What are you doing against a working/programming/writing blockage?

Question

As a one person company programmer who is writing shareware (aka no customer meetings etc.) this hits me many times.

What is your way to deal with it and find motivation to work on your code again?

Even my previous way to write down very small steps on a paper that you can physical strike through when done - to give you a real feeling that something is progressing - does not help at the moment.

I tried other things like walking in nature, go shopping, visiting the red light district (hey thats why i'm living in thailand now) does not help much. Only in the 2 hours immediately after breakfast i'm doing well.

In the past such phases went usually for 1 or 2 weeks

Does a burnout come slowly or like an avalanche? Whats the best way to protect yourself from this?

Answer 1

Between have a wife, kids, two jobs, and other crap I struggle to find time to write personal code. As a result I am always motivated to write once when the opportunity, that rare pocket of available time, presents itself.

Answer 2

do some fun project(s) or R&D on the side

Answer 3

Take a vacation, even if you don't want to. You need to 'reboot'.

Answer 4

Getting out of the house... riding my bike, hiking trails, taking photos... but just getting out of the house (or vegging out to some TV)

I have considered changing professions back to network admin or some form of management so my brain will be left over for "fun coding"

Answer 5

Burnout is an avalanche. There's no slow progression, otherwise it would be easy to spot.

Couple of things that may help you:

• Pay yourself a Salary, this may sound silly, but it works. If you say to yourself that you will be billed hourly, you can force yourself back into the routine; otherwise you're going to get "poor" quickly. It adds a sense of urgency. This is pre-burnout though.
• Next would be taking up a small-time hobby, for instance Gardening. Fresh air, working with your hands, more physical etc. It can clear the head.
• Make your world a coding analogy. Sit and figure out why things work and how you would implement them

This is all obviously taking into consideration you've tried a normal holiday ;)

I hope some of these help you, they've helped me.

Cheers,

Kyle

Answer 6

You loose motivation when you suddenly stop believing in what you do, even for a short time.

Find a way to persuade you back that you are great, your work is needed, awaited and will change the world.

Answer 7

Sounds like you have been doing the same stuff for too long, and that you need to do something completely different.

Or perhaps find some people to work with. Find people to review the product, give feedback as to which features should be made.

Answer 8

A "boot loader" for such times:

N - Nutrition 
E - Exercise 
W - Water 

S - Sunlight 
T - Temperance 
A - Air 
R - Rest 
T - Trust

Answer 9

Code something else. Learn something new. Boredom often settle when you're doing the same things every waking hour of your life.

You can either:

• Write start a new project - there are lots of new interesting technologies out there. Pick one of pick all of them if you want
• Start a new hobby - do cross-stitching if you have to, watch all the good tv series out there, watch the movies
• Troll at StackOverflow - this will eat your time - challenge yourself to beat Jon Skeet's rep. I'm sure you'll have your time occupied by this

Walking in nature, shopping, and yes, even visiting the red light district when done routinely, can burn you out.

Do something you've never done before.

Answer 10

I was running a 1 man development company for awhile and at first, I was doing really well. I'd program for 12 hours straight and made significant headway through that period. Over the course of a few months, I noticed myself taking more and more breaks that kept creeping up in time spent. Before I knew it, I was in your boat where there was a 2 hour window in which I got stuff done annd the rest of the day was pretty much a wash. I'd always find something else to do, like research on new technologies, reading the news, discussing development with friends, etc.

As a result, my workload would pile up and in order to counter that, I'd find myself working long hours near the deadline. Now, I've always been a procastinator but not this extent. I just couldn't convince myself to develop. I think a large part of it was that I just didn't feel like I was making headway.

With the downturn, my workload eventually crept to a crawl which only made matters worse. I didn't have the drive to get out and shop for new projects b/c that would mean more drival programming. So I got a typical 40 hour a week job. This, if anything else, has been the most motivational refresh. I now see how lucky I was and how I regret not putting in the time and effort.

That said, my recommendation is to change your work scenario. If you are working for yourself, I recommend taking up a small typical contract and get a wakeup call. If you are working for someone else, I'm not sure what you could do. Maybe try looking for a larger development firm?

Answer 11

You might consider finding someone to discuss your work with regularly, or maybe even a sort of support group, if you will.

I know as a grad student, I often suffer from a lack of motivation. But usually meeting with my adviser helps me remember why my work is meaningful and restores my enthusiasm.

Answer 12

The 'boot loader' provided by Ries is great, but it's strange that 'Social interaction' is missing.

Solitary confinement is used in prisons as a terrible form of torture. And often freelancers inflict this torture on themselves voluntarily.

The human animal needs a lot of social interaction. Working by yourself is very likely to take its toll on your mental wellbeing after a few months.

Answer 13

Finish The Projects You’ve Started. Or Call an End to Them.

I know you put a LOT of effort into your project but maybe it is time to let go and move on with something else. This might seem to you that you wasted a lot of time but you did NOT! While you probably made some mistakes in your project, you also learned quite a lot, and will surely avoid those mistakes in future projects.

Or, if you really want to bring this to an end, start from the beginning. This may seem frustrating first but sometimes is the only way to save a project.