No motivation to do anything!

[CloudyHead]

For almost 30 years, I have lived life at 100 MPH - work, kids, family, relationship.  My work keeps me mentally challenged and the kids are involved in activities and its my daughter's senior year of high school.  I feel like I hit a brick wall.  My field of practice is shut down until June 1st by state mandate so the phone is not ringing, work has come to almost a stop.  Some of my colleagues have laid off employees and shut down their offices.  This is the perfect opportunity to get my work organized, office organized, take care of projects that I have put off, etc but I cannot get motivated to do so.  I used to be up at 5:30 AM and out the door at 7:00 AM.  Now, it is a struggle to get up at 7:00 AM because there is no reason to get up - there is nothing pressing for me to do!  And, I know I will be angry at myself for wasting this time and opportunity once we get on the other side of this crisis, however, I just cannot get myself going.  Anyone else struggling with this?  Any suggestions on motivating oneself?

[nospam99]

Same problem. No suggestion .... for you or for me. My suggestion to the tone-deaf government leaders is to make the shutdown mandates more granular. Rather than shutting down states, shut down only the counties or even the towns where the shut down is justified. Isolate the people who are carrying the virus, not the apparently vast majority who are not. But of course that's just wishful thinking on my part. It's too much easier and gets better press to execute the nuclear option.

[simpycurious]

Cloudy, you gotta PUSH yourself.  The mind is capable of so much more than you realize.  There are so many people in different industries going through this.  I could use all sorts of athletic examples but the bottom line is YOU MUST DO IT.  So many coaches, motivational speakers, etc. talk about playing or working with a sense of urgency and it's appropriate in these times. You can do it, you have it deep inside of you just BELIEVE.

[clia]

Make a list of everything you hope to accomplish.  Get as granular as you want with it -- e.g., organize main junk drawer, clean hall closet, clean tupperware cabinet, organize file cabinet, organize shelves in garage, clean master closet, organize bookshelves in den, etc.  I don't recommend as broad as "clean office" because something like that can feel like a lot.  Instead, break it down into the various tasks involved in cleaning the office.  

Each day make it your goal to do one thing on the list.

I've found committing to doing just one thing makes it seem less daunting, especially since I can knock out many things on the list in less than an hour.  And what I've found is that once I get going on one thing, I'm often inspired to do one or two other things on the list.  But if I don't want to continue, I don't feel like I have to since I've at least accomplished something.

It might seem like it will be slow going, but as the days pile on, you will be surprised at how much gets done.       

[preraph]

You needed a rest.  

[Gaeta]

Modivation will come once you get moving. 

Get up early, get showered and dressed as if you'd need to get to work. Put up-beat music on and start the 1st thing on your to-do list, motivation will come. 

 

[Ellener]

1 hour ago, CloudyHead said:

Now, it is a struggle to get up at 7:00 AM because there is no reason to get up - there is nothing pressing for me to do!  And, I know I will be angry at myself for wasting this time and opportunity once we get on the other side of this crisis, however, I just cannot get myself going. 

For me if there are outstanding things to do and I'm not doing them I have to look at why.

For example I'm super-avoidant at anything with paperwork. It was so stressful to emigrate years ago and reams and reams of forms, then to learn how to do all the paperwork stuff like taxes in another country/state...and I think I have a few learning difficulties with numbers anyway, I often mix them up and write things down wrong. So I have to give myself extra time and do things in stages. And it's just me now, but when I was married my husband would be very crttical, so I have to be gentle with myself if I make mistakes.

I too find if I break things down into small chunks they get done a bit at a time, but when I decided to tackle the paperwork which had been dogging me since it all got either thrown away or shoved randomly into a big box after Harvey- it was a real mess. I got several small trays and separated it out. It took about two weeks of on/off attention but I did it. And my taxes. 

And some of it was emotional, reliving the flood and the financial and emotional trauma.

Keeping busy 24/7 with other people was how I often coped with marriage and parenting, it numbed things I needed to face and change I suppose.

When I found myself with an empty nest, no home or projects I threw myself into work instead. Which was useful, but I still hadn't got to the bottom of my issues so I went to counselling and took up a holistic lifestyle. I had to learn how to be alone with myself I think, I never had been before.

It's been a challenge for me the pandemic, my house share went off the deep end for the first month with alcohol. I've been patient with her but not let it de-rail me. Most of my stuff is moved out awaiting a new home, which I am looking for via internet and phone calls, not ideal. Another emotion-charged pursuit, I've had so many homes over the years and my adult son doesn't want to make a home with me- but might have to live with me depending on the job situation! So I can't just do what's best for me...again!

What are your family doing, how are they coping with the pandemic situation? 

 

 

 

[dangerous]

Quote

 

Nothing wrong with taking a break. When things come back, most of us will be as busy (or busier) than ever! 

Your guilt is either deep routed (in which case you need to evaluate your life and priorities?) or its just a period of adjustment, try to relax.

[CloudyHead]

I have always been motivated in life until now.  Yes, we all get moments when we are overwhelmed or lose our focus but I'm usually able to "snap out" of those moments.   This period of malaise (for lack of a better word) has lingered.  Breaking down things to do in small amounts makes sense and I will try that suggestion.  I try to avoid the news as much as possible.  Ugh.  

[CloudyHead]

@dangerous - I don't think I have guilt about anything.  I may feel fear for the future . . . fear that the economy will collapse and the life I have worked hard to attain will be lost.  

[Ellener]

2 hours ago, CloudyHead said:

I try to avoid the news as much as possible.  Ugh.  

Well you're doing something right!

[simpycurious]

Cloudy, please keep your chin up and BLOCK OUT THE NOISE..

[contel3]

I have been in isolation for almost two months now. To say the least it's been rough. Especially the beginning. I feel fine now, but the first month was filled with an incredible sense of dread, of not knowing how long this will last, fear that things will never be the same and everything I have worked for will collapse….I didn't do ANYTHING productive for the first two weeks. Don't beat yourself up about that. This is a new situation for all of us and processing things emotionally will drain your energy for a while.

Several things helped me. 

- When I felt overwhelmed, I took time off, did breathing exercises, exercised in front of the tv or if I was too tired to do that gentle stretching or yoga. Anything that calms your nervous system down helps. 

- Calling friends and family.

- Breaking things up into small chunks.

- Sleep.

- Find things that make you happy, whatever those may be. Try to find sources of hapiness and things to be grateful about.

If you push yourself to be too productive, it might backfire on you. Try to assess where you are and start from there. When you feel overwhelmed, take a break. Then continue. Remember that you are doing those things for yourself, because they will make you feel better. After a while things will start to feel easier.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by contel3

[FMW]

I've had similar discussions with my friends - we're all feeling the lack of motivation right now.  We all had pretty active lives and were out and about most of the time.  It all came to a screeching halt.  I think it's normal to go through an adjustment period, there's a lot to deal with emotionally.  

Don't add stress to your life right now by feeling bad about that, just try to roll with it, one day at a time.  Seize any small moments of inspiration that might come along and try to build on them.   

[Belle23]

OP - You sound like me with how you lived your life before quarantine. I’ve had many ups and downs in quarantine with being super productive to not at all. I started out more productive, then got really lazy with no energy. I got to the point where I had no motivation to go back to my normal job even if I got the call to. I realized that my laziness/lack of productiveness was due in large part to how I started my mornings - irritable. What I did was created a routine to combat my bad moods by continuing to wake up at 5:30a like I used to, only now I take the early mornings to meditate and work out. I also wrote a list of all house projects that I want to complete before I have to go back to work. I sometimes find it hard to get motivated but then I remind myself of how mad I’ll be if I get called back into work any day now and no longer have the chance to do them. 
 

Also, although you did say that you want to do the projects and be productive, don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t. If you’re normally running at 100 mph, maybe use this time to do nothing. This time will go before you know, even if it doesn’t seem it right now!

Edited April 21, 2020 by Belle23