Comment by jd115 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jd115 | Hacker News Reader

Oh, I love this question!

And I love when I find myself in situations like this - although it happens more and more rarely as I age.

The answer, of course, is: perspective.

And there are all sorts of ways to shift your perspective, but the general heuristic is to step back, zoom out, and talk to yourself in broader, more generic terms. Details are your enemy when you're in a rut (although they turn into your best friend when you're on a roll!)

Take some time, over a number of days, to consciously and consistently quiet your mind. Just give yourself the luxury for a while to not worry or even think about the details of your situation. Try to find some broad positive themes about life in general. Some things that are, roughly, good. Just stay away from the details.

Take it easy. Disengage for a while and take time to breathe, to walk, to do simple things that are, fundamentally, pleasurable.

It won't take more than a few days to get yourself back on track. Juice will start flowing to you again soon enough. Just don't rush into it, simply let it come on its own terms, whenever it wants.

You'll be fine.

Good advice.

There’s a couple of different kinds of “rut,” though:

1) Ennui

    The project has become a “slog,” and I am tired of the grind.
    This happens pretty much daily, for me.

2) Burnout

    Is this my life? Where did I go wrong? Should I just pack it in?
    This tends to happen as the project nears completion, and I’m “polishing the fenders.” The work is more “rote,” the bugs are harder to find, and I get disgusted, by looking at my code.

If it is #1, then “taking a short break” usually works. I may take a short nap, watch some TV, go out for a meal, play a video game, take a walk, etc. A change of scenery can do wonders.

If it is #2, then I need to take a more significant “break.” I will often find an alternate project to work on. Many folks will take a vacation. Coming back can be difficult, but, once I’m fully engaged, again, I find I am back to full sail.

I tend to work on alternate projects. I find it invigorating, and keeps me “in the swing.” That does not work for many folks, as they need a far more comprehensive “change of scenery.” I know folks that go on wilderness vacations.

I actually did a #2 break, the last couple of days. I have been working on a project for the last year, and we are approaching ship (still a ways off, but we can see it, from here). I was starting to feel quite “burnt.” As you approach “ship,” the work becomes a lot more “picky,” you have to say “no” to other team members, and you start to feel the responsibility, settling on your shoulders.

I took on a Web site project. I’m not a Web designer, by trade, but I do OK. It took me a couple of days.

It was one of those projects, where things had been allowed to “rot,” and I was cleaning up a “mess.” Gave me an excuse to grouse and rant, while I got the site back on its feet. I do a lot of volunteer work.

I’m done, and will be getting back to the main project, now. I’m looking forward to it.

One big problem, is that employers tend to take a dim view of employees “taking a break.” This is especially true of #2.

In that case, you may not have a choice. It can profoundly affect the quality of the deliverable. The employer needs to get with reality. It may not happen; especially if they are “self-made” type As (like many startup founders). Large corporations tend to be better than small shops.

I’m semi-retired. I can do what I want. I did not have that luxury, before.

This is sound advice.

To trigger a change in perspective in me, I start cleaning and organizing. Finishing or closing projects. This brings me back where I started and I can rethink from afar.

Organize.

This applies well to me. However, I was well into adulthood and several ruts before I realized I have an additional weakness: I'm (almost always) unable to change perspective without the help of others.

I don't mean that I need to tell others that I'm in a rut and need perspective change. I need the others – friends and colleagues – to help anchor my perspective to reality (or their reality) by simple having normal interactions with them.

Needless to say, the pandemic has made this hard. And I'm afraid that the older I get, the less I can rely on this very good mechanism I have for perspective change. Any advice?

(A therapist suggested I train my own ability to reality-anchor. It worked a tiny bit, but given enough time I always start doubting my own anchoring, and need peers to reanchor me. I know their view isn't canon either, but it feels objective to me. Mine feels shaky.)

For a self-induced perspective change that may not work for everyone: buy a war-time photography book, the ones with the really nasty gore, and have a two minute look at some of the pictures in the pages.

It's likely you'll physically want to throw up from just looking at the images, and this bodily reaction is for me one of the "deepest" ways of my body physically understanding how good I have it. I haven't had to do this in the last 5 years, and only did this 3 times total.

This can seem like it's wrong, and maybe it is, but it worked for me so maybe it'll work for you.

There's a side benefit to this, I've become more anti-war, which I think is a good quality to have.

This is a good thought and idea. I agree.

We need to step back and feel the bliss of small things that happens around that we miss to notice every day in life.

As it says above, don't put yourself under pressure on doing something. Just try to be aware about the things that you do every day. Taking a bath, having a meal -> Take a deep breathe do it slowly and enjoy it.

Then slowly slowly and eventually, you will come up with new perspective on how to approach life the way you want it to be. You will notice internally when this phase happens. All the very best!

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