Hey mcnuss...
of course we all do that. For me I just take a break. Although generally the break is enforced by some other commitment and then I can't wait to get back to scrapping. But even when I'm on a roll I'll get to a layout that just isn't inspiring. What I do is first, look around my scrap work area - have I simply let things get out of hand and so can't find what I need? I take a break to clean up. I did this on Saturday. Then if I'm still not motivated to get that particular layout done I just do it. Something simple and journalled but the event is there and I can move on and usually the next thing inspires me.
As for the whole chronilogical question? The answer is yes and no. I work on a variety of books so it isn't totally chrono but within the book it is. Ok, that didn't make a lot of sense. So let me try to explain a bit better. I have made the decision to basically scrap for the kids. Special family trips have their own books but otherwise the books I'm working on are essentially "theirs". DS (my oldest) has his football career in a set of books - nothing else in those but within them they are in essentially chronological order although with a few layouts that highlight a specific memory and may have photos from throughout a season. I have Scout books for both kids. CHronological within the series except in the instanace of DS he took a high adventure trip last summer that is a separate book for just that trip. Then I have their "regular" books. I knew trying to go back to baby days would drive me crazy so I started with high school. The books start with the first day of school their freshman year and include everything else in their lives school and non-school. This does mean I end up scrapping many events twice which I thought might be a pain, but because one is a boy and the other a girl I find myself taking different approaches. The idea is that then when they are established in homes of their own (and DH & I are ready to downsize) all of those books will go to them. Memories will be preserved and no one has to worry about cleaning that stack of stuff out of mom & dad's some day!
Eventually I'll leap frog back and do middle school, elementary, etc but for now this works.
Deb