> Why can't I do it? I feel like the people in the Bunuel
> movie who can't leave the party.
I got to exactly this stage when I was working on my own projects last year. I was excited about them in concept but lost the ability to do work. I decided to move to a city with dull, predictable work and better wages in order to re-motivate myself and reduce mental stress. It has mostly worked - I've saved up a lot of cash this year and am now getting back into my projects. But whereas I thought it would take three months to get there, it was more like ten or eleven in the end but I'm back in form now and have resigned.
Last weekend I decided I needed a better backup strategy and just did it. This time last year I just would have felt extra stress at the prospect of it, and then not done it.
Here are the big factors I found:
1) Exercise and health. I have long-term back and shoulder problems. Since moving to london I've got into semi-regular exercise (still don't do enough) and have seen improvements this year with help from a physio. Being in regular exercise makes everything about life better, including those times where you settle down to do some work.
2) Bad goals leads to mental stress. I spent way too much time working on goals that were too distant from my project. Now I'm setting myself easy goals, and whever anything seems not quite easy I refuse to do it unless I can find a way to make it easy.
3) Having a well-defined home-life where you can have a clean house, and a simple spread of food available so that you have variety but don't have to think too hard when you go shopping. I've turned doing the dishes and ironing into relaxing, therapeutic exercises - works for me. There's nothing quite so simple and delighting as sweeping a wooden floor and having it clean at the end.
If you've never had a burnout before, it's probably worth seeing a councilor or a doctor just to talk through it with them. I find that I generally avoid talking about my problems because I was brought up in an environment where people who whinged were just "attention-seeking". But if I see someone where I don't give a damn what they think of me, and where I paying good money to sort out a problem, then my reticence goes.
In my experience, burnout is a curve, and once you've got to the point you're at now it requires dealing with and gets worse before it plateaus and gets better. If you're mentally exhausted it can be hard to build a plan for dealing with it, also. The authority of a plan defined by someone else for me to follow helps me in these circumstances.
"Having a well-defined home-life where you can have a clean house, and a simple spread of food available so that you have variety but don't have to think too hard when you go shopping. I've turned doing the dishes and ironing into relaxing, therapeutic exercises - works for me. There's nothing quite so simple and delighting as sweeping a wooden floor and having it clean at the end."
I agree. I find that if I am working (reading) all the time [I have a full time job and am moonlighting] its hard to keep the house clean and organized, but having a clean, well organized home really helps me have a clear head, and get something done. It also reduces the amount of stress you feel. I know this sounds very "new-agey" but it does help. Further, the very task of cleaning has a very cathartic effect on me. Start small, with the kitchen or the restroom, find a place for everything, and put everything in its place and see how you feel. This will also get you away from the computer for a while, and normally, after a few hours of cleaning I have neither the energy or the motivation to get any work done, so its a good day to take the evening off.
I got to exactly this stage when I was working on my own projects last year. I was excited about them in concept but lost the ability to do work. I decided to move to a city with dull, predictable work and better wages in order to re-motivate myself and reduce mental stress. It has mostly worked - I've saved up a lot of cash this year and am now getting back into my projects. But whereas I thought it would take three months to get there, it was more like ten or eleven in the end but I'm back in form now and have resigned.
Last weekend I decided I needed a better backup strategy and just did it. This time last year I just would have felt extra stress at the prospect of it, and then not done it.
Here are the big factors I found:
1) Exercise and health. I have long-term back and shoulder problems. Since moving to london I've got into semi-regular exercise (still don't do enough) and have seen improvements this year with help from a physio. Being in regular exercise makes everything about life better, including those times where you settle down to do some work.
2) Bad goals leads to mental stress. I spent way too much time working on goals that were too distant from my project. Now I'm setting myself easy goals, and whever anything seems not quite easy I refuse to do it unless I can find a way to make it easy.
3) Having a well-defined home-life where you can have a clean house, and a simple spread of food available so that you have variety but don't have to think too hard when you go shopping. I've turned doing the dishes and ironing into relaxing, therapeutic exercises - works for me. There's nothing quite so simple and delighting as sweeping a wooden floor and having it clean at the end.
If you've never had a burnout before, it's probably worth seeing a councilor or a doctor just to talk through it with them. I find that I generally avoid talking about my problems because I was brought up in an environment where people who whinged were just "attention-seeking". But if I see someone where I don't give a damn what they think of me, and where I paying good money to sort out a problem, then my reticence goes.
In my experience, burnout is a curve, and once you've got to the point you're at now it requires dealing with and gets worse before it plateaus and gets better. If you're mentally exhausted it can be hard to build a plan for dealing with it, also. The authority of a plan defined by someone else for me to follow helps me in these circumstances.