You may take some solace in this older article by Joel Spolsky, who speaks of the same issue: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/ https:/

You may take some solace in this older article by Joel Spolsky, who speaks of the same issue: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/ On a personal note, this exact thing happened to me two weeks ago, I literally couldn't start any task, regardless of whether it was coding related or not. For background, I have a history of depression and anxiety, and have several life challenges at play in my personal life (not forgetting Covid lockdowns and the remote working that entails). What I did: The next day I spoke to my manager and took the rest of the week off sick. I then booked an appointment with my GP and re-started my antidepressive medication that I had been off for 4 years, and was signed up to a course of 8 counselling sessions (paid for by the state). Felt great coming back to work, but that was largely psychosomatic / feeling refreshed from the time away. I spoke to my manager again, explained the situation, and asked him for some patience while the medication kicks in (4-6 weeks), and I ramp slowly back up to my usual workload. My past failing was wanting to power through these times with sheer will power, or try to find a 'silver bullet' reason for why I was feeling the way I did. I now believe that a strategy of 1) personal coping mechanisms, 2) medication (if appropriate for you), 3) counselling, and 4) realising that sometimes these feelings will come and go occasionally no matter what you do, and you just have to ride it out the best you can.