Getting back on the horse

[Subotai]

I am in a slump. I don't really feel like studying or playing much go right now. It bothers me because I do want to study or play but I don't feel like putting in the effort right now.

So the question is how do you reignite your desire to play go? Our passions as all things revolve in cycles and mine is in the wavering end right now. Do you all just wait or is there something that really gets you wanting to play or study go?

[Ortho]

I try to think of dividing my efforts into "improvement" phases and "maintenance" phases. This definitely applies to Go because I don't always have the time or the desire to focus on it enough to really improve. It turns out, in my opinion, that you can maintain your level at stuff (even stuff like how much weight you can lift) by doing far less than you might if you were trying to improve.

So when I'm in this spot, assuming I don't want to quit forever, I try to take a rough estimate of how much it would take me to maintain my current level (which personal experience has shown is maybe 25% or something for me?) and force myself to do that much whether I want to or not. The day always comes when I force myself to do the minimum (say one game of Go/time period) and I decide to play another just for fun and realise my interest has reignited.

[karaklis]

Oh, I know the feeling of reluctance very well that arises when you know, that all your studies seem fruitless (as regards improvement). I had a slump and a go related burnout after a studying period of several months (that was back in 2009, OMG ). What I do about this? Well, while recovering from the burnout by doing nothing go related (except for watching strong players), I am programming my own improvement program (it is supposed to look a bit like ootakamoku's tsumego/fuseki training, but will work differently). The programming will probably take several years (or will never be finished at all), because I don't put much time into it (just a few hours per month), it's more like an action to get rid of my bad conscience. It just makes me feel better.

[moyoaji]

I wrote a poem on the forums here about my feelings when I play go. I called it Time to Go.

Yet, even though I love this game, I do find my passion wavers from time to time. And what always brings me back is remembering why I love this game in the first place. At the start of this week it was a dwyrin lecture on YouTube about a legend88 game. The game made me remember how amazing the game can be when you play calmly and flexibly. As soon as I watched the lecture I just had to play a game, because that style of calmly giving your opponent what they demand in exchange for a victory is so much fun.

Remember the games you won that you are proud of.

Was there a game where you managed to fend off a late invasion with a skillful eye stealing tesuji? Or a game where your opponent allowed you to seal him in, but you let him live locally in exchange for a wall that you turned around and used to crush another group? Or a game where you thought all was lost, but then a well timed move in the late mid-game turned the tide and became a living group that brought back victory from the jaws of defeat? Think of the games that inspired you. The games that wowed you. The games that made you want to send out another challenge or stay for another game at the club.

What memories do you have of these games? And why do you play go?

Remember why you play go.

[PeterN]

I have two main hobbies (plus a bunch of things I don't do enough to call hobbies) and both of them have things that aren't necessarily fun to get through. For go the actual studying part, for tabletop wargaming the preparing miniatures part (mould lines are evil....). I'll either just wait out the cycle to re-appear or throw a lot of effort at one hobby until it annoys me enough to get back into the other, which is probably only hastening the cycle admittedly.

Although if it's a slump to the extent that it no longer feels worth it then I generally need other people to help pick me up, fortunately those are rare and short lived.

PeterN

[Subotai]

Thanks for all of your replies.

I like your poem moyo.

I have purchased a new book and I am going to start reviewing a new pro. Hopefully that will help. Also I am going to start a different problem book. I need to get my life on track. While it isn't crazy or bad or anything like that I could change things that would make it better for all of my activities.