Ultimately it's easy to work on things when they are fun and exciting; but motivation will only last for so long... once that happens it's the discipline that needs to take over for you to keep progressing forward.
Both external and internal rewards. And external punishments, Ie on review, pay cut, fired etc.
You get motivation to do something, run on that motivation as long as you can and hope it lasted long enough to make it a habit.
It's investing in your future self while the going is good. Like, build that habit while you're motivated because it will go away and you'll be left with it as a habit.
On another note, one motivational trick I am applying nowadays with everything is to learn meta-skills like these in many different contexts (otherwise it won’t transfer).
Maybe it’s not another note. Maybe that’s the way how I stay motivated to focus at will for any given task.
It’s still early days. Also, I am doing this in conjunction with tackling my compulsion to go to YouTube.
Or do the public progress showmanship thing (recurring blog or vlog posts about your project and the current status). I admire the people that go this route, but it frankly scares me since we're talking here on a forum of talented people, some of whom could just hear the project idea and probably get it built faster. So sharing seems to create a lot of risk.
My issue is that I don't give a shit about other people outside of those I care about. imo the whole coach thing is a cottage industry of bullshit artists.
If Linus Torvalds wanted to give me advice/coach me I'd damn well listen, even if I disagreed with it (and I'd question if I'm right because Linus is that good).
But the random joe blow whose entire career is coaching? I just have no respect for it.
For example, an accountability partner could be a potential client/user that you're building a tool targeting. You keep them in the loop with regular updates, and that activity alone can help keep you moving forward even when you might have moments of doubt. If you know you _have_ to report status to someone weekly, you're less likely to blow a week off entirely. At minimum, you might wait until an hour before the meeting and hustle to do at least something.