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Tackle Burnout By Building Personal Projects
Get inspired to create again
In my third year of high school, I spent six months building an app to help people track their good deeds.
One year later, I spent a similar amount of time recreating a classic puzzle game. I built my own version of Sokoban but added lasers and other twists to each level.
One year after that, I spent nine months coding Rutgers RUMobile. It got more users than my previous two apps combined.
But by my second year of college, I was worn out.
I was tired of late-night debugging sessions. I was tired of tweaking user interfaces. I did not want to build any more personal projects.
But I knew and still believe that personal projects are some of the best ways to grow. When you’re bitten by the coding bug, it’s exhilarating. You feel motivated to explore new technologies. You feel excited to tackle new challenges.
I wanted to recapture those highs, especially since I had started blogging about tech.
I had observed that many writers like me got views from writing about their big projects. If I wanted to do something similar, I had to build new apps or revisit my old ones.
I didn’t want to do either.
So, over the next few months, I tried to reinspire myself to work on new projects. I found that three approaches worked the best for me.
Maybe they will work for you. Let’s explore them.
Get inspired by others
Exploring what cool things other people have coded can get you revved up. It certainly helps me.
Before I built my game, I got inspired by reading the Stardew Valley Developer Blog. Seeing how ConcernedApe spent time improving character animations got me thinking. How I could create a great-looking game? How could I add to my work?
After building Rutgers RUMobile, I checked out what other Rutgers students were up to. I attended a project showcase.
