Anyone else struggle to motivate themselves?

I really struggle to motivate myself and it really annoys me at times. I work on a night so when I wake up I just kind of lie there not feeling bothered to get up out of bed. Then when I do get up late I get annoyed at myself for wasting half of the day just lieing in bed. Also if people invite me out I usually dont feel like going and would rather just stay by myself. But when I force myself to go I usually enjoy myself.

I dont know wether its just a way of thought ingrained in me to act this way, or something else. Anyone else feel the same, or have 'cured' themselves of this??

I'm Melancholic, either way you probably have depression. I would encourage you to seek help, being on these sites long enough can put anybody in the mental ward.

I feel ya. It's hard for me to get motivated to do the things I want to. Most of it is out of the belief that nothing good will come of it and the fact that what I want to do takes lots of time and work to be good at if you even have the talent to do so. I usually sit on the couch and stare at this screen and feel depressed about myself and my life.

On a lighter note, Idonthaveabeard is probably the best name on ATS.

Could be depression and that's certainly something to talk over with your doctor. However it may be that you are lacking a goal, a reason to get up and do stuff so to speak. Find out what is really important to you or something you really enjoy and keep that in your mind and it will make the rest of your day feel more purposeful.

Originally posted by Heartisblack
I'm Melancholic, either way you probably have depression. I would encourage you to seek help, being on these sites long enough can put anybody in the mental ward.

The last thing you want to do is get a prescription for an anti-depressant. They can cause much more harm than the good they are supposed to do. I'm not a doctor, so don't take this as medical advice. However, speaking from experience, the anti-depressants I tried turned me into a zombie. The side effects were horrible. Our FDA is not regulating the drugs as they should be regulated, so there is no guarantee for your safety.

The reason you're feeling this, in my opinion, is because humanity is all connected, and we all know we're not doing the right things.

Know that you're not alone, and many feel as you do. However, it's not a problem with you. Keep your head up and try to find the good in life, because it's out there, it's just hard to find. Create it through you. Good luck.

reply to post by Idonthaveabeard


Have you tried the wacky tobacky? Cheers me right up!

You will get over it.

It's a dog eat dog world and the daily grind is what begins to motivate you after awhile. Just remember to do things for yourself first, be selfish (but in a nice way), eventually everything will pan out.

You aren't helping anyone around you sitting around being depressed all day.

Being apathetic is nothing to be ashamed or worried over. Most of us go through a period of this. We have ups; we have downs and the world keeps on turning. I wouldn't suggest seeking any sort of medicinal/psychiatric help as it has the potential to worsen the situation-I've been there.

When friends ask you to go out, MAKE YOURSELF. I know you don't feel like it and expect to have an awful time, but you won't. Guaranteed.

It sounds ridiculous, but smile. Keep smiling and eventually you will find it becomes genuine. Laugh. Try to remember what your interests are and keep yourself busy. I promise that every day will NOT be a good day, but you can most certainly have a few good ones.

My question to you would be: When you think about going out with people or getting up out of bed to do something what do you feel? Anxiety? Fear? Exhaustion? Apathy?

If you pinpoint the emotion attached to it, that might be a starting point to dig deeper into the root cause.

Also from personal experience and from the fact that your health of your digestive system is very much connected to mental health, I would suggest looking at your diet.

Also how you do spend your alone time? Is it on the internet intellectualizing, or on sites like this? Maybe stepping away from the mental and unnatural world and into your body and into nature might be revitalizing for you?

I was like this until I stopped eating processed foods and gave up television.

reply to post by Idonthaveabeard


I am struggling with this actually right now, two projects to do and a writing assignment. I hate the microeconomics class which is where the assignment is do and one project, the other project is in Microsoft Vista and it's just so boring because I am on win 7 and this stuff is all so yesterday to me. UGH!!!! I have two days to do this stuff and a quiz too. No Motivation!!!

Originally posted by kalamatas
My question to you would be: When you think about going out with people or getting up out of bed to do something what do you feel? Anxiety? Fear? Exhaustion? Apathy?

If you pinpoint the emotion attached to it, that might be a starting point to dig deeper into the root cause.

Also from personal experience and from the fact that your health of your digestive system is very much connected to mental health, I would suggest looking at your diet.

Also how you do spend your alone time? Is it on the internet intellectualizing, or on sites like this? Maybe stepping away from the mental and unnatural world and into your body and into nature might be revitalizing for you?

Usually when invited out or whatever its a mixture of exhaustion or apathy that stops me wanting to.

I do have a goal, I want to become a succesful musician, so I spend most my time on my own on the computer/internet practising and learning about music and sometime on general forums like this.

I have an idea that for all the hard work ive put in, I havent taken any significant steps towards achieveing my goal and this maybe contributing to how im feeling atm.

More likely your heart has gotten weak and has adapted to being a little more on the lazy side kind of like regular muscles do when you don't use them much.

Aside from eating right obviously, a punching bag has helped me tremendously. I got one of those free standing ones so I didn't have to worry about hanging it anywhere. With you arms being closer to your heart physically, they can give it a good work out. If you can't fork over any cash for a bag, shadow boxing is just as good especially if you hold some small 1-2 pound weights in your hand.

reply to post by Idonthaveabeard



Find someone to share your life with. They will motivate you to do things as well as you motivating them in return.

I've taken prozac from time to time in my adulthood, when I get down and times are tough.

I become happy and motivated and energetic again. Anti-depressants are not for everyone of course, but it's a lifesaver for me!

I have had something like this most of my life, but it became worse after a burnout in a place I tried to work at.
Worked like 6 months and finally couldnt handle it anymore, it was too monotonic and stressfull for me. After that I have had a similar experience as the op describes. Tired, dont want to do anything, dont care about much that happens around me or the world, thinking about death all the time and my usuall anxiety.

I dont know what you guys think about the autism spectrum or in my case High Functioning Aspergers Syndrome but thats my diagnosis from 6-9 months of tests. I kind of understand where most of my deppresion comes from. Most of the time when I grew up I felt like I went to school for chimps and I were the only human there. Now I understand its more like The world is full of humans and I am an alien looking like a human more or less (alien can describe many things ).

Sorry for the derail but wanted to give you guys a picture who I am.

And for the others out there who have lethargy, what is the inherent value of the tasks that you "should" do?
The value to you and the value to society or family?

Originally posted by ldyserenity
reply to post by Idonthaveabeard

 

I am struggling with this actually right now, two projects to do and a writing assignment. I hate the microeconomics class which is where the assignment is do and one project, the other project is in Microsoft Vista and it's just so boring because I am on win 7 and this stuff is all so yesterday to me. UGH!!!! I have two days to do this stuff and a quiz too. No Motivation!!!

No motivation except a swift kick in the butt from your parents if you don't. And a good dose of regret later in life. And lots of anxiety and unpredictable living. That's a ticket to homelessness.

But I know exactly where you're coming from. I've always been a procrastinator. I put it all off until the last moment. It's funny how it happens too. At first all is good because there's a couple weeks to do the assignment. So for a week it's just not on my mind. But during the last week each day gets harder and harder. I even start to wonder why I get up in the morning. Eventually, I forced myself to finish the assignment and then.... bliss. I mean, absolute, nirvana. Really.

It went like that for 14-15 years of my life in school. I put off everything to the last day. I was so stressed by the last day though that it forced me to do what I needed to do. It was like hell.

Which makes me wonder if evading responsibility leads to suicidal or existential thoughts. Because it always happened a day or two before the exam or the big turn in. I would stressing about not having my homework or essay or assignment done. I'd get all moody and talk about how my life is meaningless. But it all went away once I started doing the assignment. I started to feel good about it and then I finished it and was on top of the world again.

I have a theory that when a person knows they're not doing the right thing, they get depressed and philosophical and moody and whatnot. Maybe I'm wrong, but it just seems this way to me.

For me it's weird. I'll go through stages where I can work on a project and really am enjoying it. But eventually I get bored and I move on to something else. I do the same thing with games. I'll play it for a while but then I get sick of it and move on to another one. That seems to be the way I move and I don't like it. Once I realize how hard something really is and how repetitive it's, I just lose all interest it seems. To get anywhere in life you need discipline. You need to be able to do something repetitive for a while. Not for weeks, but for months. You need to keep doing it even if you're bored of it. That's what you need to do to know success and be proud.

Maybe some people are naturally impulsive and can't stick to one thing for very long. I'm not sure. But I know with the projects I've done that I knew I could do it, I just didn't have the resolve to follow through. The fun was gone and it was all work. So I just quit and did something else.

A long life of incomplete projects gets you no where.

I wonder if depressed people and philosophers and fantasy chasers and others like them that run away from reality by condeming it in some way are just people in denial about their own lack of responsibility? I know from experience that working improves my confidence. I also know that not working decreases it. It just seems that one follows the other like A->B. Seems simple to me.

Saying that life is meaningless because your philosophy justifies it - the 1000 pages of gibberish and academic BS - is just a way to escape the burden you carry. It's the same when a person who hurts another goes to church and gets forgiven and is smiling the next day. I don't care how complicated the excuse is or the escape might be, it's always the same result: evasion.

The Matrix movie falls into the same category. People who worship it, in reality, desire to escape responsibility. It gives them a warm fuzzy feeling that none of this is real. It makes them feel better because they're made so many bad choices in life and don't want to carry the blame.

Well, guess what reality haters, this is real, DEAL WITH IT. No later, NOW. Not some else, YOU.

I personally feel it would be a good idea to round up these people and force them to work since they can't do ti themselves dependably. That would build their confidence and solve problems. I know it seems mean, but some people are so stuck inside themselves that they're incompetent.

That ditch down the road that's flooding every spring, start there. That'll keep em busy. And with the illegal immigrants being pushed out of employment, there's lots of jobs to be filled up.

This is hte kind of assertiveness this country needs and used to have. Our grandfathers would laugh at us. They would get out their belt and start whipping us until we started working. They see us with contempt because they actually knew how to work while we just conceptualize it and crap on their hard earned wisdom. Their generation knew how to be responsible. We're clowns.

Put us all in a circus. If we're lucky, we'll get human food.

What amaze's me are all the articulate, talented people on the ATS boards that can write, express themselves and have great ideas sending their work into the www void to be lost on other unmotivated people, unappreciated and lost....

Just channel your energy into a creative endeavor. Develop a ritual, have some cards printed up calling yourself a writer, screenwriter, editor, poet, producer, etc...pass them out to friends...then do something, anything even if it's wrong. Start with 5min...and work up until it becomes a passion.

This simple program has motivated me and actually contributed to my bank account, feeling of empowerment and self respect.

celtx.com...

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