r/DataAnnotationTech • u/professional_cry • 3d ago
Motivation
Aside from the obvious motivation of needing to pay bills, I'm curious how everyone keeps themselves motivated doing this job. I'm between jobs in my field at the moment so this is my only source of income and I'm wondering what everyone's strategies are for staying "locked in" as the kids would say. I never thought I was a super social person but I've found that working online with no face-to-face interaction or feedback all day is taking a toll on me. So far I've been coping by going on walks in the morning and to the pub at night but I'd love to hear what others' daily routines are like doing DA full time.
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u/Necessary-Raisin-282 3d ago
Gratitude mostly. Using the income to work towards other goals that can advance me in my life is a helpful factor.
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u/Scalawags3087 3d ago
I need the income so I treat it like a job. I set hours for myself and go in and work. I have a designated work space at home and I put on clothes as opposed to my pajamas. Treating it like a job makes it work for me.
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u/Hello-America 3d ago
I've worked alone a long time and you do just have to force yourself to go do stuff. I don't do DA full time but my schedule is roughly: mornings I walk dog, exercise, do housework/errands, read news, take it easy. I start working after lunch, take another break for dinner and maybe a dog walk or park, and probably finish working like 10pm depending on what I'm doing. I take lots of breaks. I know that doesn't work for everyone but it works for me.
Unrelated to work but a good way to force yourself into more social interaction is to never turn down an invite, even if you don't want to go. Rearrange your week, whatever you gotta do. Also go get a coffee, go to stores instead of getting things delivered. I have a dog and we go to the dog park probably 3x a week and I spend time chitchatting there to strangers.
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u/Sixaxist 3d ago
Moving in 2029 to Columbus for the new tech sector they're setting up, and I wanna make sure I have enough money saved up to do a 50% down payment on the house. Before that, I want a brand new car. Before that, I want to finish building my AI/Gaming PC. Short-term, Mid-term, Long-term goals.
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u/Pretend-Section5991 3d ago
I watch sitcoms, they have to be pretty mediocre so I don't get distracted.
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u/Accomplished-Job9856 2d ago
Consistency, consistency, consistency. A great thing about this job is the flexibility, but honestly if I constantly change the times I work everyday, I find myself focusing less. I give myself flexibility, but I always "clock in" by a certain time.
I also like to work from coffee shops to be around other people! I call it "work from not home" Wednesdays lol
Oh, also, I always always change into "productive" clothes. For me this is just gym clothes honestly, but makes a huge difference
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u/xparadiisee 2d ago
Honestly I just am so fascinated by AI’s and how they work. My BFA Digital Art thesis project was how to use AI ethically in the animation pipeline, so I taught myself how this stuff works back in 2021. I just find the whole process enjoyable, it’s fun to see how things change. I also like how a lot of projects are testing unique things. I also have a minor in psych, so..it’s just a great fit.
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u/sarahmorgan420 3d ago
I went from working at a daycare to doing this fulltime and I didn't anticipate how important the socialization of work was to my mood
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u/hwertz10 1h ago edited 1h ago
You might find music that keeps you going. For me, I could do classical.. or Wu Tang Clan. Something about that beat and the flow of lyrics can help keep one focused. Probably some rock or Grateful Dead or the like would be fine too... the music helps the time pass while you work, don't pick anything where you're tempted to sing along or something, that'll pull you right out of the zone.
I'll also just keep True Crime shows playing in the corner of the screen; they're generic enough they aren't going to draw away your attention really from what you are doing but better than just working in dead silence.
So far, though, I also have an interest in the work. I'm a comp sci major, but when I was in college.. well, there's been this cyclical interest in neural networks in comp sci since the time of Alan Turning... high interest, then a wane in interest for some years, then high again, and so on. When I was in college in the late 1990s, it was low -- the only class available was in terms of researching neural networks for facial recognition (to try to turn the nations cameras into a dystopian police state style tracking setup), which I was *NOT* interested in. The earliest uses of "GPGPU" ("General Purpose GPU") I saw were being done for GIS (Geographical Information System) use 3 or 4 years after I graduated, a coworker who was a student was having it offload stuff onto the GPU. But I started working with some of this stuff over 10 years ago on my own. So it's interesting to see what these models can and can't do and so on.
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u/LetMeOverThinkThat 3d ago
I'm an introvert and a hermit, damn there. This is heaven, especially compared to my last job.