I'm in my 40s and I have a long string of complete side projects.
The key is to have a project you know is worthwhile and will tickle your curiosity for long periods of time... So even if you burn out, you come back to it.
I go through intense weeks of productive work followed, sometimes, by months of dust covers.
Also it's important to understand that creative energy is hormonal. Some weeks you can't look at a youtube video because you have to do X; some weeks you can't open a code editor if you're not paid for it and just want to netflix and chill. It's normal.
But if the problem at hand is worth your while, if it's interesting to you personally, you'll go back to it and resume intense focus work; maybe with a different approach.
If you totally gave up and you don't want to look at it anymore, it's probably because your inner-senses tell you it's not worthwhile. So you might need some re-convincing or maybe it's just a dead fish, move on. Money is a great motivator, so when the work is unpaid, the value has to come from somewhere else, and that's usually the importance of the project to you personally.
> I go through intense weeks of productive work followed, sometimes, by months of dust covers.
It seems this is a theme in the replies, and it's refreshing to hear because it matches my experience. But it's nice to hear since I was worried this was abnormal.
The key is to have a project you know is worthwhile and will tickle your curiosity for long periods of time... So even if you burn out, you come back to it.
I go through intense weeks of productive work followed, sometimes, by months of dust covers.
Also it's important to understand that creative energy is hormonal. Some weeks you can't look at a youtube video because you have to do X; some weeks you can't open a code editor if you're not paid for it and just want to netflix and chill. It's normal.
But if the problem at hand is worth your while, if it's interesting to you personally, you'll go back to it and resume intense focus work; maybe with a different approach.
If you totally gave up and you don't want to look at it anymore, it's probably because your inner-senses tell you it's not worthwhile. So you might need some re-convincing or maybe it's just a dead fish, move on. Money is a great motivator, so when the work is unpaid, the value has to come from somewhere else, and that's usually the importance of the project to you personally.