Ask HN: Do you guys ever feel like this? If so, how do you get out of the slump?

Putting on your shoes is the hardest part of going on a walk/run. The next hardest is stepping out the door. Sometimes you just have to turn off your brain and "subconsciously" do it without thinking about it. Or just straight up lie to yourself. "I'm only putting on my shoes. I'm only going outside. I'm only walking to the end of the street."

Set a timer for 5 minutes and stare at what you want to do. Don't do anything but stare and unfocus. For me that's switching to the IDE and looking at whatever code is loaded. I don't read it, I just stare for 5 mins. More times than not, before the 5 mins is up I've start working.

There's also acceptance that when you start anything, it's a slog. You need to "wade thorough sewage to get to clear water".

Change Your Brain: Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwQhKFMxmDY

I'm internally motivated to do high quality work, but externally motivated to do a high quantity of work. In a low pressure environment I'll do good work but won't create pressure to do the most I possibly can. I don't want an unreasonably high pressure environment, but when things are slow I do wish for more urgency. It's not a problem, it's just an understanding of how I work.

Another reason you might be capable of doing more but aren't is the way work gets done. Many companies or teams now don't know what to do with high output or aren't built for it, they're set up process-first with a lot of task overhead and prefer the predictability that comes with that to maximizing throughput with more surprises.

When I am motivated to do extra work I'm likely to do it when I can just do it, and unlikely when I have to get approval, fit it into a sprint schedule, etc. It can work against you to deliver extra work in an environment where others think of deliverables as zero sum (they're not) and the extra work you deliver doesn't fit into someone else's idea of priority. Again, you don't have to frame it as a problem but a need to understand how you think and work in relationship to different environments.

1. Find someone to talk to. It might be a professional or it might be a parent. I had a great conversation with my dad when I had a tough time like you are. It won’t fix things immediately but it’ll start a habit of reaching out for support when you start to feel off.

2. Take a day off. No guilt, no thinking about what you should be doing. Don’t schedule anything for that day. I see too many people take “mental health” days and then panic to try to get all their appointments set up for that day.

3. Start forcing yourself to do little things. As someone else mentioned, force yourself into 5 minutes or just reading code. Force yourself to fully grok someone else’s pull request. I went an entire year forcing myself to push code for review every single workday because otherwise I felt like you’re describing yourself. It was brutal some days (“rewrite X class with streams api” was a common change), but it both kept me going and got me some respect from my colleagues.

Yes. In fact it seems i gravitate to this state at regular intervals. To some degree i have dealt with it by accepting it as part of the struggle of life. Also i found that just as much as i gravitate to this state there is also something within me that unlocks it and eventually puts me back on top. When my personal life is draining i am at a higer risk. When there is low psychological safety in my team, im also at a higher risk. Jogging helps, even the smallest run will do. Don’t worry, you will find your way out and perhaps learn a thing or two about yourself. It taught me not to judge others for being unproductive but just be a helpful uplifting colleague whenever i get the chance. We all struggle at times.

I say this grudgingly, you need ambition. You need your performance tied to your promotions or a reputation for being a master. If you're already comfortable, then you have no real incentive to try hard.

I have a job I hate, that is stressful, and ranked me as a low performer last year (historically been ha high performers). The company has screwed me over a bunch of times, so I see my effort as being wasted or unrewarded. Why should I try? I don't even make the US median dev salary. I don't think anywhere else would be better. So I'm in a similar boat as you - looking for distractions and excuses to be lazy.

It might be a good time to take a vacation. If there isn't a lot of pressure for deadlines. Some time off can give you more perspective.

It seems like you are lethargic because the role is easy for you. If you like the place, and you want to develop your career there, then ask your boss, what you could work on to create a bigger impact. You might find that there is more opportunity for you there after all.

If that doesn't interest you, then you can coast for a while. That's fine too. Eventually, you'll probably get bored with this, and then you'll find another job with a more interesting role.

What has worked for me is shifting to hunter gatherer mode when feeling lethargic. I force my body to do stuff just so that my primal needs are completed. For example, If I don't get a task done, then I won't get dinner today. Procastinate another task and my body doesn't get access to air conditioning/fan. Not feeling like doing a very important task, no water for the entire day. It might sound a bit extreme and counterproductive, but it works wonders cause that's exactly how we have lived for majority of human existence.

Get yourself a dog and regularly allow it to take YOU for a walk, particularly in a park or `green' area. Turn your mobile off and use music to help your mood.

I have kind of a similar situation - lots of free time during the work day. You should consider it a blessing more than anything that you have such a stable job. And if the pace is boring you, then you could use some of your free time to prep for coding interviews for more rigorous jobs.

Taking some time off makes for a good reset. Go spend time in a forest.