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This tells the OP what they could be doing instead, but not quite how to get there out of the rut they are in. Apathy or lack of motivation can be difficult to

• jerf 5y ago
  An issue here is that the title says "rut", but the description sounds more like apathy. Most of us would interpret "in a rut" to mean being stuck with the same schedule every day and being tired of the schedule, and that's different than not wanting to do anything. Many of these suggestions, which I endorse, are referencing the description, and the answer to that is simple: Let yourself do nothing"productive". Force it even. Time for a vacation, maybe even a bit of a lengthy one. Your brain and/or body is trying to tell you something. This is basically the final phase before full burnout. Take it seriously. And sometimes the answer is just to actively do nothing "productive" for a couple of weeks or months. Do nothing until you can't stand it anymore. Very few of us are built to go go go every day for years on end. As much as I like the civilization I live in, no previous civilization in history has even been able to do that much, or expected it of very many people. You aren't a bad person if you just stop for a while. And if it feels bad... bear in mind, one way or another, you are going to stop. You can stop in a controlled manner, take a break, and come back refreshed and functional, or you can stop when you are a broken human being. We do not generally have a "just push through and don't stop" for this kind of work. There isn't a specific "middle step B" because the idea here is specifically not to have one.