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Ask HN: How do you deal with being burnt out?

14 points by notastartup ↗ HN
It's getting harder and harder to work on what was my passion. With no money rolling I'd hoped, it seems like I am so close but can't get the 10% finished. It appears I am burnt out from working on a SaaS product alone.

How can I break this pattern of, working crazy to get 90% finished, and then crapping out at the last remaining 10%?

I told myself I would commit that last bit of code 40 counterstrike rounds ago. Yet, here I am, keep playing counterstrike, not really enjoying myself, but out of anxiety.

I think to myself how strange, this doesn't even kill me, yet I can't bare to look at the code. I just keep playing stupid games on my computer and checking ycombinator every hour.

13 comments

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bobfirestone
It seems that all projects the last 10% takes about 50% of the development time. If you are already burned out the only thing I know to combat burnout is some time off.

Preventing burnout is setting boundaries and pacing yourself. Not working crazy hours, taking breaks and getting a good night sleep so you don't get worn out.

notastartup
it really is true as they, the last 10% seems to be the hardest to pull off. It's not like I don't know how to solve the problem or have run into a creative block. Purely psychological I suppose, it's the fear that if I complete it, people will reject it or not even look at it. I am fixing and it's improved incrementally but I keep inventing ways to fix any possible bug I can think of while I should be selling.

I have been working crazily for the past two month....I've done this again and again and it really is tough. This last 10% work requires several times the energy and motivation....sigh

phektus
Then just release it. You will never reach 100% anyway, unless you totally quit the project.
notastartup
I have released it a few week ago (see my submission), but I got caught up with fixing bugs and fell into the trap of "this is crap if this feature doesn't work" and then another and another.... and now at the stage where "I need to finish this but my brain says no cause it needs more customers to validate this software fits a need."
senthadev
Traveling in the same boat as you do, not eligible to advice. Although I read in HN before that burnt out is a signal by the brain stating that we are working without any foreseeable reward.
notastartup
oh. my. god.

yes, that's exactly what my fear is.

me: how do make it turn out a reward?

brain: finish the last 10%.

me: all right let's do it!

brain: no.

me: all right lets play counter strike or read yc

brain: again? fine.

User1398
1. To-do list. Come up with 10 things you want to accomplish on the project tomorrow. Keep them small, so they're 20 minutes of work each. When you wake up, you have some direction, and get a sense of accomplishment as you check things off. Since they're quick to finish, you can convince yourself to take care of one 20 minute task before playing a few rounds of Counter-Strike. Waking up, and thinking, 'Uhh, I really need to finish this project', is overwhelming, and you don't know where to begin, or even want to think about it. Write your to-do list for the next day before you go to bed. Just sit down for 20 minutes, and think about a small step you can move forward.

2. Take a break and focus on other hobbies. You don't need to think about your project 24 hours a day. No, seriously, you can take a break. Here's the situation. You have work to finish, so you convince yourself you can't take a break and leave the computer. At the same time, you don't want to think about work. So, you end up browsing HN, Reddit, and playing games the entire day. In the end, you accomplish absolutely nothing, didn't enjoy yourself because in the back of your mind you're thinking, 'I should be working', and you don't even feel like you took a break to begin with. Set aside some time for a break. Pick an hour, and watch a movie, or go to the park next door and play with your dog, or work on something hands on around the house, or do some exercises or meditation. When you dedicate a particular period of time to take off, you can actually enjoy it, without feeling guilty. It's a good way to clear your mind. When you write your to-do list, choose the times you'll break the next day. Don't make your break HN, and get off the computer if possible.

Anyway, good luck. I'm in the exact same position, 95% finished a project that's been going on for well over a year, and trying to get things wrapped up.

notastartup
your explanation makes a lot of sense as to why I am procrastinating.

I've just made a list (16 items already but going to limit myself to 10 tomorrow to be realistic).

the 20 minute time span is actually a good idea, i tend to take too much time working on something.

sn0v
Okay so I've read through some of your other comments, and I've been there myself (procrastinating by means of Counter-Strike).

I'd say the best way to get over your burnout would be to choose a more relaxing hobby - some people play a musical instrument, some people like working out, some people simply like getting some fresh air.

Next, enumerate your immediate goals on paper (getting that remaining 10% done? What steps can you break that down into?) and assign deadlines to them - by dinner time, by tomorrow afternoon etc.

Choose a distraction free space (if working with other people is what you like, hit the local library/coffee shop) and get cracking!

jasonkester
I'm going to go ahead and give you the solution that works for me, even though it's probably not all that practical for you at the moment:

Get off the grid and go traveling for a month or so.

I make a point of switching off for a while each year, sometime for only a month or two, other times for most of the year. During that time, I'm just backpacking across Africa, climbing rocks in Thailand, or otherwise laying low someplace cheap and sunny, with the important bit being that I'm not working at all for long stretches at a time.

Every once in a while, I'll find a little window of good internet connectivity and boot up. What follows will be a couple days of the most intense productivity I've ever had. It's like my brain had been solving problems in the background for the last few weeks and now all I have to do is CTRL+V it into the editor. Sometimes I honestly believe I'm just as productive working one week out of four as I would have been working all four straight.

So yeah, if you've built yourself some runway to pull it off, I'd recommend looking for a flight to Bangkok leaving, say, this afternoon. Throw a pair of board shorts in a bag along with your laptop and go have some experiences.

Some time in January, you can pull that machine out, prop it on the bar at the beach, and knock off the rest of your site in an afternoon.

Good luck!

atox
I suffered from the same problem as you. I did some long thinking about what caused this issue and in my case it was fear of failure.

Fearing that whatever I'd launch would suck and that I just spent months working on something that would make no difference at all.

I'm working at a product that I believe in right now, and will force myself to launch within 3 months.

tr0ss
I feel I am in the same situation, haven't really come around to building something serious yet. The goal for me is to build mobile games, I have started and had some freelance work for my old company which have given me some more time to think about what I wanted to do, the only problem is that I can't get around to actually code or design, I keep falling back to playing game, for the same reason as you described. Hate it but don't know what to do about it :(