I don't see that much talking about it, but everyone experiences this sooner or later. That moment when you feel bored, you don't feel like getting your hands on the keyboard. You know you have to do it, it's your main task for the day, but it's just too hard to get the work done.

That's normal. So I wanted to talk about it.

Throughout my learning journey, every now and then I experienced this feeling: some kind of boredom or laziness, a resistance to go sit at the desk and code. No project, not even a console.log, just plain mental block. You know how it feels? It is very disturbing, because it makes you question your goals. I would think that, if I don't feel like coding, maybe I am not really in love with it and in life you always have to do what you love, but that's not quite true, right?. And sometimes this wouldn't go away for a few days.

In my experience, I noticed a few causes:

• I was very overwhelmed when I first started learning to code, because the roadmap looked infinite and my brain couldn't just deal with it and stopped working and pretend he is just bored. I would feel lost for a day or two and then had to force myself into doing it with this trick: I tell myself I will do code, but just for 10 minutes. If I decide to stop after 10 minutes, that's a win anyway. And if I carry on longer, that's even better. And this would end up usually in a 1-3 hours long session.
• Sometimes I would just want to do something else, like playing video games or going for a walk or so. When I miss things, I want to do those things, so then maybe I don't care that much about coding in that very moment. Let's just have some fun, says the brain. It's healthy to allow yourself some distractions regularly.
• There were projects that I got bored of. You know that moment when something small, easy, but repetitive kill the fun completely. You just had enough of coding chores, but feel like you had enough of coding itself entirely. My solution is to temporarily step away from boring stuff and start something fresh.
• Not having enough challenge doesn't keep me as engaged as working on a more difficult project. If it doesn't get my attention, it spoils my overall mood. So I have to dream bigger and push myself doing something more real, even if I don't know where to start. That challenge is the fuel.
• Sometimes I just need some rest. If I am tired, I will only stare at my computer and even get a headache from having too much.

Now when I experience this feeling, I am just more aware. I ask a lot of questions and dig deep into the causes. And I remind myself that, just because I have a bad day, doesn't mean I don't love what I do.

So I am curious, what are your reflections on these days when you are not in the mood for coding? What do you think about it and what do you do to get back on track?

• Take the day off?
• Force yourself into just doing it?
• Feelig confused and guilty about it?

I would love to hear your thoughts, from a beginner or a seasoned dev perspective. Share what you think in the comments and let's learn from each other stories!