There are two kinds of motivation. There is the desire for the project itself and there is the desire to work on the project. I would be overjoyed if one day, I pulled from master and found that the project I’m working on was perfectly complete!

But until that day, I have to find some way to keep on plugging away: planning, coding, testing, debugging, doing art, marketing, etc. It’s one of those things that maintains momentum through good developer experience and forcing myself to spend a little time on it every day.

And one day it will be done, and I’ll be able to step back and say “Wow. I made a thing.” Honestly, I don’t know if it will be that great of a feeling. But the anticipated satisfaction of a job well done, including the approval of my customers, is something that motivates me.

I’ll add that family can be super motivating too. Of course, I want to provide for them. But working on a side project and having your wife come by and say “That looks cool” is a pretty good feeling.