I'm perhaps different than a lot of the other folks here doing startups. My goal in my entrepreneurship is not to exit to $millions; it is to create a long-term

I'm perhaps different than a lot of the other folks here doing startups. My goal in my entrepreneurship is not to exit to $millions; it is to create a long-term sustainable lifestyle for myself where I am continually doing work that I find interesting and also have have the time to enjoy other pursuits... Viewed through that lens, then as soon as dissatisfaction or a lack of motivation become chronic rather than intermittent, it's clear that something needs to change. It sounds like you have been trying to whip yourself into shape -- trying to create external motivations to push you through tasks you no longer find enjoyable on their own. This isn't sustainable; sooner or later you'll run out. Personally, I: * Don't beat myself up about time spent procrastinating as long as it's reasonable. Brain breaks (I play a lot of go online) are just fine; it's taken me a lot of work to break the "slack off -> guilt -> demotivation -> more slacking off" cycle,. Hint: The solution is not to crank up the "guilt" lever. * I make sure I'm not working too much, even when I'm very excited. Things will still be there tomorrow, and in the sober light of day my 2 am code usually sucks. * I nurture other interests and hobbies, including non-programming ones. I always have a couple of 'learning' side projects going on, and I make sure to go rock climbing (my excercise drug of choice!) at least once a week. * It's always time to change! My business plan (drawn out in Inkscape) looks like a railyard, with lots of potential branches being added. * I always start with high expectations and a huge feature list; I've begun to accept that trimming this back is a natural and inevitable part of actually getting anything done. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to call a 'feature freeze' and get a release out? Like someone else said, a year is a long time to be working in a vacuum. ... Time for me to get back to work and stop being distracted, now. ;)