I have no motivation.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

It’s so hard to deal with. I need to repair a shelf. I can see myself doing each step from going to Lowe’s to get screws marking where drill holes will be drilling the holes setting the shelves in place. I want to get this shelf done.

But somewhere between I wanna fix my shelf this way and doing it something gets in the way.

I hate this.

Dr. Told me it’s trauma related as the meds are not working. We tried several meds too.

[NJCher]

1. An idea

I don’t know if this will work because of what you say about it being a problem with your medicines not working, but it’s a thought.

Go to YouTube and watch videos of people putting up shelves. Just watch a video with that content, maybe one a day.

Read a wiki-how on putting up shelves.

Do these activities without any thought of how you need to put up your shelf.

What you are doing is familiarizing yourself with the task.

At some point you may find yourself motivated to do the shelf.

Where am I getting this?

The answer is from my MA research on the role of familiarity in motivation. Being familiarized with something makes it more likely that you will do it.

————-

I can’t remember for sure where I saw this, but someone organized an experiment with people who had messy houses. The study participants wanted to change but lacked the motivation to do so. They wanted to live in clean, organized conditions.

They watched those videos of people cleaning houses on YouTube.I can’t recall the results but it did work for many of them.

[calimary]

4. Hey, NJCher, that's a seriously interesting idea!

“Familiarity in motivation.”

“… The answer is from my MA research on the role of familiarity in motivation. Being familiarized with something makes it more likely that you will do it.”

Learn something new every day!

[multigraincracker]

2. Google cognitive behavioral therapy for motivation.

Drug free methods that work.

[HeartsCanHope]

3. I'll be thinking of you, I_Underground Panther. Hugs to you!

[BigmanPigman]

5. Depression causes procrastination

When you don't feel like doing even the most simple, normal activities it could be related to depression. The problem for me it that I put myself down for not doing what I should be doing. That makes the depression worse. Don't be too hard on yourself.

[Siwsan]

6. I feel much the same. My kid cats give me the motivation to go on

Well, that and my 'chill pill' medications. However, my appetite is still MIA.

I've stopped watching or reading the news, both on TV and social media. Some days I sleep. A lot. The kid cats love that because they can either curl up with me or find things to knock down and wake me up.

My big mental escape is watching videos on the internet. Cooking, furniture restoration, mud larking in the Thames River in London. My favorite is watching the Djuma water hole cam in South Africa (Djuma.com). The cameras run pretty much 24/7 and you never know what might show up. The background sound is filled with bird song. I've seen massive herds of elephants, various types of antelope, hippos, even an occasional lion, leopard or hyena. I find it to be very mentally relaxing.

[Danascot]

7. Just do the first step

If that's going to Lowes to get screws, do that. Assure yourself that's all you have to do at the moment. Be satisfied you got that done. Then the next day or two days or three days do one more step. At some point you may feel you can do another step without pausing but it's fine if you don't. Keep doing one step incrementally at the pace that you're comfortable with and eventually the task will be done.

This is in addition to the suggestions to watch youtubes about building shelves.

Having no motivation is a sign of depression. It sounds like you already know that but I wanted to mention it in case you didn't. I suffer from depression. Fortunately I've been on medication for about 30 years that knocks it down to a more manageable level.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. I sometimes do what Danascot recommends.

Just do the first step of a job and let that be all you do for the day. Then the next day do the next step. Break it down into little steps that you do one a day. Works for cleaning up a big mess, in my case. Lol
Good luck and I know how it feels, you’re not alone.

[Ziggysmom]

9. Hi Panther! I have the same problem, my antidepressant helps, and Strattera for ADHD helped

a bit more, but I’m often paralyzed before I am able to start a task. I had some time off work this week and didn’t do squat; now I feel bad about wasting time. It’s such a vicious cycle of highs and lows some days.

Unfortunately I can’t change much in my life circumstances right now; I’m still my husband’s caretaker and his health has declined greatly this year. I have even been off DU for days at a a time. I really like NJCher’s suggestion about familiarity. You visualize yourself doing the task and the familiarity makes it easier to start.

Hope you are able to find meds that work better and can fix your shelf. Sorry I forgot to wish you a happy birthday last week. Take care of yourself and give Othello a big hug

[I_UndergroundPanther]

10. I take adderall

For the adhd.

I read something online about the lack of motivation thing. About the process of healing from trauma.

When you are in survival mode you power through tasks because it’s part of hypervilagence.I have been guilty of this for years driving myself like a mule. I got shit done because I had to or else was what I thought and felt.
The or else was the dread of punishment.

So ironically I have dissociative disorder and ptsd. Never considered it would mess with my perception of my motivation.

When traumatized people start healing thier motivation feels like it goes pouf. So when they start to get back normal motivation it feels like no motivation because they have never had normal levels of motivation.

I look at my situation counting from 5 days ago. Day 1 I took everything off my shelves and it’s a lot of stuff, and put it in a place that wouldn’t be in the way. Day 2 I did nothing the next day but the usual chores. Day 3 II put some of my. stuff back on the other shelves. This is when I discovered the problem with my big shelf.


And today I put my big Egyptian gods statues I painted on top of the glass cabinet as the top is metal.

I looked at the construction of my sturdy shelves and figured out what I need are backside bracers of wood.

4 or 5 plywood boards 30 inches wide by 1 or 2 feet tall to hammer into the backside of the shelf. Spray paint them white, on the frontside and screw them in. This is even more easy to do than brackets or the drill holes.

Or I could get one huge plywood sheet have it cut at Lowe’s and paint it white with spray paint and nail it in.

Even though I don’t have a car I have a rolling pallet cart that I can use to get the boards home.

Also today I washed dishes, made my bed, cooked meals and washed and folded and put up some clothes.
Dispite my back hurting( got to get the shots again).

This whole shelf arranging thing was because for my birthday I got a glass cabinet ( it even locks) to display and protect the 110 little Egyptian gods I have painted that took over a year to do. It will also hold a lot of my other collectables too. It’s pretty big.

All I gotta get are some risers and quake putty next month then they’ll look great and be in a safe place.

So looking back I’m doing ok I am getting stuff done, just not doing it all yesterday that’s all.

[OldBaldy1701E]

11. Yep. Right there with you.

Recently, when I tried to do some things, I saw just how unable I was to do them. Various reasons, but mostly due to age and diabetes. It has floored me. I now find I am just uninterested in much of anything except sitting on my ass and watching YouTube.

Glad you can see a doctor about this. I wish I could. But, healthcare is the new 'gold rush', so such a thing is well out of range. My insurance just laughs at the kind of procedures and specialists that I need.

Between the election, my increasing inabilities, the fact that we will be moving soon and have NO IDEA where we are going to go... mostly because we don't have the finances to go anywhere else. Which is mostly due to my being a complete failure and falling apart. So, I don't really want to do jack shit.

How much of that sounds familiar?