I have been working as a software consultant for the last 5 years. I am currently on an assignment with very little actual coding at the moment and with Corona and all I don’t want to be to picky about what I do. Because of this I would like to do some programming on the side. The problem is that I seem to lack all kinds of creativity and motivation at the moment. For the past weeks I have looked at many different topics, technologies etc but very few interest me and even fewer seem to motivate me to spend more than 5 minutes on it.
Any tips for finding that “creative spark” again? I’m just guessing but I can’t be alone with this problem.
I’ve never been in a creative rut, but I can find myself stuck into my routine which really takes out all my will to do everything. To combat this I usually throw myself into something that’s totally out of the loop of what I usually do.
Mainly, for me, is going on a “tech diet” so:
Being away from the PC as much as possible outside work
Keeping the phone usage to a minimum
Be out (right now in the confines of my city due to Covid) and observing the world, taking notes or pics
Meeting my friends and listening to them to have new topics to talk about. It could be their daily life, what happend to them and so on
Asking for help to close people in my life
Picking up a new hobby just for the sake of it. Like something you always wanted to do but that always get to the back burner
Trying to meet new people (mostly on the web due to Covid). There are lots of communities on the internet and most of them have Discord servers with voice channels. Popping into them from time to time is not half bad sometimes
These are just things I did and do from time to time to get some variety in my life. I guess you can take them as pointers or sparks for new ideas.
They say that in order for a “spark” to happen, you have to be in a new scenario/environment kind of thing. Do things you havent done. Do urban exploration of ruins. Have a walk up a mountain if you havent tried that. See cool bugs and insects in nature if you are into that. And so on. You need to be in a stimulating kind of environment.
Thanks guys, good tips. I think I blame the ongoing pandemic. Been working from home now for about 1 year and its really starting to get old. I’m an introvert but even so I need to see people somtimes.
I am by no means an authority in the matter, but I am a full-time coder who codes a lot on the side.
Let’s breakdown the problem. Creativity and motivation are two different things. We don’t need a lot of creativity for a coding project, a basic idea can have tons of technical complexity.
In terms of creativity, this is very personal… Tap into your passions, do you like beers? maybe make a project related to breweries. Music? Guitars? Something about guitar materials. Basically think of a passion of yours. Eventually, you will come up with an idea that really vibrates and has a good balance in payoff/effort involved. If you learn new technologies in the process, that will help get value out of the project even if you don’t finish it.
Motivation could be its own thread, but my advice is to rely less and less on it. Habits are a stronger force to get stuff done. The problem with motivation is that it’s unreliable and it changes depending on exterior factors in your life. Habits will get you to work consistently.
There are some tricks that help me keep good habits in my side projects. E.G. Develop on a separate computer that doesn’t even have or can run games.
A big one, but maybe an advanced motivator is having a stakeholder. Someone who can mutually benefit from the project. This could be a single person or a community for whom you make something. This will also challenge your communication and project management skills and def teach you to manage expectations.
Lastly. Probably most importantly, have ‘seasons’ in your mind. We are not machines we shouldn’t work 14 hours a day. If you already do 9 hours for a day job, every following hour will take 3x the mental energy and has the potential of draining from the next day. Sometimes it’s fine to not do anything for a long time. Take a break to deeply enjoy a new game or whatever you find pleasure in.
If you are in a pretty bad rut, maybe it’s time to take a moment to enrich your life some other ways, spend time with friends, revive an old friendship… (this is tough these days due to covid). You will get back to it. Personally, I do this for maybe a weekend now and then and I am ready to go but it may take others weeks or months.