[bitops]

Take five weeks off and don't engage with work in any way. Don't program, don't read technical books, no nothing. Slow down and let yourself feel the toll the amount of work you've done has taken on you.

If you give yourself a lot of space and maybe try something new and different (kayaking, mountain biking, running, painting, music, whatever) an inspiration will come to you. You've obviously gained a lot of experience and are ready for something new. But you have to give yourself a healthy amount of room for the real creative energy to return.

Good luck!

[xyyyrz]

Thanks for commenting!

I've been thinking about a sabbatical type deal, though I'm concerned if I don't have focus, that'll be very challenging (and potentially put me into a depressive spiral if I'm not programming). I have a strong desire to build something, so perhaps painting or some other constructive hobby would help.

[karlkatzke]

If you have the desire to build something and you need a sabbatical, have you considered a volunteer service trip of some sort? It need not take you out of the country; I haven't looked recently, but last time I was considering something similar there were week+ long projects building homes for the poor in New Orleans, building or maintaining hiking trails all along the Appalachian Trail and many other forest projects, and all kinds of other things local and national. You may need to acquire supplies and transport yourself to a pickup site, but they typically provide food and tools.

This does three things: It gets you out of the office and away from your email. (When doing what I call an "away trip" -- yes, nerdy -- I have either put my smart phone's SIM card into a dumb phone or given everyone a separate phone number to reach me at a prepaid cell phone. I leave the phone off the majority of the time, and instruct them to leave a voicemail and I will call them back when I get around to it.) It gets you away from the cycle of HN, Reddit, and other news sites. And last, it gives you something tangible that you can look back and say that you built.

Trips I've done have included building mountain bike trails, gathering a large group of friends from a small HN-like forum to help clean out a forum member's estranged mother's house. She'd become a hoarder in her old age, and filled a beautiful 3,000 sq. ft. mansion in rural Illinois with ... stuff. But every piece had to be sorted and evaluated, because there were many collector's items and valuable things hidden, like silver dollars from the early 1900s stuffed into a pillow that seemed strangely heavy. Eight people sorted and moved enough stuff out to fill 40 cu. yd. dumpster per day, and fixed enough of the plumbing issues to prevent further damage to the house. It was pretty filthy work, it was insanely exhausting, and it created a very tight bond between some special people. Seeing, and having the community's support for it, left me refreshed and ready to return to work.

[bigiain]

I have found a "happy place" for me in programming _very_ small systems – most powerfully from a personal satisfaction/joy point of view, stuff without an OS. Arduino, Teensy, bare ATmega168s and ATtinys – coded in either the Arduino "java-alike" language, bare (no libraries) C, or actual raw assembler. Current projects include hacking on the Ardupilot quadcopter control code, a data logger for my coffee grinder (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6722839301/) and an Arduino driving a pair of cameras on pan tilt mounts to feed into some Processing/OpenCV code.

I find once I jump up to a RaspberryPi/BeagleBoard scale device with a whole Linux OS onboard, it starts to seem a little too much like "work".

From a "making things" perspective, I get _heaps_ of inspiration from the Arduino forums, my local hackerspace (both in-person at the space, as well as via the mailing list), and my local DorkBot group (again, both meetings and mailing list).

What works for me might not be what you need – but if you've got a drive to code and make stuff, tinkering on the borders of the tech and art worlds is fun…

[xyyyrz]

Thanks bigiain. I have been mainly a Windows engineer for a while now, though I'm feeling increasingly uncomfortable about my skill level on Windows (very high, imho) against my skill level on Linux (I can't hack Linux with the best of them unfortunately) is off balance. I've spent some time hacking on Android (recently) and have a history with embedded systems, but again not at a level I'm comfortable with. I've also been thinking a lot about 3d printing and how that intersection can yield new opportunities.

Totally think the intersection of tech and art or tech & other fields is a good way to reach some balance, maybe it's time to pick up a Pi...

[bitops]

You're welcome! Good idea on the painting. If you want to keep your focus (which is a good thing) then something creative away from the computer is probably a good idea.

There are tons and tons of things that overlap with programming in terms of creative focus. Writing, painting, etc. are all great.

I'd also recommend finding a way to spend time outside. Our brains get a little square sometime from sitting inside all day looking at the screen. I've had a lot of creative ideas while hiking or sitting by the ocean (when it's not crowded).