What do you do if you’re in a rut?

I’ve always had way more hobbies than time to do them. And, like most of us here, I take hobbies very seriously, or at least tend to dive pretty deeply into them.

I retired at the start of 2021, and looking forward to it, imagined having as much time as I wanted to pursue them; even adding some new potential interests into the possibilities. Somehow, I found sitting in the sun, and reading, (with the occasional doze), became my new, and biggest hobby. That, and daily hikes, and finally having the time, and energy, to play guitar pretty much every day.

I didn’t pick up a soldering iron, a router bit, or pretty much any tool for over a year. (Beyond the minor home repairs that arose.) I wasn’t depressed, I don’t think. I was relaxed. I had just done ~42 years of running a business that was entirely deadline driven, with many deadlines close to unrealistic. My business was based on always delivering on time, top end quality, and while we had to be cost competitive, that was not always plausible if the other two constraints were met. In any case, I realized that I deserved a rest.

We all do. Hobbies are what we do for fun, the little “what if’s” that our lives might have taken. I’m slowly coming round—pedals have been just the right intensity level for me to spend too much time on. (While the more serious (or at least intense and difficult to me) electronics projects I had started pre-retirement, mainly several balanced pre-amps and DACs, are still boxed up.)

You’ll get the initiative to play, and build, again. Life has its rhythms.
 
MichaelW said:
My answer.....is obviously...............build a Telecaster......:)
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I've had a body and neck I had carved sitting for a year now. Really need to get on that.

I understand the space. My building space is a small 5' x 6' "room" under the stairs (no Harry Potter jokes please). My "music room" is a 12x12 basement room. Most of it is filled with and set up for hifi, with guitar stuff jammed in everywhere. so yeah, not a lot of inspiration there.

I tend to go in cycles as well. I haven't done any pedal building or breadboarding for 5 months. 6-9 months is a typical layoff for me for any hobby, including playing the guitar. Although my cameras have been sitting for going on 3 years now. I'm not very good at playing even after 20+ years so it's more frustrating than anything. I still build and buy them though because I like shiny things and I'm a hoarder.
 
I fell out of the swing whilst remodeling our camper and my bench just kind of became a catch all, I really need to get it straightened out, but we've also been playing musical craft spaces here as well. That project is about done now and hopefully I can get back to building more!
 
Well I usually buy another guitar!

jk, seize the day! They are fleeting and numbered. I do something else with just as much vigor as I would make a pedal, play guitar, or rototill the front lawn for reseeding.

Then there are those days, you just have to take a day off and relish the nothingness of being paralyzed by bliss because the day is so beautiful. This never happens to me when it's raining.....
 
The statements in the OP resonate with me.

Haven't picked up the solder-iron in ages, always something else to do.

Somebody on here said I have too many friends, as I'm always helping out others with their car projects or other time-stealing chores.
I don't want to complain to any of them, lest they feel like they can't ask me for help, but...
The other day I realised I'm burnt out and haven't got any of my own stuff done, from home-chores to pedals... circuits that I was really looking forward to building are sitting idle while life just continues to sweep me away in its rush.

Need to
- Build a new pedal
- Finish a bunch of half-arsed attempts at completing some builds
- Ship out some stuff to friends
- Work on some graphics skills, as I have none
- Play music
- Set up a new pedalboard arrangement
- Finish my tele
- Drink more beer, and imbibe good whiskey
- Spend more time with my wife
- Cook more
... ohhh the damn list is endless.
 
All my friends are younger than me but they all have families. I see them once a week for a drink if I'm lucky.

I recently became single and just turned 47. No social life at the moment since I have no one to hang out with and it seems all the cool bars with free live music are gone.

No serious people to play music with as all the people I know are more interested in the rock n roll lifetime than the music if you know what I mean. Tired of looking like a chump on stage because someone in the band was too busy buying beer to learn the songs.
The one guy who was serious moved away from the city and is busy with his wife and his car.

I have a lot of original music but I don't like performing my solo material and finding a drummer and a bassist who can play and want to play my stuff is pretty hard.

Building pedals is expensive so I'm limited to a few builds a year. I have many ideas but parts are expensive and often many countries away. I do lots of learning on forums, breadboarding and commenting here while contributing nothing :)

I recently placed a few orders and I started soldering again. My bench was untouched for months and all my tools were covered in dust. It makes me happy to build again but then I remember these pedals won't see the light until I design and order the enclosures from Tayda, which will take months. And then I still don't have a pedalboard, a power supply and space for all this stuff.

My 20 sqm room looks like a music and electronics store recently went out of business.
That's the perfect metaphor for my life at the moment.

Alright, sorry for the rant. I'm going to the gym now. Leg day should clear my mind.
 
I find it ebbs and flows. I had a series of bad FV-1 builds then moved cities and basically didn't build anything (or chime in much on the forums) for about 2 years. I leaned in to playing more and was happy, thinking I may not bother building much anymore, but the pendulum has started to swing back this way and I find myself curious about new circuits, etc. again.

Whatever the case, I say don't force it and do whatever you're enjoying at the time. The iron will always be there when you're feeling the groove again.
 
p_wats said:
The iron will always be there when you're feeling the groove again.
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Related:

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.

By Henry Rollins https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/articles/the-iron-by-henry-rollins/
 
andare said:
Related:

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.

By Henry Rollins https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/articles/the-iron-by-henry-rollins/
Click to expand...
Damn, Henry Rollins sure liked soldering!
 
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