A couple months ago I abruptly stopped my LEGO activity that was eating at me because I felt that I had to clear my living room of all the set bags I was storing in while awaiting for parts or building. With no end in sight, I ended up burning out until my partner suggested that we could put them away in a closet until I was ready to resume in a better mood.
Ever since, I've had trouble finishing tasks that I wanted to start in the first place:
Unlocking a different ending in Cyberpunk 2077 with a new character.
Writing a review of Cyberpunk 2077 on my blog.
Implementing a moderation system in Friendica.
Designing a board game inspired by the video game Northgard.
Restoring a few big 1980-90s pirate/castle/space LEGO sets that were donated to me by fellow parents in my kid's class.
At the same time, I'm longing to find something else to do that will keep me engaged, locking me in a mixed apathy-restlessness feeling there probably is a German word for.
I don't know what to do to get out of this rut, I feel like it's been long enough that it would have passed on its own if it was just temporary.
If this is out of character for you, I understand it's bugging you.
Regarding myself... well, I tend to have many interests, and each one lasts for a while, but then I have enough of it or something new comes along and takes up all of my attention and energy. Then I put it away, like you did. And I used to feel bad for being like that, but now I'm fine with it - because it's just how my brain works, and activities that I really enjoyed will usually come back to me after a year or two, or even longer. Knowing that makes it easier for me to allow myself a break.
But I know I can only speak for myself here, so Idk if this approach would help you or rather not.
@KAOS Thank you for sharing your experience! My problem is that I involved other people in some of these endeavors. I take space in the living room, or I set up an event to playtest my fledgling board game. And when I lose interest, these loose ends don't go away and I feel bad about it.
@schmaker Since I started working remotely, I barely do any physical activity. There's a small gym in my building but I can't get myself to go there. I like physical activity when it's meaningful, like spending time with other people or going to or from somewhere. Physical activity for its own sake never looked good to me.
@hypolite
Well, I started slowly by buying eScooter and use it instead of car for reaching my workplace. No need to have big goals early on.
At this moment I'm slowly moving to bicycle instead of eScooter in my spare time. As I'm not "pushing" myself anymore I figured out I look for reasons to "ride my bicycle" (Mr. Mercury approves 😀 )
@hypolite@schmaker I seriously have this issue too - and I've been trying to figure that out for years. I've got a rowing machine because I can convince myself to row and watch TV< but I lost space for it when I needed a second kids room.
I don't have any good answers, but I feel like the pain of that
@hypolite@schmaker I don't know where you are, but walking in nature (hiking, trekking) is a physical activity that is focused on enjoying and appreciating the natural world, hills, mountains, landscape. is there a hiking club to do it with others? or maybe someone from the family, or close friend. ..
@luka@schmaker Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately for this idea I live in the middle of a 12 000 km2 metropolitan area, so there can’t be any casual enjoying of nature for me. Not that I seem to very much miss it either, and walking in public parks isn’t a great appeal.
I recently heard about this Dutch word and concept of niksen, which basically means doing nothing.
I first thought it was a little bit strange. But then I learnt it really means letting go of the burdening ambivalence that we could doing something thereby preventing us of not enjoying the deliberate act of not doing anything.
I personally found this quite a revelation that somehow allowed me to be more focused.
Add comment