"I wish I had more motivation."
Can you relate?
Lately I've been hearing more and more about lacking motivation, not caring, giving up, or feeling lazy. In part, I blame the mid-winter blahs, but I think it goes beyond surviving February. I think we're dealing with unbelievably high levels of burnout. Professional burnout, parenting burnout, academic burnout...pandemic burnout. And, when we're burned out we feel unmotivated and lazy, which then makes us feel even worse. So what do we do about it?
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.
Take a break. Correction...take lots of breaks!
Take your "laziness" as a sign from your mind/body that you need to rest, reset, and replenish. Build intentional breaks into your day. Resist the urge to beat yourself up for not doing something "important" or from your "Should Do" list. Reframe your thinking so that taking these pockets of time for yourself are considered important and something you really should do.
Below are a couple of books I've recently read that make a strong case for the benefits of prioritizing ourselves by taking restorative breaks...frequently and forever.
Be well. Be safe. Be hopeful.
