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Why don’t I want to do anything?

Starflowerpower87

Well-Known Member
This goes for basic things too like cleaning. I don’t mind cooking so much anymore it’s just I find cleaning so hard. I also don’t like doing activities that stimulate the mind like reading, writing, sketching, cross word puzzles etc. All I like doing is go out to eat then excersize to my music for an hour. Then sit and listen to it for the rest of the day. I used to like doing activities. Maybe I’m on too much medication. The winter makes it worse. It’s like I have no soul anymore.
 
This goes for basic things too like cleaning. I don’t mind cooking so much anymore it’s just I find cleaning so hard. I also don’t like doing activities that stimulate the mind like reading, writing, sketching, cross word puzzles etc. All I like doing is go out to eat then excersize to my music for an hour. Then sit and listen to it for the rest of the day. I used to like doing activities. Maybe I’m on too much medication. The winter makes it worse. It’s like I have no soul anymore.
That sounds sad. I hope you get to feeling better soon. I notice that you said "winter makes it worse." Have you considered seasonal depression?
 
I find this quite normal, not many like cleaning and that stems to neurotypicals as well. Some people do like it, but I think many do not. I do not like it and had to get a cleaner for weakness and overwhelm as well. I cannot afford to keep them anymore so the cleaning came back to me, do I like it I like having a clean home home and that is a must for me. Try and do what you can keeping it clean but making it as easy for yourself as possible.

You have your likes I don't like doing a lot of those things the activity colouring books for adults at such. Told enough at hospital they were good time passers, I have what I like and my go to and that is perfectly alright. I like to write, so we are all tuned differently.

Winter is not an easy time. Try and do what you can to get get through and make your transition to the day as smooth as possible...For me that it involves self care at night such as sometimes putting my night light on my ceiling, a diffuser and using a spray that got me in the air. Also, I have a SAD lamp which I could explore using as well.

Perhaps you could and awaken your senses as well if you need to like beating on a drum. Try and be kind to yourself and take as much rest as you need.
 
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It makes sense that your meds and winter would drain your motivation.

What is it that you like about going out to eat? I am wondering if there are other similar activities that could be fun and be another thing to do. Maybe trying something new could spark your motivation, too.
 
This goes for basic things too like cleaning. I don’t mind cooking so much anymore it’s just I find cleaning so hard. I also don’t like doing activities that stimulate the mind like reading, writing, sketching, cross word puzzles etc. All I like doing is go out to eat then excersize to my music for an hour. Then sit and listen to it for the rest of the day. I used to like doing activities. Maybe I’m on too much medication. The winter makes it worse. It’s like I have no soul anymore.
The US Army had a TV commercial on in the 80's and 90's, "We do more before 9am than most people do all day."

I am sort of the same way on my days off of work, often up before the sun and I get all my work done early in the morning while my mind is fresh and I haven't sat down. The moment I park my behind on the couch or computer chair, I know I am not going to get much done after that. This is no good. My mind is often exhausted by the early afternoon and I will sometimes take naps.

I think it helps that I have a wife that also works, and with that comes some understanding that we have to work as a team to get things done around the house. We both work around 50hrs a week. Sometimes I am home alone. Sometimes she is. Neither one of us can be expected to manage all the little things around the house, run errands, yard maintenance, make meals, etc. We have to divide and conquer, but also be reliable. Neither one of us can just say to the other, "I didn't feel like it.", "I just wasn't feeling motivated." That's not what reliable partners do to each other. So, light that fire, stick it under your behind, and get some things done is sort of the mindset. You can have your "feelings" when you're done, but not now.
 
I don’t mind cooking so much anymore it’s just I find cleaning so hard.

Me too. So much so it isn't often that I'm willing to go to the trouble of cooking an elaborate meal. And often find myself making something I don't necessarily want to eat, just because it's easy and "down and dirty" to make.

Plus I have to deal with the ebb and flow of clinical depression, which adds to the equation. And my OCD keeps me cleaning at times whether I want to or not. Weird to explain....like any time I return anything to a cupboard or refrigerator, I have to align all containers to have the label properly facing outward. :rolleyes:
 
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The wheels fell off of me doing housework when I was in my 30s. Prior to that I had always kept my home immaculately clean but one day that just suddenly changed. Occasionally I'll force myself to clean the place up properly but it never takes as a habit and it's not long before I'm living in a pig sty again.

In hindsight I see that as the very first stage of me burning out although it was quite a few years before more symptoms started showing.
 
I am not sure if you are cooking for 1 or others. The cooking for 1 can get old soon and with things like pricing can put some people off and you just may feel it is not worth it. Keep on cooking if this is the case. Look at though good nutritious ready meals.
I think the likes of Bentos look promising. I have no idea where you live but these are on offer right now in Sainsbury's and Tesco's and they have meat versions too.
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/wasabi-sushi-bento-vegetable-gyoza-yakisoba-450g

For years my brother has been going on a daily run and loves it and I just see this now as part of his routine.
 
Yeah I get that way too, a bit too often for my liking.
I just don't feel like doing anything productive even if there's something I know I need to get done and it might be weeks it even months before I finally get around to it.

My therapist thinks that in some instances it's due to my anxiety getting in the way, but that can't be the case for more simple stuff like cleaning up around my apartment.

There's times when I don't really feel like doing anything at all, but I know those instances are mostly due to me being down in the dumps so to speak.
In those cases even the things I enjoy doing I can't stand doing for long and tend to stopping sooner than I otherwise would've.
And I've noticed that this is typically when something is bothering me and putting my mood down.

Also I have a tendency to feel awful and like I'm being lazy when I get in the mindset of not wanting to do much, but this comes and goes as sometimes I don't feel awful about it at all.
I think that feeling is mostly due to the fact I was scolded a lot for "being lazy" while growing up, and I've maybe internalized it a little as a result.
Typically when I do feel awful and think to myself that I'm being lazy I still won't do anything productive which just worsens it.. sometimes, like I said it comes and goes so sometimes it'll just go away.
 
I often feel depressed while doing things like cleaning and cooking also. I don't know why but it feels too hard to do. I think it is a mix of depression and executive dysfunction
 

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