Everyone has those days where you struggle to start that new project, or finally finish the last one. You’re well aware of the all the work that lies ahead – you might even put in a few hours today, but somehow at the end of the day still feel unproductive.
Motivation and morale is low, and you can feel it affecting the people around you. This is burnout and it’s toxic. It’s easy to catch and difficult to overcome.
Burnout is a consequence of repetition without progress. When you’re solving the same problem over and over again, quality suffers because you still have deadlines to meet and features to ship. This happens because requirements weren’t clearly defined from the start and the scope changed late in the development cycle.
You can avoid burnout by spending more time planning before doing any development:
- Before you start building the next feature, spend more time iterating with the design.
- Before you start design, flush out those user stories and workflows.
- Before you map out those workflows, make sure you clearly define the requirements.
- Before you assume any requirements, make sure you know who your user is and what problems you are solving for them.
The little things matter too. Spending the extra few minutes to create some concrete tasks to accomplish today will make you feel more productive and help avoid burnout.
When you inevitably get that feeling, here are some tips to get back on track:
- Take a break. Stop thinking about the project, even if its just for a few days.
- Go outside. Go for a walk, do anything that’s not sitting in a chair at your desk.
- Exercise. Recreational sports are a great way to occupy your mind with anything other than work.
- Learn something new. Working on a side project will help distract you while still feeling productive.
It can be difficult to take a break when you still have deadlines to meet but following the above advice when you start to feel burnt out will have an overall positive effect to your productivity, quality of work and most importantly – your sanity.