Ask HN: Have you ever spend days unable to do *any* work? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Have you ever spend days unable to do any work?

76 pointstnuoccanrub35 comments

For the past couple of weeks, I've been suffering an absolute inability to be productive at work. I mean spending the whole day staring at the screen not writing a single line of code.

At first I thought it was a problem of attention, since I was being distracted by literally anything, from a text to street noise. But even removing all distractions and putting on some noise cancelling headphones won't do the trick. I just feel... unable to start.

It's a feeling that's really difficult to explain. Like the feeling that keeps you from jumping into a swimming pool when you're at the edge. I don't find work unpleasant, not the tasks that I have in front of me difficult, and I'm not particularly bored, or tense, or anything. I just can't do it.

Is this normal? Any of you have any idea about how to deal with this problem?

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I've experienced this at almost every job I've ever had. Best case I can get two years of productivity and then suddenly I can't even start, no matter what I do. Nothing works. Not site blockers, not isolation, not pomodoro, nothing. It's as though I'm physically unable to begin. It's not just difficult, it's impossible.

I was told this is strongly suggestive of ADHD, which sounded preposterous to me, but after the third health care professional (none of whom knew each other or shared records) asked if I'd been screened for it, sure enough... I have ADHD.

Now I'd love to tell you that everything is fine now that I'm diagnosed and under treatment (a few years now), but it isn't. Maybe my meds aren't the right ones, maybe I haven't learned the right skills yet, maybe this industry is just plain fucking boring and I should accept that and move on. I don't know. I don't have the answer yet.

So, sorry I can't be more helpful, but maybe there's some comfort in knowing that this is a thing and it's not just you.

Same here. Two years into a job and I start to get restless and have a hard time continuing. Recently diagnosed with ADHD at 39. Knowing the cause helps a little but it's still a bitch. No real suggestions to combat this but, there are others out there suffering with this.

> maybe this industry is just plain fucking boring and I should accept that and move on

I've been trying to get out of the industry but the golden handcuffs make it so difficult.

ADHD is not something that pops up after 2 years. You prob just got bored lol. Either look at your work in a new light that inspires you, or find some new work. Or just take a break and go travel or something.

First of all, I have to recommend the 5 minute rule to everyone I see. Really force yourself to work, do something - but only for 5 or 10 minutes. Usually after 5 minutes I get in the zone and automatically work longer until i finish whatever task i’m working on. Sometimes it doesn’t work and i only spend 5 minutes, but even then it’s usually because i’ve already worked a lot recently, and i feel better for trying.

But this does seem like more than just being unproductive. Do you feel like your work is pointless, is your sense of achievement gone? I find it really hard to do something if I can’t understand why even at a high level. You mention that only some days are off, if you’re working a lot the other days it could be mental exhaustion. Is your diet / sleep good and are you getting sufficient exercise? If your work allows, when you catch yourself staring at the screen take a walk or run.

Completely agree with the 5 minute rule, as I mentioned in my comment, it's one of the steps (for me at least it was)

I'm quite familiar with that, unfortunately, and for me it didn't only span days, I spent months unable to be productive (you can guess what happened) and the last 3 years struggling to keep up (as a reference, I was one of those so-called 10x performers).

Of course each one of us is a different universe, but let me tell you what helped me (I repeat, this is a personal experience, I'm not a doctor):

* First, do not get anxious about it, otherwise you will feed it and it will amplify.

* Second, force yourself to 5-10 minute work, and I mean force yourself, pick a task, any task, push your brain until you are able to do 5 minutes of work, if you are able it's a good sign

* Third, question your physical health, are you ok? Do you have enough vitamins, etc? A blood check doesn't do any harm. I've found iron deficiency is a big part of not being able to work.

* Fourth, question your mental health, your brain is the most idiotic organ ever, it doesn't know when it's ok or not, do you feel anxiety, stress, impostor syndrome, is there something missing in your life that was previously there? Repeat this until you get clear answers.

* Fifth, process those answers, really process them, they will give you clarity that will lift the mist.

* Sixth, check with a psycologist, my recommendation is that it's specialized in cognitive behavioural therapy.

All of this being said, after points 1-5 I was still struggling, on and off (mostly off) for a while until I did point 6 and this helped me move forward slowly with a lot of "homework". I can't tell you exactly what my issue is because I have many and they're quite intertwined, let's just say that I was brought back from the brink (at the time I did number 6 I started already with anxiety and panic attacks)

this helps me a lot! Thank you!

That sounds like depression. I'm tempted to say that you're not very much in touch with the emotions that are causing you to have this problem.

Some options:

* take a break

* investigate how you feel about your work

* is there something you need to attend to that you're not?

* consider seeing a "talking" therapist

* see your primary care physician, get your thyroid checked and anything else they suggest, consider trying an SNRI or SSRI

Checking out with a therapist might be an option.

I don't feel symptoms of depression in general though. I feel pretty happy with my current environment, my social life and hobbies are totally unaffected... other than the anxiety produced by the fact that I'm starting every day with a daily meeting where I have to communicate that I've done nothing whatsoever. But that's effect, not cause..

I’m not a physician and I don’t know you, so take this for what it’s worth, but: It could be depression, but it could also be something that looks like depression. E.g. ADHD.

Several times in my life I’ve had bouts of what has looked like depression, but it was probably ADHD all along.

A psychiatrist might be able to help you to sort it out. (None of the GPs I’ve met had a clue about ADHD. Even my father is a GP and he didn’t have a clue either.)

The anxiety about constantly reporting non-progress triggered my episode as well.

For me, I had offered to help a colleague with a task that turned out to be much more overwhelming than I had originally anticipated (12 hours of reviewing legislation against our business systems). I got stuck oscillating between straining to do the task, and thinking that I couldn't bow out of it because I had already volunteered for it.

If you get stuck in a mode like that, where you don't have any dopamine hits from achievement and mounting anxiety, it's tricky to pull yourself back out. Being transparent with your team, and temporarily switching gears up to very (very!) simple tasks that you can complete, can help you regain your momentum.

Depression shows up in different forms, "work inhibition" is one of them.

People who are not inclined to psychological explanations would say "you need a vacation" and leave it at that.

Does work inhibition qualify as a disability? What kind of accomodation do you think an employer might provide for that?

I would posit that it could be totally normal and healthy to "get into a rut" every now and then. I tend to be pretty obsessive about the interests I pursue, and my productivity comes in waves with high crests and low troughs. I've found that sometimes my brain just needs a break from a certain activity.

I'm thankful to have a job where my activities can vary pretty widely from day to day (security and compliance), although I also think I've brought that situation about myself due to my work habits (which usually consist of intense periods of focusing on one thing until I get results, followed by a period of relative quiet / lower productivity, followed by intense action on a new front).

If the first thing an employer saw was my low productivity phase, they very well might fire me before they got to see me kick an uncommon amount of ass. We all move at a different pace, and it's important to step back and survey your productivity from a birds eye view. It's totally okay to have off days, and even off weeks, as long as your overall output is good.

people keep trying to come up with complex reasons and what not, but have you considered coding just sucks! Especially, how it's done now. Coding everyday sucks. No matter how much you delude yourself, part of you realizes it and it's done. Using convoluted libraries/frameworks sucks, working on meaningless problems suck, reading code sucks, being told what meaningless tasks to do sucks, meeting where you pretend to care sucks, not knowing what your work accomplishes suck, never getting recognition for what your code accomplishes suck. Half the people won't be coding if they weren't getting paid 3x the average salary. Companies keep adding scrum masters, product managers, business analysts, etc... and you are literally treated/seen like a drooling lobotomized monkey who can take instructions and convert it to code and maybe you don't like that?

This

Essentially my whole working life has been like this. I probably have one or two good work days per month. The rest of the time it really goes no where.

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 30. This seems to be a big part of it.

I would recommend talking to a professional who might be able to dig down to the root cause of this for you, especially if it has started recently. Also, look into speaking to a doctor to rule out any physical conditions.

Could also be ADD (a form of ADHD) or just a "regular" depression.

Try self-medicating with stuff that raises serotonin levels like vitamine-b or asparatam. Excercise a little every day, a 20 minute walk in the woods are better than medicine. If it gets too tough, try to find a professional to talk to.

ADD is an obsolete diagnosis; it's all ADHD now, with inattentive, hyperactive, and combined subtypes. (I think this is dumb--why have the H in the name if not everybody with the condition is hyperactive?--but that's what the DSM says.)

I’ve gone months without being productive. For me, it’s caused by a mix of ADD and depression, which results in no feeling of achievement or dopamine when I finish tasks. What gets me started is usually the stress of somebody needing something done urgently. Occasionally I’ve taken medical leave but I find that it erodes the trust of my coworkers.

I've gone a day or two without really doing much other than emails and stuff. It's not really like you describe. Usually the task is just boring or frustrating. I'm also demotivated by a lack of career progress and all the lies the company tells us. Like, what's the point of trying hard if there's no reward?

You may take some solace in this older article by Joel Spolsky, who speaks of the same issue: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/

On a personal note, this exact thing happened to me two weeks ago, I literally couldn't start any task, regardless of whether it was coding related or not. For background, I have a history of depression and anxiety, and have several life challenges at play in my personal life (not forgetting Covid lockdowns and the remote working that entails).

What I did: The next day I spoke to my manager and took the rest of the week off sick. I then booked an appointment with my GP and re-started my antidepressive medication that I had been off for 4 years, and was signed up to a course of 8 counselling sessions (paid for by the state).

Felt great coming back to work, but that was largely psychosomatic / feeling refreshed from the time away. I spoke to my manager again, explained the situation, and asked him for some patience while the medication kicks in (4-6 weeks), and I ramp slowly back up to my usual workload.

My past failing was wanting to power through these times with sheer will power, or try to find a 'silver bullet' reason for why I was feeling the way I did. I now believe that a strategy of 1) personal coping mechanisms, 2) medication (if appropriate for you), 3) counselling, and 4) realising that sometimes these feelings will come and go occasionally no matter what you do, and you just have to ride it out the best you can.

I have found for me that this is always a hidden unmet need in my emotional environment coming up to say "hey, something is wrong here" and preventing you from doing what you normally could. Whether that be a lack of a real sanctuary in which you can relax and be attentive to your own needs, to a lack of exercise, not being able to spend any time pulling on a thread you really want to pull on, to in some cases cases a deep unresolved trauma being piqued in moments that are difficult to remember afterwards.

I find that when I don't have a good way to describe a feeling, one of the best things to do is try to use one of these emotion wheels to really give myself language to understand (not affiliated w site, you can google image "emotion wheel" but this one has a few interesting ones):

https://humansystems.co/emotionwheels/

Other helpful ways to describe things not necessarily on those wheels are words like numb, dissociated, etc.

Does it affect your manager's view of you? it happens to me often but somehow I always pull it off at the last moment without anyone noticing, this leads to a sever imposter syndrome though.

One way to mitigate it is to take tasks that are actually harder and more challenging, even try to do a small innovation project or something "off the books" to stimulate yourself

This syndrome is quite common. It's a form of Depression. You get the 'Don't care, can't care' mindset.

There will be some kind of unpleasant situation, or unpleasant task that will be triggering this. (I usually get it when I have to do paperwork involved with the family taxes.)

I know the feeling, as do many others I believe. It’s “normal” in the sense that you are very much not alone, but it is not a state of mind you should accept as unavoidable.

I think the self-help tips people are describing are worth trying, but you should not beat yourself up if they don’t work for you even if you feel like you understand them intellectually.

If you have access, I’d look into seeing a psychiatrist and/or therapist. It could be some combination of depression, ADD, and anxiety.

I’d also recommend this podcast episode. It articulated a lot of feelings I had trouble explaining to myself.

https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/depression-anxiety-i...

Check out the latest episode from Huberman Labs regarding dopamine peaks and maintenance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmOF0crdyRU Also an earlier one about addiction, good tips to apply here or similar situations.

And it's OK to take some time off and switch to other activities, while your brain replenishes your desire to work on the background. I did, for a couple of months. I was actually in the same spot as you and the guy from another post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28684502), even thought I was getting some sort of early dementia, as my memory was also affected.

The unable to start or keeping are also signs of burnout and ADHD. You could try asking others in your team to give you some extra hand-holding, motivation or accountability. Some bumps in the road are solvable with a bit of encouragement, but it's hard to open up given that delivering what they ask from you is the expected thing.

Sometimes even when you want to proactively tackle on these matters, it's a process that takes a while. That rejection you feel right now is totally common, and it's could be a sign that you should stop trying for now, it doesn't mean that you won't like it / be able to do it in the future, just a protection mechanism from your body overreacting.

Before these past couple weeks, did you also struggle, or is this completely new and sudden?

How do you feel overall about your job? Did you enjoy it a month ago? 3 months ago? Did something change?

I’ve had feelings before where I suddenly lost drive, though I didn’t completely stop being productive. In my case, the underlying reason was a realization that my productivity wasn’t going to solve some deeper organizational/people matters, and that my productivity was more like throwing a glass of water at a burning building.

Take a day or two off and do nothing. Or do something but no coding. Binge watch some shows, read a book, exercise, go to the movies, anything but work. Better yet, chain those two days off with a weekend. See if when you come back you have some focus.

This will probably get down voted but, you could also try re-arranging your workspace to whatever extent you are able to do that. Get a plant for your desk, change where you sit, rearrange furniture if you work from home. Clean while you're at it. Maybe something is off or just needs to be refreshed, especially if you've worked remote for the last year and half.

My two cents: Sometimes we need to make certain goals a marathon (complete something in a week, month, or year), other times we need to make them a sprint (do something in 5 minutes, an hour, or a day).

You get to choose how long something takes too. If burnout and brain-fog starts creeping in (and it will) then sever the connection and rejoin the task after recovery. Rinse and repeat.

I knoll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-CTkbHnpNQ

If you’ve ruled out mental causes (like perhaps ADHD, as discussed in other comments) then perhaps it’s something about the work.

I’ve often found in these periods that there’s some underlying part of the work that makes me not want to do it, usually that subconsciously I’ve categorised it as being pointless.

It might be worth brainstorming the nature of the work itself rather than blaming yourself.

Burnout comes in many odd shapes. Take more walks, find more nature, and most importantly, do hobby / fun stuff.

Could you explain what keeps you away from writing? Is it youtube, surfing the internet or communicators in your taskbar?

Maybe you could try some time off from Slack/Whatsapp/Telegram?

something that has worked for me was this...

- take a week off

- first day don't sleep at night, maybe a nap < 1hr

- next day go to sleep early like 9pm

not sleeping one day has been shown to fix depression immensely even though it sounds counterintuitive.

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