How to tell the difference between being burnt out and just being lazy?
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Might be depression, at least it was for me
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Is either diagnosis really helpful in figuring out a solution?
One could be rehabilitation, the other discipline?
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Try to rule out mental health issues first.
You might have autism/ADHD/ADD/depression. -
So then, which stimuli do you get and don't get that make you lazy and, for example, stop you from doing the dishes?
As I said, not an expert on this topic. But I feel like you are combining two different things.
Doing dishes is persumably something you don't enjoy and your survival is not dependent on it -> you conserve energy.
Boredom, I think, comes from the brain not having enough stimuli.
I see it as two different things. But you are better of asking someone who knows more.
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As I said, not an expert on this topic. But I feel like you are combining two different things.
Doing dishes is persumably something you don't enjoy and your survival is not dependent on it -> you conserve energy.
Boredom, I think, comes from the brain not having enough stimuli.
I see it as two different things. But you are better of asking someone who knows more.
I was trying to get you to question the believe that lazyness is an evolutionary trait. Like the post you replied to said: Find the root cause of your lazyness.
Because it's almost always not an evolutionary trait, it's avoiding negative emotions.
As you said:
Doing dishes (bad) -> do nothing (good)
But, with boredom, this would result in this:
Doing dishes (bad) -> do nothing (good) -> boredom (bad)Thus, we get negative emotions again. But we can avoid the final negative emotions by lying on the couch and spending energy looking at a screen. And our chain looks like this:
Doing dishes (bad) -> looking at screen (good)Because being bored is hard. If you want to see how hard it is, decide to just stare at a blank wall for the next 30min-1h instead and watch your brain fight this decision as hard as it can.
Thus saying "I'm lazy" and "being lazy is an evolutionary trait" results in "I can't do anything about me being lazy". And that is an easy way to avoid having to face and work through those negative emotions.
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There is is "being lazy" thats just capitalism way of saying you're not making your boss or society enough money.
Enjoy your life.
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The word "lazy" exists for exploiters to shame their thralls if they aren't profiting them enough. Think about anyone who might call you lazy and their relationship to you. They are not your friends; you don't have to serve them.
If you're not satisfied with how you're living your life, that's meaningful. The protection from loss you have gained through your job doesn't balance against the stress of what you're doing. There are no easy answers but something needs to change. I would suggest working on those changes before you get burned all the way out, because at that point you'll be making changes whether you want to or not.
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I was trying to get you to question the believe that lazyness is an evolutionary trait. Like the post you replied to said: Find the root cause of your lazyness.
Because it's almost always not an evolutionary trait, it's avoiding negative emotions.
As you said:
Doing dishes (bad) -> do nothing (good)
But, with boredom, this would result in this:
Doing dishes (bad) -> do nothing (good) -> boredom (bad)Thus, we get negative emotions again. But we can avoid the final negative emotions by lying on the couch and spending energy looking at a screen. And our chain looks like this:
Doing dishes (bad) -> looking at screen (good)Because being bored is hard. If you want to see how hard it is, decide to just stare at a blank wall for the next 30min-1h instead and watch your brain fight this decision as hard as it can.
Thus saying "I'm lazy" and "being lazy is an evolutionary trait" results in "I can't do anything about me being lazy". And that is an easy way to avoid having to face and work through those negative emotions.
Fair enough. I was not going for "it's evolutionary, so let's just do nothing". The whole argument herr is thay laziness doesn't exist, because there is a root cause. Well, this is just semantics really. Being lazy is not wanting to do something. Is there a root cause behind it? Sure. If you go far enough it's just biology (allegedly).
Does tiredness not exist? There is usually a root cause to you being tired.
I feel like this "lazyness doesn't exists" is there just because being lazy has negative conotations. I think being lazy is good. Sometimes you do need to wind down and save what energy you have. This ofc shouldn't be an excuse to not do anything ever. There is something as too much of a good thing and all that.
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That's not lazyness, that's looking after yourself and your own needs, and prioritising that over non urgent chores.
At some point, the balance changes, and you do the stuff.
And if the balance doesn't change, and you always put it off, even when you shouldn't be, there's something going on behind it.
I can believe that a lot of what we call laziness is really something else, but I'm not in the maximalist "lazy does not exist" camp. Whatever your goals are in life, you need at least some ability to buckle down and do those necessary things you'd rather not do. All else being equal, some people are better at that than others.
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I had one of the most desirable jobs in my field. It was one that everyone thought was very cool when I was asked. I got burnt out. I was sad and depressed every day. When I was done with work, I didn't want to do anything that required energy. I just sat and watched tv or similar. That's burnt out.
I am extremely lazy at my current job. It's a pretty easy job, but I resent being assigned more responsibility (happened the other day). The added responsibility isn't that difficult and only happens one day per week, but I'm still annoyed. After work, I pretty much scroll Lemmy and watch streaming content, but I don't feel used up; I'm just lazy. That's lazy.
The difference is when you can't do more vs you choose to do less. It's subjective. Good luck!
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I had panic attacks just before start working, and my productivity was quite low. I hope you don't reach that kind of reaction before looking for help.
I used to feel like I was going to throw up every morning before work. Didn't happen on weekends.
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That's not lazyness, that's looking after yourself and your own needs, and prioritising that over non urgent chores.
At some point, the balance changes, and you do the stuff.
And if the balance doesn't change, and you always put it off, even when you shouldn't be, there's something going on behind it.
What going on is I don't feel like doing it LOL.
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What going on is I don't feel like doing it LOL.
That's not mental overload, it's the opposite. It's a job without mental stimulation, boring, repetitive and requires very little cognitive processing. And people doing jobs like that seek stimulation to escape perpetual boredom.
Give that guy a job that didn't bore him to tears, and the picture would have been very different.
As I said, it's always about hitting a threshold, and boredom is a threshold. And if an employer cares about quality, rather than the appearance of quality, they'd have designed that job differently.
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Are you sure you're underperforming, or is that just an idea you came up with yourself? Have you talked to a boss or manager about their expectations for your role and if you are meeting those expectations?
It may just be a self-sabotaging thought, and getting confirmation that you are meeting expectations could let you relax and work at a preferred or natural pace without stressing about your performance.
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There's no such thing as "lazy". It's always, always, always a word used to make someone feel guilty for hitting a personal limit or threshold.
Even if you want to work on those thresholds and improve them, you can achieve that without framing yourself as fundamentally selfish and uncaring.
I think there is such a thing as lazy, but it's when you push your responsibilities off onto another person solely because you can get away with it. The ex who leaves the dishes dirty and tells you, "I don't know, they just come better when you wash them", for instance.
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I dunno but i think I'm both
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Honestly that sounds a lot like me. I had a decent job but was underperforming, burnt out and depressed. I started at some point pulling out my facial hair as stress coping mechanism.
I ended up saving up enough to be without a job for a few months, quit and I've not looked back.
My hair is regrowing, I'm feeling less stressed than ever, I've got a positive outlook on life again and I'm finally getting back into hobbies.
if you're able to, talk to a mental health professional, share what you're feeling and let them help and guide you. If not, talk to your partner (if you have one) and get their opinion on how you're going.
I also acknowledge that my struggle is different to yours, and the decisions I've made are working for me. I think you need to talk to people and get their views on how you're doing, and figure out what's best for you
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What has helped me is I put together a daily checklist of every possible thing I have to do for any given day at work and check it off. I get overwhelmed sometimes and when I stick to my checklist I realize it’s really not that much I have to do.
Try doing that and checking it off as you go and you might see, as I did, I was completing tasks that I wasn’t suppose to be doing because I thought I was helping. Cut out stuff like that and stick to the list and you should see an improvement in your mood because you will feel like you’re actually getting stuff done.
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That's not mental overload, it's the opposite. It's a job without mental stimulation, boring, repetitive and requires very little cognitive processing. And people doing jobs like that seek stimulation to escape perpetual boredom.
Give that guy a job that didn't bore him to tears, and the picture would have been very different.
As I said, it's always about hitting a threshold, and boredom is a threshold. And if an employer cares about quality, rather than the appearance of quality, they'd have designed that job differently.
We worked in a high paced Engineering office together, after the auto job, he would put his feet up and pile boxes near his desk to avoid working and read a book. There was more than enough stimulation available, he would just rather do what he wanted than work
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The big symptom unique to burnout is anger. Ultimately leading to blowing up at coworkers. If you're not experiencing that it's probably not burnout.
Depression and ADHD might be good thing to check for.
