An Equation of Motivation
What’s the equation of motivation to go to work as a holiday approaches? I had this discussion with a couple folks yesterday.
Purely theoretical:
m = ct / hf
where:
m=motivation
c= constant desire not to be at work [employee-dependent, empirically evaluated]
t= number of days until the holiday begins
h= number of hours worked in a week
f= magnitude of importance of the holiday to the employee’s family
It may not be linear.
All I know is that I’ve got little motivation to go in today.
Posted November 26th, 2003 in Fooftatsic by Geof F. Morris.
Amen. I’m only here for a half day today and I’m already thinking of ways that I can procrastinate from doing any real work today.
November 26th, 2003 at 07:53Hush. I’m here all day.
November 26th, 2003 at 08:24If h=91 and it’s still wednesday, there is no amount of other constants that can offest that m approaches a big fat goose egg!
November 26th, 2003 at 08:28I question your sanity for even being at work today, Todd.
November 26th, 2003 at 08:33I think you need a special term in there for Fridays. Fridays a few weeks before Christmas are especially worthless….
November 26th, 2003 at 09:03I will be working late tonight, again, and not getting any comp time!! God, I love being a private sector consultant IE. Why the hell did I go to college for 4,5,6…OK, 8 years and get myself deeply in-debt to net $11 an hour? (Yeah I am a true IE, I did the math). Geof, need to add a factor in there to take into account how far behind you will get if you take a day off. Also have to factor in if you like what you do. (Which I don’t- I love it!!) If I was independently wealthy (Which I am not and this job is certainly not going to get me there), I would do the job anyway. But your formula is simplistic enough that C could be said to factor all that in (Pure genius Geof- you should get an honorary doctoriate for that formula) Happy Thanksgiving!!
P.S. Geof, I was the only person to show up for the 9am meeting- ha ha ha ha ha, this place amuses me. Now I am wasting company time like they wasted mine this morning. Am I being passive aggressive?? I think I’ll go have HR fire someone to make me feel better. I am no longer to referred to as the RHOLMFw/FH, just call me Mr. Scrooge!! (That was a joke!!) Peace out, yo!!
November 26th, 2003 at 09:49Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Red-Headed Stepchild has, undoubtedly, lost his frickin’ mind.
Not that he ever had it.
November 26th, 2003 at 09:55Ant-dawg you never cease to crack me up! You’re definitely not right, but the RHOLMFw/FH reminds me of the day when my little stepmother was affectionately referred to as MFSWIYTM.
November 26th, 2003 at 12:25I’m pondering whether I should be nice and explain RHOLMFw/FH for anyone who doesn’t know…
November 26th, 2003 at 13:12Motivation Wanes
Yeah, so I’m unmotivated today. Tomorrow and Wednesday will be even worse. At least I have some busy-work to do updating some data for a project that’s been not-so-critical the last few months.
It’s pretty sad when my most intellectually …
December 22nd, 2003 at 13:34Ugh
August 16th, 2004 at 07:45I am extremely unmotivated to go in to work today. Not only do I have a two-hour meeting this afternoon that’ll be about as much fun as pulling teeth—I mean, hey, I like my dentist—but I’m close to taking off for a while, and this brings up my m…
Motivation Wanes Again
:yawn: I don’t know about you, but me … I’m getting pretty doggone unmotivated.
It’s time to break out my empirical equation of motivation for another year.
November 17th, 2004 at 11:41Merry Christmas to Bored Office Workers
For those of you office workers who are unmotivated today, Christmas Eve Eve, I present: Macromedia’s Holiday 2004 Penguin Diving Competition.
Yes, now you can launch penguins into the sky, make them spin, and enter the water with the skill and éla…
December 23rd, 2004 at 13:53I think you are really on to something here. I have taken Dilbert’s advice and started a cubicle company. Now I can force myself to go to work only so that I can work on my cubicle company. Fortunately, I can do my cubicle business anywhere, so once I am making more in my cubicle business than I am making in my cubicle, I’ll be on the beach with my laptop raking in the dough.
August 31st, 2005 at 22:16Motimivation
Todd reminded me that it’s that time of year again … An Equation of Motivation.
November 21st, 2005 at 11:45Right now, my c is pretty low—I really do enjoy what I’m doing—but the f is pretty high.
[If you’re asking, “Is Geof going to b…
Unmotivated
Heading into a five-day weekend with an event on tap that my family really cares about, is it any wonder that my level of motivation is really, really low this morning?
Man, I wish I was still in bed.
…
February 17th, 2006 at 12:07Holiday De-motivation…
Time to go back to the well yet again: An Equation of Motivation.
November 21st, 2006 at 07:06This year, I have a pretty high c—things have been going well, even if I’m tired and frustrated—but my h factor is pretty high. [Especially as I think about work prett…
[...] nerd that I am, I decided an “equation of insanity” would be appropriate. (Geof’s equation of motivation was an additional piece of [...]
February 11th, 2008 at 11:50Blah…
I think I need to refine the Equation of Motivation for that pre-vacation period when you don’t feel like doing diddly-crap. I would, but I’m too apathetic [and have too much to do before I leave here tomorrow as it is].
July 24th, 2008 at 10:06……