Everyone falls into a rut at one point or another. We fall into repetitive, and unproductive actions, leading to us hating how well we wasted the day. yet we know the following day will be the same story. Luckily for you, I’ve been in these so many times, I’ve even come up with a way to help break me out.
You can get out of a rut by first making plans that are easier that are easier to achieve, which will increase your dopamine, and then by making it harder for you to procrastinate using things like appblocks, and physical movements limiters.
This is a fool proof way to exit any rut. For a more detailed breakdown, follow me…
What Is A Rut?
A rut is a habit or a pattern of behavior that has either boring, unmotivated or unproductive, but either or, the person finds it very hard to break this pattern.
Most of the time we spend in our lives, we are trying to achieve something. It can be financial, social, or just physical fulfillment. Even watching movies is a form of fulfillment.
However, sometimes you will find that nothing you do satisfies you.
Sometimes, you will find that you are repeating a series of behaviors. No matter how much we do not want to do it. No matter how important it is that we stop doing these things. We can’t help but do the same things that we were doing anyway.
That is when you are in a rut.
Productivity Rut
It can be a productivity rut. This is when we suddenly stop being as productive as we used to be. Instead, we waste our time doing things that we know are not that important, just so we can avoid doing what we used to do.
Unmotivated Rut
Failing that, it could be a motivation rut. A motivation rut is when we stop even feeling the guilt when we do not do what we must. Now we are only left with a phantom thought that we should be doing something productive.
Emotional Rut
Finally, it can be an emotional rut. This is when the emotions of life just push ups down. it can be events happening in your life, or familial issues. The unifying thing is that your emotions start feeling so strong that they tie you down. No matter what you do, you cannot get yourself to do anything because of how you feel. For example, sometimes people watch political news about their country, and then spend the day being too triggered to be able to work anymore. Most are more serious than this, featuring things like infidelity, grief, guilt, etc. But I wanted to give a lighter example.
All these things have the same thing in common. They take whatever productive groove you have been on, and they grind it to a halt.
So, how do you start again?
How Do I Get Out Of A Rut And Be Productive?
1. Recognize The Story
1.1. The first step to making it out of rut is to know the Story
You Get A New Goal
It always starts with a new discovery.
Maybe a YouTube video, a great course, or maybe even finally discovering a part within yourself that has a potential for the particular subject. How to make money online. How to Talk To People Charismatically. This Is How You Can Get Your Ideal Body In 6 Months. Sometimes, it can even be discovering books that you want to read.
Whatever it is, it ignites something in you.
Usually it is followed by long elaborate fantasies. you can see how much this will improve your life. Then, you set out to make an execution plan. This is usually the killer for most people.
Having a plan suddenly makes it all look so real, and you can’t help but see that it is all seemingly possible. So you start to want it more. The fantasies now are stronger. How people will see you when you make it. What you will be able to do with whatever you gain.
So you choose a date.
It can be next week, just so you can have a proper fresh start. On a Monday, to be exact. And Lo, and behold, Monday arrives.
And you do nothing.
This is for a good reason though. You were just given a surprise assignment to do. Otherwise, it was not because you are lazy. In fact, the next week arrives, and you manage to actually start.
But then you miss the other week too. For family. You miss another week, for another good reason.
Next thing you know, you have missed a month. Then six. And soon, years pass by. Someone asks you about the topic, and you remember how at some point in your past, you intended on doing the thing that could improve.
For this part, it is good that you had inspiration. It is good that you had a vision, so that’s not what to cut. Instead…
1.2. The second step of breaking out a rut is to know how the Cycle Starts
You set the goal high.
The goal that people set in their excited or inspired state is usually too high.
It is a goal that usually expects great returns.
There are 2 types of great returns. First, it is the great gain. Whether it is a lot of money, or a chiseled body at 110 kg, they are both the same. They are extreme success. The second type of great returns is an unprecedentedly quick time frame. People can expect to receive their returns in a matter of months, weeks, and sometimes days.
In order to achieve these great returns, there must be a great sacrifice made.
They must do exuberant amount of work in a short time, spend their entire waking hours at work, and sometimes, they must even sacrifice holidays in order to be able to attain this unrealistic standard they have set for themselves. And the person happily makes plans that will have them giving up all this work and energy.
The following morning when they wake up and all the excitement is gone, they look at their plana nd realize just what they have done.
The scope of the task causes them to be anxious about the work.
Our body follows the path of least resistance. When your body must choose between having to do this mountains of work, for oceans of times, the body will select to do any other thing that will absolutely be less resistant than what you are doing.
So you will want to first watch a video of YouTube. Or take out the trash. Or get a snack. You may even decide to take a nap first.
There are all sorts of procrastinations rising up that you must do first before you do the big task before you.
And this will make you angry.
It will make you angry at yourself for standing on your way. It will make you disappointed in yourself, because you have seen the testimonials. You have seen how far all those people got. So why do you not feel the motivation to do those things? Why do you not feel like working, and giving yourself the work that you wanted to do?
1.3. The third step is to know that you eventually become evasive
You tried to protect yourself from the consequences.
These thoughts are psychological torture.
They do not make you work any better. Instead, studies have shown that overly critical self-criticisms can negatively affect motivation and productivity. All this criticism can lead you to only one destination; evasiveness.
I have spoken about the phenomenon of evasiveness in the other blog, and detailed how to break it. But in simple terms, evasiveness is the state you reach where you find you are no longer interested in work. All the psychological torture you have exposed yourself to has been too much.
Now you want to avoid feeling the pain of your stinging disappointment, and anger. Sometimes, people’s anger leads them to self punish, which are rather unproductive. The proper way to deal with evasiveness is covered in that blog.
However, the main point is that most people give in to evasiveness. They start hiding their previous writings about the plan. They stash away their working equipment.
This leads to more missed Mondays, which only leads to depression at this point. Your self image is utterly destroyed.
1.4. The fourth step is to try and recognize the Consequences of a rut
You evade your work physically, and psychologically.
The first consequence that we see due to these feelings of anxiety, and depression is a lack of physical work.
Now, you avoid everything that has to do with that specific subject. You may even avoid reading about that project from that moment on. This obviously leads to the productivity rut. You are no longer working on the working, and being productive.
The second problem is the psychological evasiveness. Just because you are not physically working does not mean your mind is not on the job. In fact, you will think about it all the time.
And it will hurt you.
You will be angry and disappointed in yourself, and eventually, you will need relief. So, people may indulge in all sorts of distractions. From innocent stuff life TV, social media, and internet addictions, to other more serious forms of addictions.
Together, these two things protect you from the task, and you will have completely forgotten it. Now you do not hurt anymore. Not until years later, someone asks you if you have ever heard of a certain something, their eyes twinkling as they speak.
And you realize that was once you at some point in your past.
2. Break The Story
2.1. The fifth step is to realize that You Are Doing Well
There are not that many people in the world who are on your level.
After you have learned the story, it is time we get to practically steps you can take to making it out of the rut. But we have not gotten to physical steps yet. First, we need to start at the psychological step.
The first psychological step you could take is realizing that you are already ahead of the majority of people in the world.
This is not about pride, or bragging. Instead, it is about being reasonable.
Most people who worry about being productive are hard working people. They are people who have goals for their lives, and are already high achieving in character. You need to realize that you are not exactly normal.
The majority of people will not read this blog.
They will see it, and skip it. They will look at the size, and decide some other time. But you read it. This shows you already have a thirst for improving yourself.
Also, the fact that you already know the course that you know. The fact that you know the information that inspired you in the first place. That also makes you ahead of most people.
You have to realize that it is unreasonable to be angry at you for doing nothing because YOU HAVE done something. You learned the information. Maybe not much, but it is a lot more than others have done.
2.2. Your Results Will Come From 20 Percent Of Your Work
The sixth step is to realize that the majority of your results will come from 20% of your work anyway.
The Pareto effect is an effect that is often spoken about in these productivity spaces.
Basically, this observed effect showed that the majority of our productivity comes from only 20% of the work, not the 80%.
The way that I like to think of it is that I do not know if my next course of action is part of the 20% that will get me the results I want. So I can try again.
Its true for you too.
3. Be Aware Of The Story
3.1. The 10 Hot Spots Of The Story
The seventh step is to pay attention to all the hot spots, and only act on the hot spots.
It’s said that you must strike while the iron is hot. As it so happens, I believe the same too. Do not try to act when it is futile, such as when you are sitting on your back with the chips on your chest, and lap top on your lap. You are already too comfortable at that point, and it is practically impossible to act from there.
Instead, act in the moments when it would be easiest to cause a difference. There are about 10 key points in the story into a rut:
- Excitement: This is when you are most inspired, and when you decide you want to do this.
- Learning: This is when you start learning as much information as you can about the thing you want to do.
- Planning: This is when you begin creating a course of action. More importantly, it is where you set your goals, and you set the actions you must take to reach those goals.
- Setting the Dates: This is when you start plotting out the best dates to execute the plans you have made.
- Procrastination: This is when you decide to do something else at the time you were supposed to be doing what you promised to do.
- Anxiety: This often comes after the excitement has worn out. Now you look at the magnitude of the task before you. It frightens you.
- Avoidance: This fear causes you to resist doing it, and you find that you start procrastinating more.
- Depression: Upon realizing you are being evasive, you start to feel angry at your self. Then when your disappointment does not change, in spite of your anger, you become disappointed in yourself. This then turns to sadness.
- Evasiveness: So you outright evade the work. You stop doing the work, hide it from your sight, and begin indulging in other things.
- Ruined life: So you are completely stuck in the rut. You watch as your life drifts away all around you.
3.2. The Best Actions For Each Spot
The eight step is recognizing the best place to act, and the specific actions to take.
2 learning ,3 planning, 4 setting dates, and 5 procrastination are the best hot spots to strike.
While you are learning, you could start by learning the things that you need specifically, and do not try to learn things that will over excite you. You should not watch too many videos that will hype your fantasies. Things like money breakdown videos, top 10 in that space videos, and the likes. Stick to tutorial videos instead.
For planning, keep your plans low difficulty. Even easy if you can. Make them more frequent instead. For example, I write a blog every 2 days. 1 day is for research, another is for writing. This is easy. Almost too easy at times. I often get tempted to add in 3 more blogs. But I resist this. You will feel a lot better when you manage to attain your set goals, and these boost will wash away emotional rut. This is something that even studies have proven.
For setting dates, you should spread out your dates as much as possible. Give yourself time to rest, instead of working all the time. On top of that, give yourself preparation days. This will allow you to have a lot of time to breathe.
Basically, these will lead to you decreasing your output, and decreasing your work load. But they are sustainable, and easy enough to do, meaning they are not a high resistance wall.
Speaking of which, when it comes to procrastination, make it harder to procrastinate. Find all the things you do when you procrastinate. Here is a list that helps with time wasters. Things like social media and more are discussed in a study that shows what we waste most of our time doing.
When you have these, increase the resistance for the procrastination, and decrease the resistance for work.
Let’s say you have to write a book. You can decrease resistance by planning the first sentence the night before, turning on the word document, tying yourself to the chair when you sit, and activating an app blocker that will activate at that specific time.
When you have mastered exiting ruts whenever you enter them (and you will enter them multiple times by the way), you will be that much closer to mastering mastery.