| I've been working (mostly) solo on an open-source application for the last 5 years (3 years as a side-project, last 2 years full-time). It has been a lot of ups and downs with a burn out in the middle. Among the downs: having FOMO when I wasn't working on the project during week ends, feeling guilty for not spending time with my family when I was working too much on it, feeling lonely and doubting all my decisions, thinking that I will never succeed, thinking that all the user requests/issues are urgent, etc. What helps: - having friends who can help a bit, give advice, or at least accept to be my rubber duck once in a while. It felt less lonely. - understanding that I am in this for the long run, that nothing is really urgent, especially after working on the project for years already. - setting very tiny goals and not expecting much output after a day of work. Instead of considering the release of the next feature as the only goal, I now focus on adding this menu, implementing this endpoint, writing the script for a new tutorial, etc. At the end of the day I have the impression that I did something even if the end goal is still far away. - finding the right balance between building what people want and building something a bit funnier for once even if it's less popular or a "bet" that people will like it. I really dread working on the same things over and over again. - accept that I cannot focus more than 3-5 hours during a day, and that doing some sport in the middle of the day or taking care of my kids is definitely more important and keep me sane. Usually I get back to work refreshed with new ideas. - having positive feedback from users, or growing analytics is keeping me motivated. It must be harder to work on something before its release I guess. I would release as soon as possible to get these signals that what I am doing is making a difference, aven if small. |