I've been fortunate enough to not really experience any sort of burnout from teaching or performing. However, there have been those times when I've picked up the guitar and said, "Not Today!" as I set it back down.
When I think back to what was happening during those times I find that the reason for pushing the guitar away happened for one of two reasons. The first has to do with the common feeling of not digging my own playing. No matter what I would play on the instrument I couldn't help but cringe. Ironically, more often not this is followed by a gig where I feel really happy with the way I played!
The second reason has come about due to the stress of the music career itself. I could be on a real kick and feeling great about my practice that is until I consider all of my priorities and wanting to provide for my family to the best of my abilities.
To break myself out of this mindset I have found that not touching the guitar for a day starts to bring back the desire to play it again. Also, if I work on the technical aspect of the instrument, such as scales, patterns, arpeggios, etc., I usually feel the need to do more and explore more. This can be a great tool to disrupt the negative mindset.
In any case, push forward and remember what you felt when you initially started picking up your instrument of choice!
