Sometimes I Just Don’t Want to Do Anything and That’s Ok

Reza Fazeli
2 min readApr 1, 2022

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Have you ever woke up to feel like you just want to sleep? You don’t want to talk to anyone? Or work on anything?

There are times when you just don’t feel like doing anything. It’s like nothing can motivate you to get up and get things done.

I’ve come to realize that this happens to everyone and it’s completely fine to feel this way!

However, it’s very important to be prepared and have a plan for these situations.

Think of it as an emergency response plan for when you’re not motivated to do anything. Like a government’s emergency plan for responding to disasters.

Here is my plan for dealing with days when I feel down.

Step 1: Write a little note for your future unmotivated self

Tell yourself that’s it’s okay to be feeling this way. Explain that you’ve experienced this before and you have a step-by-step process for breaking out of this loop.

Step 2: Understanding why you don’t want to do anything

You need to understand why you’re feeling this way. Is there a specific feeling or need that’s making you unmotivated? Maybe you’re just hungry or tired or afraid. Simply understanding what you’re feeling will help you feel better.

Step 3: Put together a step-by-step plan for handling this situation

Make everything very easy for yourself. Tell yourself to only think about (or write down) one task that has to be done that day. You don’t have to do it. Just think about it.

Then only think about the simplest first step that has to be taken.

For example, if I have to send an email, the very first step is to go to my workstation and sit behind my desk. Then think about the next immediate step which in this case could be to turn on my laptop. Thinking about doing tiny atomic steps can make the task less daunting and motivate you to complete it.

Finally, remember that this happens to everyone and it’s completely normal.

This post was created with Typeshare

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Reza Fazeli

I write about building a daily coding habit 🛠 | learning in public 🎓 | breaking into tech 🚀 | need help? reach out! https://t.co/Iewe44D8YQ - ML @IBMWatson