Apathy.

That’s the only word of this post I’ve typed in the last hour. I managed to hit an all time low on the motivation scale*. I have so very many things to do and I’m so overwhelmed by it all that I haven’t done anything.

So, to get over it I’m trying something new; getting organized.

I am making a list (I won’t check it twice) of things I need to do, ranked in priority from one  to three. The stuff at the top of the list is the stuff that will endanger my health/sanity/personal hygiene if I don’t do it.

Things at this level include: sleeping, bathing, eating, going to work, keeping the house habitable and wearing pants.

Next up is the stuff I really want to do. I won’t actually die, but I might feel like it. There are a surprising number of things on this list that I haven’t been doing at all.

Things at level two include (but are not limited to): Writing, physical training, reading, spending time with my partner, writing the articles that I promised people ages ago, spending time with my family and friends and wearing pants.

Finally are the little things that I kind of want to do. I seem to spend a lot of time doing this stuff. Half the time I don’t even want to, I just do these things out of apathy, laziness or overtiredness.

Level three has all the crap in it: Watching TV, reading magazines I don’t even like, mindlessly surfing the net, watching TV, playing computer games.

Of course everyone needs a little level three mindlessness as downtime, and there’s nothing wrong with spending some of your spare time just playing on the internet. My problem is that the level three stuff is taking place instead of everything else.

My new plan** is to throw out as much of the level three stuff for the rest of the year that I can. I’m still going to be taking plenty of planned downtime, but the key to it will be setting myself  time to just do whatever and sticking to it, instead of wasting entire days doing nothing because I feel burned out.

The point of all this is this: If you’re feeling burned out, or you simply don’t want to do anything, try this list thing out, then throw out all the level three stuff you don’t need for a week. Plan downtime where you give yourself permission to let it all hang out, but try not to waste anytime on things that aren’t helping you in any way.

This has been a bit of a rant, but I’d be keen to know what you do when apathy takes over?

* 10 is where you will, in fact, take over the world. 1 is where only physical reflex keeps you breathing.

** The old plan involved an elaborate ruse.