Ask HN: What do you do when you lose motivation?

"The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on that first one." -- Mark Twain (according to wikiquote)

At the beginning, if the problem is vague, I open a text editor and start writing all of my thoughts about it. I try to keep the file as free-form as possible (I assume no one else will ever read it) and get down concerns about the problem, design decisions, observations, and anything else that comes to mind. I also write down exactly what the first step(s) will be. I think this technique works for a number of reasons, but especially because putting the project in front of my eyes on the computer screen -- even if it's just in the form of a quick brain-dump in a text editor -- gives me a massive motivation boost and a feeling of momentum.

Staying motivated after a concrete task list has precipitated is a different problem, which I also try to solve with record-keeping. I obsessively maintain a hierarchy of the tasks I plan to complete, and then check them off as I go. When I can become a machine that just walks the hierarchy and performs the tasks, I find that it sidesteps the emotional mechanism that otherwise makes me procrastinate. I used to store the hierarchy as a text file, but this year I've been writing a tool that provides a) native support for this type of data, and b) a keyboard-driven interface that doesn't make me switch away from the program where I'm actually working. In case anyone would like to try it out, it's at http://projecthedgehog.com (runs on mac and windows).

It's not so much about technicality in the problem that cannot be solved, but the motivation to solve it. Greatly appreciate the comments.

I had a long run and cleared my mind up and figured I have to stand up to it and move on, I have to go for it or else I can never be successful in any thing I do. Guess that is the difference that'll break or make a successfully entrepreneur.

Totally appreciate where you are coming from. I have been in that place many times before. There is some excellent ips already been posted here. It is usually a case of gritting your teeth and just getting on with it.

I've been stuck for 3 weeks, and I couldn't figure out why. My daughter started talking to me about motivation at University, and I just started talking about my being stuck. Next thing I knew I had figured out why. Maybe you haven't lost motivation. Maybe you are just stuck and don't know why. Talk it out.

Seems like quite a few hackers either burnt out or lost motivation to keep on going. It is not a lot, but need someone to chat over things, I created a public chatroom: https://consult.campfirenow.com/91654

If I am online, I will be there, leave a message, I will reply. Hopefully it will keep you going. It's good to bounce ideas off each other. :P