What do you do if you’re in a rut?

Nostradoomus

Nostradoomus

Well-known member
Realized I haven’t really picked up my iron or fired up the laser for months despite ordering boards a-plenty!

I’ve always told myself and others that creativity and hobbies are things you have to absolutely show up for…what do you do when you just can’t seem to?

It’s always been a bit of a cycle with me, flourishes of go go go followed by a bit of down time. Now it seems the down time is just never ending!

(Not meant to be a bummer post if it comes off that way, I’m good otherwise! 😂)
 
vigilante398 said:
Play the guitar. 🎸

I spend way too much time building and I hardly every find time to just sit down and play. Take advantage of it while you have it.
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Ahhh yes, the first love above all else. I find that a challenge as well, not really a big fan of how creative/inspiring my living space is (it’s tiny and cramped) and it kinda puts a damper on everything.

Huh, I think I just cracked the code 😂
 
Nostradoomus said:
Ahhh yes, the first love above all else. I find that a challenge as well, not really a big fan of how creative/inspiring my living space is (it’s tiny and cramped) and it kinda puts a damper on everything.

Huh, I think I just cracked the code 😂
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I've the same problem with space, but I (try to) make do

Burnout and lack of inspiration are some things that frequently plague me, but when they do, I typically just step away and pick up a video game or read for a bit. By a bit, I usually mean about a week or two. Something that doesn't actively involve creating music or sound sculpting seem to help alleviate it best for mw
 
I have always found that changing my creativity boundaries helped.

Restrict yourself to a pedal board you would never choose, you can always make useful sounds no matter what.
Play in complete darkness, accept the bum notes.
Change your genre. Doom-head? Try some sarcastic country. Hair-rock? Maybe ambient space sounds..

The most productive time I had recently was when I ran out of key components and couldn't build for a while, so I started rotating in those pedals which I never really attached to. I may still not be attached, but I found some useful tones which inspired me.
 
szukalski said:
I have always found that changing my creativity boundaries helped.

Restrict yourself to a pedal board you would never choose, you can always make useful sounds no matter what.
Play in complete darkness, accept the bum notes.
Change your genre. Doom-head? Try some sarcastic country. Hair-rock? Maybe ambient space sounds..

The most productive time I had recently was when I ran out of key components and couldn't build for a while, so I started rotating in those pedals which I never really attached to. I may still not be attached, but I found some useful tones which inspired me.
Click to expand...

This is good. Definitely circles back to “ya gotta show up”.
 
You mentioned not feeling inspired by your space.

There was a post recently about clean vs messy workbenches and what you can infer about their owners personalties or mental states. When I’m in a hobby rut, I think it helps to spend some time working to improve my work space - cleaning, organizing, solving problems around inventory, or tools, or lighting. Seeing a space that’s ready to go can give me a push to get started.
 
Erik S said:
You mentioned not feeling inspired by your space.

There was a post recently about clean vs messy workbenches and what you can infer about their owners personalties or mental states. When I’m in a hobby rut, I think it helps to spend some time working to improve my work space - cleaning, organizing, solving problems around inventory, or tools, or lighting. Seeing a space that’s ready to go can give me a push to get started.
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Absolutely true. I do believe I suffer from the inattentive style of ADHD so my space has always had a penchant for organized chaos, but it’s never really been an issue thus far…could be it at the moment though.
 
I am also pretty sensitive to the space I have and to “barriers”: the more steps it takes me to get soldering or playing guitar, the harder it is to do it. For that reason I now keep my iron and vise on my desk and other tools just in a cabinet nearby. I also have my guitars hanging on the walls so picking them up is as easy as it gets. I find those things to greatly increase my motivation. It’s harder if your space doesn’t allow for that though.
 
Don't worry about it. I think every passion/hobby has ups and downs in terms of interest from time to time. It's normal and the day will come when inspiration strikes again. I used to build all the time and when I took a step back and focused on quality over quantity I realized that I enjoyed building more when I was doing 3 things: 1. Doing it less, and playing more/doing other things. 2. Focusing on quality and building at the highest level I could. 3. Building only things that were in my wheelhouse. I spent a lot of time building everything, most of which I was never gonna play and that was really wasteful. Focusing on what I would actually use made it way more exciting. So don't be in such a rush, maybe you need the break, it's healthy to walk away and come back refreshed. There are lots of ideas above to strike up inspiration, just don't feel the need to compulsively build, it kills all the fun after so long...trust me, I know.
Also, not sure if this applies to you, but I don't know who else here needs to see this. I feel seen 🥶🥴🤡😂 Screenshot_20230515-191711.png
 
I’ve gone through this as well. Life happens. Sometimes you’re too busy doing things for others and you can do the things you love yourself. Other times I get hyper focused on building/playing for a number of weeks (maybe months) until I feel a little burnout or when it isn’t fun anymore. Then I’ll set it aside for a while until the inspiration comes back. It always does. It’s just a matter of when. I’ve been playing on and off for 20 years (crap, I’m old) and took a roughly 5 year break from playing because I was going to grad school at night, planning my wedding, and prepping for my accounting exams. Once that was all done I sat on my ass and did nothing productive after work or on weekends. Eventually my wife said “aren’t you going to play your guitar? You’ve been talking about it for years but always said you don’t have time.” That was the inspiration I needed to get off my butt and do something. Taking a 5 year break, my chops were horrible but they came back in only 2 weeks or so. Playing was my hobby for a while until I bought my house (COVID also happened around then). I was torn between 2 camps: work on my house or work on my hobbies. This was also the time I started pedal building so I was REALLY torn, but I set time aside for both. Working on my house turned into a fun project and I discovered new hobbies such as woodworking. As I said before, life happens. Your inspiration/motivation will happen when you least expect it.

It’s ok that you’re not building right now. Maybe you’ve built all the effects you need right now. Just keep moving in life and your hobbies will return when you’re ready.
 
Good points about your space. Sometimes a big tidy up and revamp can work wonders.

I go down rabbit holes chasing tones - which is why I got into this in the first place. Once I come up with a few decent solutions I look up again and wonder what I will do next. Something always comes along. For example I've been listening to a lot of Beatles and McCartney the past few years and trying to chase down some key Beatles/McCartney sounds. The sound of the electric guitar in the intro to Band on the Run is a sound I've chased for years and I think I've finally cracked it, or close to it. Before that it was the ultimate overdrive for a Gretsch; something which allowed that great clucky Gretsch sound to come out but still keep twangy on the low strings. Not as easy as you'd think. But the Timbreman has cracked that one.

Finessing sounds is what keeps me going with this. Not just building a pedal as written but finding something good and making it as perfect as it can be for me. And this place has been key by giving me access to some people who know a truckload more about this stuff than I ever will.

And sometimes it's finding something else creative to do while you're waiting to want to build a pedal again. I've built tables, back decks, motorcycles and amplifiers between building pedals.
 
Nostradoomus said:
Realized I haven’t really picked up my iron or fired up the laser for months despite ordering boards a-plenty!

I’ve always told myself and others that creativity and hobbies are things you have to absolutely show up for…what do you do when you just can’t seem to?

It’s always been a bit of a cycle with me, flourishes of go go go followed by a bit of down time. Now it seems the down time is just never ending!

(Not meant to be a bummer post if it comes off that way, I’m good otherwise! 😂)
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My answer.....is obviously...............build a Telecaster......:)
 
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