
Ask HN: I can't work anymore. Burnout? I have no idea. What can I do? - failingburnout
I have had a successful solo app business for years, earning a decent income and providing for my family. But something happened. My work output has dropped to zero. I find myself unable to even begin working in the morning.  It&#x27;s after 3:00PM and I still haven&#x27;t written a single line of code.  I can&#x27;t sit down and write the associated content. I have emails to some freelancers sitting in my inbox.  I will probably respond to those after this, but I feel even massive resistance to that task.<p>I love the business, though. My customers are generally very happy and positive people. I love the niche topic, enjoying reading about it in my spare time. I love to see what comes of the work.<p>To me, this feels like more than just a question of motivation. I have a lot of tricks to motivate myself. This feels like I lost something. I just &quot;don&#x27;t do it.&quot;  What am I facing here? Does anyone know?<p>edit: I do have a new and interesting project I want to be working on, but the same effect seems to be stopping me. I will also add that I have a child in daycare a few a days a week, ostensibly so I can work.  I&#x27;m paying someone else to spend time with my kid while I don&#x27;t work.
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jwarkentin
If your problem is the same as mine then I think I can help. I find that I
often struggle to focus and be productive as well - even to the point of zero
productivity. There are four things that I do that help a lot:

1) Eliminate distractions. I don't know if it's ADHD or what but I'm very
easily distracted. As much as I love programming, I often find that reading HN
or checking my email, browsing Amazon or any number of other things seem more
interesting. It's often even just doing things I need to get done, but at a
time when I should be focusing on writing code.

For me the solution is to push all my browser windows to another desktop, open
only the one I need for testing/research and absolutely ban myself from doing
anything else for a period of time.

2) Manage expectations. The other problem I have is that my mind doesn't like
to switch focus very easily. I may have been really laser focused on a problem
for a while, but then after I finish or something else comes up and it's time
to focus on a new problem, my brain rebels and refuses to change focus.

The solution for me has been to manage my expectations, in a sense. I have to
close my eyes and clear my mind of everything and just relax for 5 minutes,
with the expectation that after that I'm going to open my eyes and focus on
the new task. It helps calm my mind and since I'm now expecting to focus on
the new task in 5 minutes, but I'm not forcing it immediately, my mind warms
up to the idea of doing it in a bit.

3) Have a plan. I've found that when I'm faced with a difficult and vague task
my brain wants to avoid focusing just because it seems hard or something.

For this I've found that if I first pause and plan out exactly where I'm going
to jump in, exactly what I'm going to do to try and tackle the problem, then
it's easier to focus on it. Maybe that means I'm going to sit down with a
white-board and draw out the system architecture to tackle a problem or
whatever else.

4) Sleep and caffeine. I've found that when I'm too tired, I really just can't
focus. Often just taking a 20 minute nap (keep it to 20 minutes, set an alarm)
makes a world of difference. Also, I've found that getting some caffeine helps
me focus a lot. Of course, it might not be as effective if you use it all the
time.

~~~
failingburnout
Thanks! I'll definitely try variations on these, though it's not too different
than what I do now for general motivation. Since this is a throwaway, I'll
admit to thinking about trying something stronger than caffeine. Who knows,
maybe I actually do have ADHD and just need to balance out something up there.

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vijucat
Generally, we do our best to not listen to ourselves. Your mind / body are
telling you something when they give up. Instead of being a dictator and
trying to trick them further into extracting work, I highly recommend doing
WHATEVER pleasant things you feel like, especially of the exercise, hiking,
long walk variety! :-) For example, when your kid is out, go for a long walk
for an hour in a pleasant park.

More directly, as you forget about the problem and take a walk, something,
some spark of insight / revelation comes into the mind by itself because your
guard is down and you are not torturing with the usual, "You were SUPPOSED to
help me work, but you just want a break, huh?!" self-punishment. This is the
realm of the genuine Unknown. Allow it.

Hope this helps.

------
read
Have you tried constraining yourself to doing less?

I don't mean taking a vacation or sleeping more. I mean setting as a goal that
you'll accomplish less every day, and with zero expectation about what to do
with the free hours that open up. Just as you pressure yourself to do more,
pressure yourself to do less.

Hypothesis: even if you tried to do nothing you wouldn't be able to. Your mind
would start wandering to topics you haven't let it. Like that new challenge in
a related niche that you'd love to get off the ground. Try doing nothing and
suddenly your subconscious takes over. You discover thoughts you didn't even
know were brewing.

The principle at work here is that constraint is no less important than
freedom. Constraint is key in creativity. Limit yourself to less, and you
start overflowing to a new direction.

Make sure you give it enough time. You need at least 1.5-2hr blocks of time
where you can shut off the world and play uninterrupted, and you also need to
schedule such unstructured play lots of times. Don't worry about feeling
unproductive in the meantime. Worry more about noticing the pattern to your
thoughts, and do that at the end of each block of time so you don't feel
pressured to be noticing.

I'd love to hear what you discover.

~~~
failingburnout
I honestly hated this when I read it the first time. I've gotten a lot of
intuitive advice in the thread for which I'm very thankful. I'll try
variations of most of it.

But this... I read it 5 to 6 times. I have no idea if it will work, but it
can't hurt. My next scheduled workday is Saturday and I'll absolutely put this
into practice.

Other suggestions to take time off, get outside, etc are great and I will do
them (as the Boston deep freeze allows), but I will try this ASAP and see if
it helps. Even if it produces a day or two of output, it will be extremely
useful. I will respond with results after saturday.

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anigbrowl
Maybe you need a vacation if you haven't taken one. Guilt vacations where you
don't get anything done for a while aren't as good as deliberate ones where
you post up 'no support for two weeks, snoozing on beach/gone fishing/Vegas
Baby.'

But if you're still into the niche, then maybe the answer is to stop writing
code and and focus on business development & QA. You don't need to be always
working at the coal face yourself. Perhaps get the freelancers to start
maintianing your code base and switch your attentions to product and busines
development, plucking the most promising contracters to become employees?

Whichever, don't beat yourself up. It's Thursday now, so I suggest clearing
your urgent emails and then taking the rest of today, tomorrow, and the
weekend off (ie away from the computer and preferably from your home) to think
about what you'd like to be doing each day of the week. Lots of luck!

~~~
failingburnout
Vacation would be difficult at this point. I have made promises to my wife and
myself that I would make progress on certain things. I am supposed to be
working right now. I don't feel I have the freedom to take a vacation. It
wouldn't impact the bottom line, but I'd take a hit in other ways. I'd have to
know it would break the block I'm having.

I do have other projects and aspects of the business that I can work on, but I
think I would be working on them if I could work. Weird, I know. It's not
something I'm choosing to do... smack talk myself on NH vs. working. It's just
gotten that bad that I don't know what else to do.

~~~
matheweis
"I don't feel I have the freedom to take a vacation."

This is a sure sign that you need to.

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ninja2789
You know, I faced something similar when I felt I have finally found
"success". It was a difficult time to get motivated not only because of the
lack of any more challenges, but also because I felt I had lost a worthwhile
goal to pursue.

In any case, it seems that you're financially successful, love what you do,
and right now may be looking for the new challenge.

I would definitely recommend you take some time to think about what are new
challenges you'd like to tackle. Brainstorm and don't let reason hold you back
from making big and daring goals. Then review your resources and see what you
need to work on to start on another path.

Hope this helps. Obviously a lot of other great recommendations in this
thread, so I definitely recommend you start writing down your thoughts and how
you're thinking through things. It'll help you keep track of your progress.

~~~
failingburnout
Thanks! This is pretty accurate. I did something like this last year and found
a new challenge in a related niche that I'd love to get off the ground. It's
not even coding or anything... it should be fun. I face the same resistance to
moving forward on that too, though. It's like my work brain shuts off.

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talas9
Q: "What am I facing here?"

A: Ennui.

But you probably knew that.

Had a vacation lately?

Have you explored the notion of developing another career?

A former boss told me once, when I was in a fit of pique over something
related to work, "Relax man. Everyone has two or three careers in them. You're
on your first."

FWIW I went through something you could call a major bout of ennui regarding
working in the internet tech sector several years ago. Came out the other end
of it just fine, but I work fewer hours/wk as a result by choice, spend more
time outdoors, and frequently invest some of it in learning new things.
Friends joke that I am going to wind up being that guy in the Dos Equis
commercial...

Caveat: I don't have a family to support. Woodshedding and shifting gears is
great if you have the financial flexibility. YMWV.

At least take up gardening or something.

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lazyjones
In addition to the other suggestions posted here, go see a doctor, have your
blood levels checked to exclude the possibility of some deficiency or illness
(it's easy to ruin your body without noticing by working hard for many years).

~~~
failingburnout
I'll do that, thanks. I will also talk to my doctor about this in case it
turns out it's a sign of something else going on.

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framebench
I think you need a challenge.

You're happy, content with how your business is going, you love whats
happening around you. So I believe you're losing motivation to go on. Why not
take up a small challenge to yourself which is not related to your business at
all? This usually freshens my mind and gets me thinking on some other things.
Some simple ideas you could try: 1\. Grow an audience for you twitter handle
(Don't know anything about it, just go ahead anyway) 2\. Code something for
your wife/girlfriend and surprise her?

Let me know what you think. You probably just need a distraction on the side
to push you through this phase. All the best mate!

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matheweis
It sounds to me like you just need to take a break. Try for a week long
vacation in the mountains or on the beach. If you have the money, somewhere
even better like Hawaii.

Most importantly, during that week, TURN OFF YOUR PHONE. Don't read the news.
It will all be there when you get back.

Can't do that, because your the only one in your solo app business? Then it's
a sure sign that you need to. Find a friend to take over for a week, or hire
someone (maybe permanently, if the workload can justify it).

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Mz
Let me suggest this:

1) Clean your office. Do a very thorough job (like "spring cleaning"). Stick
to non-toxic cleaners.

2) Take extra vitamins and/or improve your diet.

3) Start taking a daily walk for exercise.

4) Clean wherever you sleep. Again, think "spring cleaning" type cleaning.

In short, look to your health.

~~~
lem72
\+ 1 for exercise. I was in this headspace, started regularly exercising and
have been on a massive productive boost.

I also find that if I write down little check boxes with the task broken down
into smaller steps, it makes it easier for me to start and stay focused.

Good luck!

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esw
Yeah, I've been there. For me, the solution was just setting a new, completely
outrageous annual revenue goal. Having that seemingly unattainable number
scrawled on a sticky note put me back in the right mindset.

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passubuy
Have you thought about taking a sabbatical? I just spent 4 months in Spain and
it really helped me to come back refreshed and ready to launch my next
product!

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SnacksOnAPlane
Go hiking for a week.

