things isn't some empathy problem of mine. I say it because I've totally been places in my life where I would have to practice and perform while my piano teacher told me I was shit, essentially. I've gone out and played shows to five people at a dive bar when I would SO MUCH RATHER just stay home with my girlfriend instead. so I definitely understand what it feels like to have little motivation to do things.

I guess the difference between then and now is that back then, I had other people telling me to "just do it", and so I just did it, even if I didn't really understand why. Now I realize that them telling me to just do things was a way of saying "yeah, you have motivation to do this thing you don't want to do, it just isn't coming from yourself." basically, those other people WEREN'T ALLOWING me to be a lazy person.

that's why I have such a big problem with all of these motivation/inspiration threads popping up. I get not having motivation to do things, but when the solution is to go onto the internet (which is the best drug in that it provides instant gratification and no physical side effects) and post about how little motivation you have, that's a problem. normally, I'd just ignore these threads, because if you post a thread about how motivated you aren't and no one responds, the lack of response is essentially them NOT ALLOWING you to not be motivated, either be motivated and participate in our community or get out.

but now I see these threads pop up and there are like pages and pages of responses, and I guess I just feel like I should step in and be that guy telling you to just do things, because it seems like there are less people willing to do that these days (and not even just in this forum -- everywhere). in the end, I appreciated it when other people told ME to do things, even if I FUCKING HATED IT at the time, because it meant that I didn't have time to dwell on how lazy I wanted to be or how little I wanted to do something. those people held me accountable, in a sense. even if everything you do sounds like shit, you're doing better than everyone else that DOESN'T write music or do whatever you do.

that's all it is, really. I'd rather have people write music and feel shitty about it than have them not write music and still feel shitty about it.