alternation between overmotivation and demotivation, how to break this cycle?

[AdamR95]

In my life there are two extremes, i am either overmotiveted and hyperfocused on my goals and almost fanaticaly work on them or i am completely demotivated and not doing anything at all. These cycles i would consider normal if they were not so extreme and not alternate so frequently. My vision for life is changing frequently too. I tend to lose any interest in things i use to be passionate about rather quickly. Therefore its hard for me to make any longlasting changes or create some healthy habits. Even though i am aware of this i havent been able to break the cycle. I try to do little changes but i always get too enthusiastic and do too much and then overwork myself and burnout.

What should i focus on to break the cycle?. I made myself several habits journals to be aware of my longterm progress, it shows me the consistency of each habit in a graph. It seems to help a little but i still feel rather stuck. It's been almost a decade i observe this pattern and I haven't improved much and haven´t find decent solution yet.

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by AdamR95

[Preety_India]

Practice self control and avoid over exertion. I used to do that. Self awareness helps in catching oneself while being too engrossed in something to the point of exertion. A little bit of self control goes a long way in avoid potential burnout. Awareness and control on impulse. 

Keep a regular track on your work schedule and work in blocks of time or chunks. Use only the time that is alloted or assigned to a task. This way you know you aren't spending too much into any task or neglecting others. Keep a track helps you to approach your goals in a steady logical non impulsive manner. You know exactly what you're doing. Keep updating your schedules as per your time and goal needs. Use planners. 

Keep a streak tracker for habits. 

Take breaks. One of the core reasons for demotivation is exhaustion. So take as many breaks as you want to keep yourself interested. 

Also look into emotional factors like mood swings, depression, hidden aspects like psychological history because a lot of these things are rooted in our psyche. 

For example in 2018 I did shadow work because my productivity was too low and I constantly felt demotivated and I just couldn't stick to any timer or planner, nothing worked. I felt blank, spacey, exhausted and empty all the time. When I did shadow work, I discovered that the root cause of such lack of motivation was unresolved trauma from my childhood. Since then I tried to resolved the emotional root and I haven't been feeling that empty or spacey ever since. Things have gotten better and I don't feel so demotivated anymore. 

Sometimes deeper issues manifest in everyday life without us noticing it. 

 

 

[RobertZ]

Putting controls on motivation to reduce its variance is a difficult topic. 

One of the things I found helpful in my journey is consciously re-evaluating the alignment of my values and life circumstances. For me, this alignment comes down to a simple (but difficult) question: What do I really need, now, in my life?

Especially during big life changes, this question helped me to build long-lasting momentum.