I work a rather demanding job and I’ve constantly been feeling tired and underperformant compared to my colleagues for the past few months. I keep evading responsibilities or putting them off until the last minute.
Many people would kill to be where I am. Yet, I show up every day unmotivated.
There were several stressful years leading up to my current job and I’m wondering if I’m burnt out at this point or if I’m just not pulling my weight.
Edit: Thank you all for your support and guidance. I haven’t given too many details here, but personal life has been moving along smoothly, chores get done, etc. But I definitely need to reconsider where I’m going with my job.
My humble opinion: burnout exists, laziness doesn’t
Laziness is a buzzword concept to describe way too many states of mind, downplaying the causes of lack of motivation.
I think there are some words that, if avoided, allow deeper investigation into important things, and “lazy” is in the top 10 of that list
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!
There is is “being lazy” thats just capitalism way of saying you’re not making your boss or society enough money.
Enjoy your life.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Laziness doesn’t exist, it’s made up, there’s always an underlying cause
Laziness exists. It’s what causes me to not do my work around the house sometimes.
I guess I’ll piggyback on the other comment and say laziness doesn’t exist at work. People definitely have off days or hate their job, but I’d say pretty much all the “laziness” I have experienced in my life at different jobs usually boils down to awful work conditions, managers or bosses that don’t care about you, not getting paid enough for the actual work, or general distain for your corporate overlords if you work for a big company. Some may call me lazy, but I’m working exactly as hard as I feel like they deserve when I’m 30 years old and still living in a studio apartment one paycheck away from being homeless. And I’m not gonna work at 100% when 100% of my needs are not being met. And I make more than anyone else in my family so I’m technically the “successful child.”
But what’s the root cause of your laziness?
I’m not being snarky - it’s a serious question. For myself, I’ve found that digging down to figure out where some of my behavioral traits are rooted is an extremely valuable and informative exercise.
Isn’t lazyness just evolutionary trait? The need to conserve energy?
If lazyness is an evolutionary trait to conserve energy, why do we get bored (pushing us to spend energy) once we do so?
I’m not an expert, just read it somewhere. But I’d guess it might be because our current lives are miles away from the ones we evolved for and may not get the stimuli we require.
