Burnout is your subconscious's way of telling you that you're on the wrong track.

I've found that every time I've felt burned out - whether in writing, coding, startup, life - it's because I was working on something that ultimately was going nowhere. I needed to revisit my assumptions, yet my conscious mind didn't know that. Burnout was a way for my subconscious to say "This isn't going to work, you're not working on the important stuff, take a step back and look at the big picture."

When writer's blocked, I delete the last 3 paragraphs I've written and take the story in another direction. This has almost always cured my writer's block; when it doesn't I delete the last page and take the story in another direction.

When coder's blocked, I revert to my last svn commit and start again, usually with a smaller task. I've thrown away up to a week's worth of work this way, which is another lesson: commit early and often. Commits should be an hourly or minutely process, not something you do after a whole bunch of work.

When blocked in general, I think about the last design decision I made and revisit. Oftentimes, if I'm blocked entirely and can't even get started on implementing a feature, it's because the feature is ill-conceived and needs to be redone. Maybe it's done with incorrect assumptions about how users will use the problem, or maybe it just doesn't serve any purpose. Revisit whether you need the feature at all.

If you find you can't work on your startup at all, maybe it's a sign that your startup is on the wrong track. Revisit your idea. I'm actually at that stage with mine: we scrambled to get a demo ready for YC, but now that I want to procrastinate and avoid work (our market is people who want to procrastinate and avoid work), I find that I don't want to use our product. But I've got some ideas about how to backup and try a different approach, and now I want to try them out and see if they can get me procrastinating with the startup itself.

The bottom line, you need to completely focus on something entirely different than your problem at hand to give your subconscious a chance to recuperate and give you a solution and new inspiration.

"Take a month off. Go hang out with family and friends. Don't think about work. Eat well & exercise. Then we will talk."

It was the best advice I ever got. I realized while I was away that I was working on the wrong problem, and that with some reframing there was a way out. You can't get that perspective while you are in the middle of things.

Why Startups Fail and Why Gigamon Should've Too http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2007/09/why-startups-fa.html

--Denny--

There is some excellent feedback in this thread. Let me add mine, which may be a little different. I go through what you are experiencing all the time. There are days when I can't stay awake at my terminal. Sometimes I hit a road block and wonder how I'll ever get by. I usually step away for a time, but here is my real secret...

Pick one little thing that needs to get done, no matter how small or unimportant it may seem. If I'm really down, I pick some mundane task like refactoring 25 lines of code, manually updating 50 records, or even changing some naming conventions. But not something big like solving a client-server architecture problem. Hell, that's the reason I'm already down. One other thing - the task must be in the heart of your project; cleaning off your desk or reading a journal don't count. Then do the task. Completely. You'll feel a little better, I promise. The next day, do it again, maybe with a slightly bigger task. And again. And again. Who knows, you may be feeling a lot better before you know it.

I have no idea if my advice can help save your project, but I do know you still want to. Use this group for support (I know I already do) and keep us posted. You are not alone.

At the end of the two months, I have to say, the old job didn't sound so bad anymore. I started grad school afterwards, so I was charged up, but I suspect that the time off was what I really needed. Looking back, it was actually one of the more innovative startups I've ever worked at.

You may be looking at deep long term burnout, but how long as it been since you've walked away from work long enough to reset your head? It doesn't have to be decades - a single year of 10 hour days where you often find yourself at the office on weekends can be enough to cause your mind to rebel and shut down. Think of your head as an employee that has been pushed too hard, and has retaliated by not producing anything.

I've learned to identify my short-term tendency to burn out and distinguish it from true career malaise. Maybe I just need more time off than the average person. I wish I could drive harder, but if I can't, I may as well know that about myself and minimize the damage.

You sound like you need a strong drink. Start with that.

If you are still in China and, damningly, in one of their wretchedly filthy cities. Get out for a while. Go to the country. Go for a run or a walk or get in a sporting fight. Do something human. I have found that I need this antidote to engineering.

I think this is your brain telling you that you would rather be doing something else.

If I begin to feel even slightly burned out, I make a beeline for Wagamama in Harvard Square (or Faneuil Hall). At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, the combination of the food and atmosphere there are anodyne when I get tired of coding. I hope they expand out from the Boston area soon so you West Coast people find out what you are missing...

We all must learn to listen to our body before it tells us to stop. I experience that all the time in the swimming pool (I do ride my mountainbike, but I also swim since ever): the kids jump in, power themselves out in 5 minutes and have to stop then. The experienced swimmers go 10% slower and last for 2 miles. Do the same! And now take 2 or 3 weeks off. Thats the only way to recharge.

Best wishes for continued success,

Anthony Kuhn Innovators Network

The best thing I can say is now that you've had it happen, you'll be much more sensitive to it and can recognize the warnings signs.

Also consider building in regular self-evaluation and relax time, it helps keep everything in balance.

10 months is a long time to go at full steam, take a few days off and reset. Do not think about work at all, and go physically exert yourself, eat well and relax.

It will vary by the individual dramatically, but I usually find all I need is a few days to reset.

Best of luck