Dealing with abstract design and diagrams doesn't bother me, but physically writing code feels horrible. I feel like the more I do it, the less confident I feel about it.
It's weird because a year ago I felt the opposite.
For anyone who's felt this way or similar to this: does it go away? How did you handle it?
Small hobby projects were really helpful to gauge where I was at mentally. I had a couple false starts but eventually I managed to convince myself that I could actually do the work and things started being fun again as I rebuilt that confidence.
Not sure how paid work will go but I'm in a lot better place mentally now so I'm hopeful.
Check out Christina Maslach's book The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress.
Edit: work with a therapist if you can! Think of it like hiring a personal trainer for your mental fitness.
- diet - sleep (8 hours minimum, before 10:30pm) - exercise, stay fit - if getting ‘writers block’, change location to a cafe or somewhere. Almost always works wonders - don’t think about work outside working hours, regardless of what you have to do or how urgent it is
If the above doesn’t work for you (it does for me), take up yoga or meditation. The root is mental discipline, knowing when to engage and when not to engage. Burnout comes from engaging too hard for too long.