Never stop coding. Look back each 3/6/12 months at code you wrote back then. If it looks as cool as it was 3/6/12 months ago - you stuck. If it looks like shit - you are on a right track and right speed.
I've discovered that PHP makes me angry. Functional is good for small stuff. I need [much] more practice with OO. I don't know anything about ... a lot.
The next 2-4 wks are spent reading and comparing alternatives to doing whatever it was that was nagging me. These time blocks do actually include small coding problems (1-2hrs), but I can't really call it coding. I then begin with new optimism about the new language/skill/feature/paradigm that I've now incorporated into my daily programming.