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Ask DN: What gets you going?

over 8 years ago from , Front-end developer

I recently found myself with a couple of free months in my hands, so the first thing that came into my mind was “Finally, I can work on some side projects!” However, the motivation rapidly wore off and I’m finding it hard to do anything. Design, program, build anything… I’m just bored. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this state, I’m sure you people also feel like this from time to time. So what helps you to get you motivation back? What do you do to get back on the horse?

17 comments

  • Bevan StephensBevan Stephens, over 8 years ago

    It sounds like you're a bit burned out.

    I have encountered this on a few occasions. For me I find the best thing to do is to take as much time away from the screen as you can. Have a think about what you want to be, what you want to contribute to the world. Why you got started in the first place.

    Ignore what other people are doing, ignore the industry trends, ignore what you feel you should be doing.

    Enjoy it, don't think of it as wasted time, the inspiration will return eventually.

    3 points
    • Gonçalo MoraisGonçalo Morais, over 8 years ago

      I don’t have trouble with down time, actually. I tend to see it as an investment, both in energy levels and quality of life. But your advice is very spot on, I’ll spend a few hours of my next days to reevaluate my next steps and the direction I’m taking. Thank you. :)

      0 points
  • Austin Kettner, over 8 years ago

    I run into this quite a bit. I agree with some of the other comments about just stepping away from the computer a bit.

    One thing that worked for me was just going to the local coffee shop with my laptop and tackling a few initial items for a project/etc. While doing work on a laptop is definitely inhibiting, I was in a fairly busy environment and it got me motivated to start on the project albeit at a slower pace.

    Also, coffee, lot's of coffee.

    2 points
    • Gonçalo MoraisGonçalo Morais, over 8 years ago

      Working from coffee shops works wonders for me too. Unfortunately, I’m trying to reduce on my expenses because I’ll need the money in a month for a new project. But I’ll try the public libraries around London this week, to see if they are a good alternative. Oh yeah, don’t get me started about coffee… I do a lot of effort to just drink 2 per day. I like it so much… so I basically drink a lot of tea instead of more coffee.

      0 points
  • Chris ColemanChris Coleman, over 8 years ago

    I had all sorts of plans for learning stuff when I took two weeks off over the holidays. I ended up playing a lot of video games and then spent about one day getting familiar with some Javascript frameworks.

    It was totally worth it.

    2 points
  • Ricardo MagalhãesRicardo Magalhães, over 8 years ago

    Thinking about this, I realised that it's mostly because of not having enough free time to work on everything I want to that keeps me going. Which is funny enough to think about... but I guess it makes sense: most of the times we want to be doing what we're not doing.

    Being busy enough with a regular day job often sets my brain into oh I wish I was learning React.js for my side project right now, and when I get home I finally get 30 minutes to work on that. Success! Do I wish for more? Yes. Do I think it's too little? Yes. Do I usually get frustrated because I think I didn't learn enough in that time slot? That too.

    But it's by keeping a limited amount of time and energy to work on free work/side projects that keeps me going. I will literally work on other chores faster just to get them done! so I can achieve the sense of earning that time.

    Get busy bro! And then don't get busy for a while :)

    2 points
    • Cihad TurhanCihad Turhan, over 8 years ago

      Agree that. Get busy!

      Most of time, you will be alone in learning and mastering new tools. Find a side project, no matter how much silly it is. Visit more designer news, product hunt, dribbble, hacker news ... for some inspirations. Just start from somewhere.

      If you're stuck at a point (happens me a lot), take break to avoid burnout: watch a movie, start a TV series, finish a video game and let your mind be freed but don't forget to continue on the project:)

      1 point
      • Gonçalo MoraisGonçalo Morais, over 8 years ago

        Ok, busy it is… I’m picking a side project and trying to stick to it, working at least a bit every day. Thank you :)

        1 point
  • Christopher HenriksenChristopher Henriksen, over 8 years ago

    I get going by just get going, because I know as soon as I get started I'm enjoying it. So for me it helps to envision how much better I'll feel by the end of the day if I actually do something productive.

    2 points
    • Gonçalo MoraisGonçalo Morais, over 8 years ago

      I see… What about focus? Do you get focused as soon as you start? It’s also something that I struggle a lot…

      0 points
      • Christopher HenriksenChristopher Henriksen, over 8 years ago

        Focus is definitely a challenge, but with these things I can allow myself to waste an hour playing GTA, because 5 hours of "work" and 1 hour of GTA is still a lot better than a whole day wasted. What I try to focus on is doing actual work when I'm working, which means staying away from DN, Facebook and such.

        1 point
        • Gonçalo MoraisGonçalo Morais, over 8 years ago

          I see… You focus on making sure you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. I’ll keep that in mind, thank you :)

          0 points
    • Sam GoldSam Gold, over 8 years ago

      I tend to like that method too. Just doing it. Also I've found noiz.io (recently posted on DN) to be an awesome tool to help me focus.

      Good luck on the quest to get back in the game!

      1 point
  • Danny Zabolotny, over 8 years ago

    I do a whole bunch of different things to keep my brain working in other directions, I feel like that keeps me from getting too tired of web development and design.

    My day job is doing web development, but when I get home I do more design, I play guitar, shoot guns, and I mix/produce audio. I'm looking to buy a project car soon so that I can have another thing to work on that doesn't involve a screen.

    Try totally different things. It'll jump start your brain and it'll make you a more interesting person too.

    1 point
    • Gonçalo MoraisGonçalo Morais, over 8 years ago

      I try different things as well, although they are not recurring, as in, I don’t do them in a routine. Maybe I should structure them and get regular at practicing them… Thank you :)

      0 points