Any tips, tricks, or suggestions?
I honestly was trying to write a blog post about this last night and just couldn't sustain the mental effort required to make a good job of it. So I stopped and will take a run on it another day. That is, ironically, one of my tips.
Design your business to have smaller batch sizes. If, for example, you typically ship software every 2 work-weeks (~80 hours), you might take two months of work on your current schedule between shipping events. That can feel like staring out to the horizon and still not seeing the finish line -- it is depressing. Instead, if you were making visible progress every single night you sat down, then you'd be happier and might find that you have much larger reserves of energy.
Relatedly: cut scope, cut scope, cut scope. The less you need to write, the less you need to test and the less you need to maintain. Every line of code you write is an implicit claim on your time every day from here to eternity, ensuring that that code doesn't break. Try to write as few time-debts into your life as possible.
Process and systems: time invested in making yourself more efficient is some of the best time you'll ever spend. Systems which work without your personal intervention -- for example, any sort of self-help option for customers that resolves a common support issue, or automation of recurring tasks like backups, etc -- are worth their weight in gold. Formalized processes which turn "Sit down at the computer for an hour and bang out something that might or might not work" into "Follow the freaking checklist and have something which absolutely will not break in 27 minutes" save you time and sanity. (If you think you're tired now, wait until the system goes down at 3 AM and you have work in 4 hours.)
Mix tasks which require your personal attention with those which require calendar time, so that you can fire one of the longer tasks off, go away for a week (Saturday through Saturday), and then come back and see what happened. A/B tests work great for this. So does certain flavors working with freelancers, if you're working with the right ones and have a habit of giving them sufficient direction in advance. (Hold on to anybody who can work without constant direction -- they're worth their weight in gold.)
I have found that exercise, church, and social activities are all net-positives in terms of the amount of work I can get done, simply because feeling like I'm actually living tends to improve my physical and mental energy levels. By comparison, TV/games are generally a net negative. Adjust appropriately for things which matter to you.
If you want to work, and you feel like you can't work, try doing another flavor of task. Planning on programming but can't? Go work on e.g. marketing or drafting the newsletter or what have you. If you still can't work, clock out. There is no profit in throwing good time after bad, and your systems will still be around tomorrow.
While your points are seemingly applicable only to the startup crowd, I can directly translate everything you shared here into my bill paying job.
For that, and the embedded sense of hope, thanks.
But really, it's the reader's choice how to interpret something like that. I prefer to look at differently, and think, "there are people with jobs that require more time o them than mine--leaving them similar amounts of discretionary time as I have--and they build a company with it! Awesome!".
I suspect I'll have to be making about double the day job in order to pay for health care, etc. But first task is to start the product; its a bit premature for me to plan my, ahem, "exit strategy".
* Anything to reduce stress. That's a whole topic in itself, but stress saps your energy more than anything.
* Small consistent meals throughout the day. Just enough so that you're hungry again in a couple hours. Large amounts of food throw off your metabolism.
* Plenty of water throughout the day.
* B-complex vitamins. These help reduce stress.
* 15 minute breaks. Fresh air. Sun, if you can get it.
* Exercise every day. This will increase your overall energy level, metabolism, and stamina. It also helps reduce stress.
* Learn techniques to keep a positive mental state. This is also a big topic, but pessimism, negativity, and depression will definitely slow you down. Find ways to see the glass half full.
Edit: Almost forgot: Plenty of sleep.
i have much more energy now than i did before i started this routine about 3 years ago!
If you want to suffer what people call a 'burn-out' then try pushing yourself harder and longer than your body can normally sustain, the results are not pleasant, it can take years to recover from something like that.
Your body giving your a warning sign - tiredness - is a pretty good reason to slow down a bit.
One thing that comes to mind is that you may have an iron deficiency or something like that, that's easily checked.
- Break down tasks into small chunks. Write them down or put them on your todo list. Work on one at a time.
- Cross off one of your tasks a day. Even if it is very small, the point is making progress.
- Rest. If you're tired and can't work, then there's no point in trying. Take a break, take a walk, go out, or get a good night's sleep. Try again the day after.
- Take vacations. Muscles adapt to increasing amount of effort if you give them enough rest. Your mind doesn't shut down so take much longer to recuperate. Do something fun every once in a while.
Also, fresh dates, water, and walnuts for long programming sessions.
B) Streamline your life in terms of material things that need upkeep and the like. If you have less housework and what not to do when you aren't "working", you will have more time, energy and mental focus for side projects.