Burn Out

[Montuhotep]

I'm wondering how many other people have this problem and what you all do to try and shake yourself out of it?

 

In this room I am currently sitting in I am surrounded by many 100's of £'s of GW and FW kits in either blisters, boxes or packets awaiting assembly. I even have an army list to fulfill with it all.

 

 But do I do any of it? Not a chance and it's been that way for months.

 

It's not as even I'm short of ideas either; I've been grabbbing pics and ideas from Jeff Tibbets, Poom, K-sci, Flint and goodness knows how many others of you. But as to actually doing anything? Not so much.

 

So, how do YOU get around this situation?

[Larkyn]

I find myself with this very problem. Even taking into consideration the depression and other issues I've been having, I have lots and lots of models sitting unassembled. Off the top of my head, I've got a 3,000 point Dark Eldar army, some odd amount of regular Eldar, a hundred or so Cadians, a hundred or so Catachans, a Space Marine strike force (the older, bigger box) along with a few other things, a metric ton's worth of Forge World Heresy stuff, and a Wood Elf army.

Will I ever get any of this done? Not likely.

[Atia]

I know what you mean, not for the overall hobby, but some specific projects/armies (a good example is my reaver titan who is currently shelved, or my Salamanders), especially if you have a lot of the same stuff on your desk, mostly troop choices who look more or less the same.

 

What i do if i have enough from a specific project/model - i start to build (and maybe paint) a new one, make some conversions, write some lists, or just read the background. I often switch between projects, delay some or paint some side projects between big blobs of my armies - after all, the hobby should make fun, and if you aren't that interested in your current project, you won't do it that great (or atleast that's my oppinion). 

 

A big inspiration are FW books or new releases for me - an expample for that would be Betrayal at Calth, which ties in pretty good with my Khorne Daemons and let me start to plan on Ultramarines and Word Bearers ZM forces. Another would be AoS or Dungeon Saga - things that excite me and want me to start new things. 

 

PS:

Don't feel bad for having a bunch of not assembled stuff - i probably have more than you, but our stuff doesn't get bad - you still can build it when you are in the right mood for it ^.^

[Firepower]

It generally comes in bursts of a few weeks, when I finally get bored of whatever video game I've been binge playing.

That, and painting competitions/challenges on the BnC.

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

Tbh i havent had that many to build projects but ive been trying to repaint my army since 2010 ish. And still only half way done so that does happen.

 

That and i get interested in another aspect of the hobby. Say a gaming table with terrain, felt mat and what not.

[Prot]

I get through this if I've taken a long enough break by pushing myself through a project.

 

It really is that simple. You say to yourself, I have this squad I want to complete. I know tomorrow between the hours of X and Y I have time to paint. 

 

You force yourself at first. It can be that difficult... it feels like forcing yourself to do something you don't actually feel like doing. Often there's a subconscious block going on... too much to do? Not happy with how it's turning out? Feeling like you'd rather be simply doing something else? It can be a pile of stuff, but you get through it by committing to that first time. Then the second time....

 

At first, it is very hard. But you force yourself for the first while, then what happens is you see results... you take an interest in a nearly finished squad that started as a painful project. Then you see how close you are to the finish, and it gets a lot more interesting.

 

That's it in a nutshell, and I think after 15 years of playing and painting in this hobby I feel very confident in giving you that answer. 

 

If you want to see it in action, just look at any of my links below. Look at my Ultramarine's hobby thread. That has been a mamoth project that I have several of these moments. No lie... probably 40-50% of the stuff you will see painted there is through the exact process I illustrate above.

 

And I'm not passing you lip service here. This is tried and true stuff. If you really want to continue with the hobby you do what I set out for you above and you will finish stuff. 

[Grotsmasha]

Black Library's  Audio Dramas do it for me. There's nothing like bolter fire and revving chainswords to get the motivation flowing.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Disciple of Caliban Sgt]

I find if I don't actually get games in I lose almost all motivation. No games no painting. If you can get more games in it might help not entirely sure.

[Subtle Discord]

As someone prone to distraction and procrastination, all I can suggest is...

 

Pick. One. Project.

 

You've made the mistake of adding so many models to the list of things to do, there's just no place to start that doesn't feel daunting. (In my opinion) Close it all out, and carefully consider one thing you will make your focus. Let yourself drift and do other things when you're needing a distraction, but always return to the one project until it's done. Rinse-and-Repeat until you see some actual progress and start to feel less daunted because you can look to something actually finished for motivation.

 

It will be up to you just what the scope of the each 'One' will be, from a serious character, to a squad, a vehicle, or a small section of an army. Again, don't let this stop you from taking distraction breaks, but remember to return to the Project once you've got it out of your system.

[Father Mehman]

My method for eliminating the Wall is to work on something else or, barring that, wait it out. I'll write fluff, work on my Index Astartes, go see and leave posts on other people's threads/blogs/whatever these things are, or go paint some AoS.

 

When everything goes black and Old Night comes again, it consumes you totally. There is no breathing. There is no running. I open my mouth but find that I cannot scream. That's the Wall. Mix in Seasonal Affective Disorder (whose acronym is SAD...), Bipolar II-Heavy Depressive type, and a slew of other things, you'd think a hobby wall wouldn't be that pressing of an issue. Incorrect. The Wall must be destroyed before one can continue on the path to the righteous hobby grounds.

 

Anyway, enough of that maudlin talk. I see much merit in what Atia, Prot, and Grotsmasha have already said. Personally, I utilize what they do each time the Wall hits. There is no right way for any one person and there are multiple things that one person has to do to overcome.

 

So, you have some more psychological tools for your mental tool belt. Hope what I said helps if even just a little bit, my friend.

[The Acid Dog]

I've got a couple tools. Like others said, pick a project, most importantly one I want to work on/keep thinking about. If I can feel the burnout coming, I finish what I'm working on, be it a single model or a squad, and then take a break for a little while and try doing things that'll reignite my inspiration, like reading, writing, and checking out other people's work.

As a recent example, I've got a pretty good sized (2000+ pts) army of Salamanders, and after the initial rush I just could not pick them up to work on them. So I shelved them, and then just this past Friday I had a game set up, and I decided to bring them out. As of today I've finished painting my Salamanders Termie Chaplain that's been sitting primed for 4+ months.

If none of that works, chastise the flesh for its weakness and force it to bend to your will. Remove and replace it with the sacred machine if its protestations persist.

[Black_out]

Painting challenges and pledges on this forum have really helped me get even a few small things done from time to time.

 

That being said there's nothing wrong with taking a break. Sometimes it's actually for the best and eventually you'll turn around, dig your stuff back out and get some more work done.

 

For me the last break I took was almost 6 months.

[ElectricPaladin]

I do this for fun. When it's not fun, I don't do it. I play a bunch of different games, and when Game A starts to bore me, I focus on Game B for a while. If a project no longer fills me with joy, I abandon it - if I've left an army on a back burner for long enough, I'll sell it, or trade it, or hell - give it away.

 

It's important not to fall into the "good money after bad" fallacy. Your collection is valuable because it brings you joy. It's monetary value is completely secondary to that characteristic. If it doesn't bring you joy, it's only so much jelled together dinosaur goo.

 

When they studied burnout among therapists working with at-risk and high-need communities - such as foster kids - they discovered that the number one cause of burnout was feeling out of control. When it seems like your hobby is running you, you start wanting to disengage from it. Well, YOU are the boss. Get rid of the :cuss that you don't really want anymore. You'll feel better.

[Subtle Discord]

I've been out for years, more than once, before getting the itch (that turned into a rash of sorts) to start building and painting again. As said, there's nothing wring with taking a break and doing other things. Table Top Gaming is great and an excellent hobby, but life is full of things worthy of time and consideration. Wheels within wheels, things move in cycles many times.

[Canadian_F_H]

I find the key for me is to set little goals. Like assemble 1 guy a day...

 

Or make one paint step across a squad a day...

 

The other thing that helps is playing games... If I know a game is coming I want my army to look good when I get there... And if it doesn't, I'll work hard to make up for it next time...

[Slips]

I'm just slowly getting back from mine which happened over the summer +/- near the end of this years ETL.

 

its slow going, getting back into it but, hey, can't force yourself to do anything you dont want to ESPECIALLY when it relates to a hobby.

 

I'll get around to it when I'm particularly inspired or when I need to get away from it all and tunnel vision on something for a few hours.

[Bung]

Try to find a better game, which is actually fun to play, dont bother with GW stuff again. ;)

[White Wolf]

There is a lot of merit in all of the above answers.

I've got a pile of stuff to get through, much more than you I can assure you.

I approach it one unit or one tank at a time - don't bite off too much to start with - the key is forming a habit - this takes about two weeks of constantly doing something to form a habit - once you've done this you've pretty much cracked it. If you handle it in bite sized chunks rather than trying to approach it as a whole army it will be easier.

I have a lot of trouble due to real life (demanding job and family) which limits my hobby time - I also have problems with fatigue in the evenings - it can be really hard to motivate yourself when you just want to go to bed and curl up with a good book.

One of my main motivators has been signing up for the HH Throne of Skulls - it means I absolutely have to get an useable army by January. B and C painting vows can work the same way.

If it's too much for you still get rid of some stuff and concentrate on smaller units piecemeal - it will seem much easier when you only have four units to paint for example, rather than four armies..... Wargamers are terrible for accumulating stuff they'll never use - I know - I've been doing it for nearly forty years.....

You'll find something that works for you - above all don't despair and remind yourself you're doing this to have fun - otherwise why do it....

ATB WW

[SW1]

I'm currently doing the tale of 18 and writing fluff pieces for all the units/characters I'm building.

 

It's a slow and steady approach but it's getting me going.

[Iron-Daemon Forge]

I've been though two burn out's. 

 

• Art course in college during 2003-2004.  Pretty much just found the course really dull & boring.  Just never felt like painting models or get any drawing done after complete the course for a while.  I've still not really done any drawing since then.
• Having to deal with a soul/hobby destroying person.

First & foremost, this is a hobby that meant for fun.  What broke me out of the second one was - Call of Chaos.  I still had a lot models to complete & Chaos is my main & favrout army in Warhammer 40,000.  So having the dead line help.  But I did take some time off before making that push to get all my models painted.

 

Also another thing for me is.  I hate using unpainted models in my games & made it into a habit on using games against friends & going to event as a way to complete those models.  Just for me, using unpainted models if off putting & I find I often drop a army after a set amount time, losing intrest.  But armies I have fully painted, I really enjoy using in games & after great epic battle's I want to add more to my army.

I always try aim to get a unit, tank or model painted with in a few days.  I don't want to spend a month painting a weapon of one model for exsample.

 

There was a video posted on the Hours Heresy painting & model facebook group where Mark Bedford (seem to be taken during a Forge World open day?) talk about army painting & just get into that mind set

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x1uNh0teko&feature=youtube.be

 

This is just from my own experience.  Also find painting a random model to be great as well to break up.  So, by this I mean if your painting up a whole company of Ultramarines.  It maybe worth just pick up a random squad or model just to paint because you like it, doesn't need to be for any army you collect.

[Canadian_F_H]

I find that stowing away all but the most important projects helps foster focus... Especially if it's more inconvenient to dig out the low priority stuff...

[SW1]

Another thing that's helping get me motivated is sortin out my bitz boxes. Hard work but really worth it. ;)

[JeffTibbetts]

Weird to hear my name pop in like that. Thanks for the shout-out, of sorts. 

 

As for motivation, I guess I can only mention how I operate as you've had tons of great answers. I too am incredibly slow and sitting on piles of sprue gray kits. I tend to NOT focus on one project at a time, as opposed to what Subtle suggested. I think it's a good policy, but it's never really worked for me. Typically I'll be working through something slowly, and then I'll get a bug to just up and build something else. It usually works pretty well, as I bounce between several projects at once. There's usually one I'm doing under some deluded idea that I may someday actually play a game (my scouts and LSS right now), and I want to run the model(s). Then there's one I'm trying to find the right bit for and convert or find the right artistic expression to do it justice (Loricatus Land Raider). Then there's something I see online that inspires me to grab some older model and finally get to it (my recently finished Ironclad Dreadnought). At the same time, I'm also magnetizing the weapons on two Storm Talons, still have a Storm Raven in pieces, and I randomly started assembling another Rhino like a month or two ago.

 

I'm a mess, but the truth is a lot of times I'm looking for a project I can mess around with on the couch while my wife plays Fallout 4, for example, or just going through my bits collection and seeing what weird/interesting things I can come up with. I guess I just mess around with as many projects as I like, because I'm not working towards a tournament or deadline. It never really feels like work. Even when I signed up for the Dreadtober challenge it didn't feel like work, it inspired me to really focus on one thing and it was novel enough to hold me, being a month long max.  

 

What a rambling response. TL;DR is "don't worry so much about what you need to do. Grab what interests you right now"

[Pinkn0ise]

For me it's mostly the painting.

It's all in the preparations to get motivated!

• Pick a project you always wanted to do for a long time or make an achievable to do list for a month.
• Prepare the project with all the needs so you can just start off anytime! Project box for example.
• Create a place downstairs in the livingroom where you can easily start and stop.
• Make it yourself comfortable. Grab a beer, put some music on in the background or your favorite serie.
• Think ahead! Mostly, you have some responsibilities, but before you do them, place your project on the table so you can start any moment. When you've done what you needed to do, you can just shove on and get started.

These are my ways to increase the chance of finishing stuff!

 

 

PS. Put the models/boxes out of sight when you're currently not on the project.

[Montuhotep]

Weird to hear my name pop in like that. Thanks for the shout-out, of sorts.

You do such excellent work, how could I not mention you?