Soon as you’ve been in SharePoint for a couple of years, you hit a slump.  You get bored with what you’re doing, stuck in your ways and start irritating yourself.

That’s because you’ve hit a comfort zone – and it’s a very seductive place to be. It’s fine to wallow there for a while because you can’t be flying at full tilt all the time, you would fall over from exhaustion.  Similarly, staying in a comfort zone too long could lead you to depression. Everything works in cycles and sometimes you’re at the top of the wave, sometimes you’re at the bottom.  It’s perfectly normal – one place is a state of adrenalin, the other a state of rest.

When you’re rested and ready to move again, try these :

1. Attend a conference – there is no surer way to re-energise you and re-ignite your passion for SharePoint.  There are so many people and cool speakers and new ideas that it’s impossible not to be swept up in it. It’s worth the money.  No budget?  Attend a SharePoint Saturday, they’re free.

2. Take leave – sometimes you just need to get away from it all and take a break.  A proper break, not just one afternoon. Go somewhere in nature where you can see a view and just completely lose yourself. Don’t think about work at all.  You need to get perspective.

3. Learn something new and apply it – stretch yourself.  You can already create the custom lists, libraries and views and all that.  Go have a look at the web parts available and see what they do.  Find a great business use for them and go build them! Research the hell out of them, figure out what’s cool about them and what isn’t.

4. Teach – show a bunch of beginners SharePoint.  When those eyes light up and they get so excited seeing a group by for the first time, it’s hard not to smile and get excited with them.  See the world through new eyes and appreciate how cool the tool really is.

5. Phone a friend – arrange a lunch with your 3 favourite go-to SharePoint people, and spend the whole afternoon talking shop over a glass of wine or something.  Get all your frustrations out by complaining about everything, then drop the story and get on with it. Get some new ideas from your peeps, bond, relax, brainstorm.  And take notes on your phone so that you remember the next day in case the wine won. 😉