burnout
Currently, I’m really struggling with feeling like I’m in a such rut and am feeling very stuck in said rut. Personally, it’s pretty easy for me to feel burnt out when it comes to school or work. I often find these two to be quite boring and I struggle to force myself to do things I am not interested in. However, of late, I’ve been feeling in a rut outside of school and work. I feel uninspired in general. I am not inspired by fashion or clothing how I normally am. I’m struggling to entertain myself when I have nothing to do, which is normally something I very much excel at. I don’t have the energy to spend time with my friends or call my parents. I have no good TV shows to watch and I’m at a boring spot in my book. Oh! and I’m stressed about my future as I graduate college in under a year with nothing lined up. Essentially, I’m just feeling very BLECH.
I think part of me has realized that what’s coming next for me is the last big “change” people talk about. When you’re young, you always have something ahead of you: grade school, middle school, sports teams, high school, college, graduation, and then it’s just the abyss. No, I’m joking, but it can feel that way sometimes. Personally, working a corporate 9-5 is my definition of a nightmare. So having the impending doom of graduation can be frightening and I guess shuts me down. I’ve never been one to fear change, and I would say that still holds true. It’s not that I am afraid of entering the real world, I guess I’m just afraid that I’ll have to live the lifestyle which I despise so much. I’m excited to enter the workforce and all the possibilities that exist for me outside of college, but I just want things to be on my accord. At the end of the day, I am a realist and understand that my dream post-grad lifestyle is probably unattainable.
As for school itself: I’ve never felt more unenthused. Which again can seep into fears about my path in life. My boring and dreadful classes are what I will be doing for my career for the next however many years. Is this dramatic? Extremely. But you know what, I don’t care. I’m also in a deep internal battle between using AI for all my homework and doing it myself. AI is winning. Again my rut when it comes to school is understandable, my classes are boring, my teachers are dull, and most of the topics I’ve already learned.
As for feeling in a rut in life meaning activities, fashion, inspirations, and aspirations, that’s new for me. I’m struggling to find joy and fulfillment in the things I normally do. This is so dumb, but normally when I’m feeling uninspired, I always look to Pinterest and I find inspiration in almost every sense of the word. Whatever it is: clothes, relationships, work, school, lifestyle, activities. But recently, I can’t even pinpoint it, it’s just not working.
So, what am I gonna do about it? If you go online, there are about a million different ways people say to get out of a rut or just feeling not yourself in general. One of my personal favorites is: if you’re hating yourself, take a shower. If you're hating everyone else, go outside. This is a little silly but it’s still true. Little things can work wonders for feeling better. Personally, writing down how I feel, like what I’m doing now, always helps. I think things get stuck in our heads when we don’t let them out and when you do, you allow them to disperse and wash away. Doing things to better myself always helps me too. When I work out, eat really well, or deep clean my room/apartment, these things can give me a slight boost. I think sometimes our spaces can reflect our minds, so going through and getting rid of all my excess belongings and cleaning my room can really help me. Now none of this that I’m writing can completely fix your rut (believe me, I’m still in mine) but it can help. Also, just the knowledge that it can and will go away with time can be reassuring (this is just for being in a rut, not if you’re suffering from mental health issues).
The moral is, if you’re in a rut, don’t stress, I’m in one too. I hope this makes you feel understood if you are and I hope we can both break free soon.
