I've found that, myself included, a lot of the focus on how to "get things done" in the tech community comes down to tips and tricks. Focus using this technique, break things down, follow GTD, use this productivity software, use that todo list, etc.

With a team, working on a project, you have some nice extrinsic motivation. A team relying on you, maybe deadlines to meet, customers to please, a paycheck to work for, etc.

But for side projects, even though I knew all the tricks, I still had a really tough time actually doing anything for a couple of years. I had a couple of projects that I was super motivated for and completed over a couple of weeks, but most of my time outside of that was wholly unproductive.

The thing that was missing for me was the why, the long-term vision. If I was working on something now that has little value to me in that moment or the days following, I found it hard to find motivation to keep going.

What I found boost my initial productivity the most was actually conjuring up the motivation. After that, it's a series of small wins in increasing that productivity through software, tips, tricks, support groups, etc. Without the motivation, though, no amount of tools will get things done for you.