How to overcome laziness, apathy and fatigue?

Perfectionists often fall into the trap of apathy. The “student syndrome” leads them to devalue their achievements and to ignore the signs of fatigue. These people often miss the time when it’s time to rest, and if they give themselves a break, they feel guilty about it.

Contrary to popular belief, perfectionism often does not help achieve goals, but, on the contrary, interferes with it. This happens because a person does not calculate their strength, has high expectations and takes on too many tasks – these factors naturally lead to burnout and fatigue. Paradoxically, to deal with apathy, you have to master your perfectionism.

If you, too, are an eternal A student and already feel completely exhausted in the pursuit of perfection, we suggest you take a few steps.

“He who does nothing is not mistaken” – this simple truth must be transformed into a perfectionist motto. Failure always accompanies development. When you make a mistake, don’t worry about it. Often, we treat ourselves unfairly with more cruelty and demand than those around us. Imagine in your place a dear and close person. What would you say to him, how would you support him? Tell yourself the same thing, rejoice and move on without painful experiences.

It’s impossible to be perfect in everything, no matter what you want. Rank your tasks in order of importance, honestly assessing what needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and what can wait.

A schedule helps mobilize resources to complete a task on time without wasting time striving for perfection. Adjustments and doubts can go on forever and take a lot of energy.

Starting the day right is one of the most important points of the program to fight apathy. When you wake up, do not rush to immediately pick up your smartphone, check your mail and solve work problems. Take a slow shower, exercise, drink coffee, eat your favorite foods for breakfast. You will notice that it will increase your productivity throughout the day.

For those who experience motivational problems, it is useful to establish a clear action plan, taking into account individual capacities. Write a to-do list and mark the tasks completed during the day with a feeling of satisfaction.

It is often difficult to start moving towards the goal, and the next steps are much easier. Motivate yourself with a reminder that once you get started, things will go a lot faster.

Set a goal and identify the motivation that suits you. This will help you stay on track if things don’t go as well as expected. If the task is large, break it into smaller pieces and note your progress at each step. It is also useful to define a clear result that you want to achieve, which will indicate that the task has been accomplished.

Our brain is not able to focus on a task for long without interruption. The increase in productivity allows the alternation of mental and physical activity. It’s also worth organizing a timely “reboot” for yourself before the information overload sets in. A computer with too many open tabs starts to crash, and so does your brain.

When fatigue takes over and restless thoughts race through your head, try an exercise. Make yourself comfortable, close your eyes and imagine that you are at the edge of a river. On the opposite bank, you see a tree whose leaves are falling. As soon as you have a thought, don’t try to chase it away or resist it, but calmly notice its presence. Mentally tie it to one of the falling leaves and watch the river wash it away. Repeat until you get rid of all the thoughts that haunt you.

The desire to delay things can still speak of the same perfectionism and fear of failure. Instead of beating yourself up for doing nothing, think about how you can manage your emotions in a respectful way.

More often than not, the consequences of our imperfection are not at all as terrible and destructive as we think. Again, remember the right to make mistakes, divide the work into several stages, between which take breaks for something pleasant: a cup of coffee, calling your beloved friend, playing with your pet company, etc

Nothing steals so much energy as lack of sleep. Lack of sleep is the shortest route to fatigue and lethargy, so diet is very important! Try to fall asleep and wake up at around the same time. To make it easier to fall asleep, don’t scroll through social media feeds or watch TV 1-1.5 hours before bedtime. Before you go to sleep, make sure it’s completely dark – sleep masks or blackout curtains will help. The fact is that in the dark it produces the hormone melatonin, without which a full night’s rest is impossible. Studies have shown that in low light, the time to fall asleep increases by an average of 90 minutes.

When we watch funny videos and comedies, listen to funny stories from friends, or laugh at memes, we help ourselves fight fatigue and burnout. Laughter activates the production of “happiness hormones” – endorphins, which relieve nervous tension, anxiety and irritability. The experiments also revealed that people who watched funny videos could focus on mental work longer and solve problems more effectively.

If you’re tired after a hard day’s work, that’s completely normal. In this case, it is better not to plan energy-intensive activities for the evening. Sometimes idleness helps, however, in our hectic lifestyles, it can be hard to do nothing. Nevertheless, the ability to disconnect from problems and completely relax is very important – it perfectly restarts the internal resources of the body, and soon you will return to your business with a new charge of strength.

If you’re one of those people who find it hard to disconnect from work and go into rest mode, there are a few life hacks that will help you.

Check your health! Chronic fatigue is often a symptom of disorders in the body. It accompanies diseases such as depression, thyroid disorders, diabetes, anemia. If you often feel overwhelmed, be sure to go to the doctor.