View a tl;dr on Substack.
Lack of motivation is so commonplace that there’s a multi-billion dollar industry designed to profit off of it.
However, one thing I’ve learned throughout the years is that we all stand to benefit from understanding our physiological and psychological signals. We inherently understand that the correct response to muscle soreness is rest, so why do we not apply the same principles to our psychological indicators?
Traditional grind culture sidelines psychological signals. Emotions and feelings are considered unimportant and productivity is the only concern. This is a great recipe for burnout.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, current day wellness culture is heavily in tune with the need to rest and recover. While this is a positive change, wellness is often used as an excuse to not get work done.
Are you burnt out, or are you just lazy?
My rule of thumb is:
- I’m being lazy if I haven’t yet started the task
- I’m burnt out if I’ve been spending 80%+ of my available time on the task
For the latter item, “available time” is loosely defined and entirely dependent on the task itself:
- For a work-related task, then “available time” would be the amount of time I’ve allocated towards that piece of work
- For something like writing a blog, “available time” would be the amount of time I dedicate towards hobbies
There exists a spectrum of states in between these extremes, and it’s up to you to develop an intuition for identifying the root cause of your lack of motivation. As an example, I may have been extra busy at work - potentially putting in 80+ hours a week into my startup. If I end up unmotivated to write a blog post, I’ve come to understand that:
- I’m burnt out because my mind has been mentally drained from work
- I should take my free time to rest and recuperate - not further tax my brain by trying to write a blog
Having an understanding of your psychological state allows you to take the best course of action in response. The best remedy for burnout is to distance yourself from stress and engage in activities that rejuvenate your mental well-being. But if you’re just being lazy, you need to swallow your emotions and just do the damn thing.
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