What to Do When You Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything

Do you ever have days where you have no energy and you do not felling like doing anything in the world?

I am not too proud to admit that I have seen many no-energy days where it feels almost impossible to do anything.

Let me tell you, I had two hard-core, no energy at all days, last week. January was getting to me or something! All I wanted to do was wallow on my sofa, but then I felt guilty about not getting my stuff done.

Sometimes I do not even know why I have no energy. Maybe it’s hormones, maybe it is being overwhelmed, or maybe I need more sleep. Perhaps we have no motivation because it is dead winter and freezing cold outside.

Whatever the reason, sometimes you do not feel like doing anything at all.

That is okay for a lazy Sunday afternoon or a Saturday that is not full of commitments. But in the middle of the week, when you have a thousand things you “should” be doing, it sure is highly inconvenient to feel this way!

Unmotivated and tired, like I’m stuck in a blob of glue, is exactly where I found myself in the middle of last week, when I made this video for y’all.

In the video, I talk about the feeling, and then I show you all the ways I manage it. Some of us need people to show us, not just tell us about it.

But don’t worry, I’ll make you a bullet point list down below the video, for those of you not prepared to watch a thirteen minute YouTube video. Geesh! I guess I had a lot to say for someone so lethargic.

Five Tips to Get Going and Doing When You Only Want to Sit on Your Sofa:

#1. First of all, if you haven’t had a day off in a while, forget all this mess. A day off is what you actually need. Remember, God rested on the seventh day, so why shouldn’t we?

However, I’ve been resting it up like a professional couch potato, so I needed more motivation. Keep reading if that is you.

I feel like I have been resting since December the twenty-fourth, when I came down with the covid.

#2. Give yourself what I call “mini missions.”

You are important, and so are your mundane little tasks. They are not chores. They are missions!

Perhaps we are too tired for big fat projects. We are going to only focus on one tiny job at a time. If you are working on a big project, break it down into tiny steps, and only focus on one small step at a time.

Try a two minute task, like going to check the mail. After you do that one, you could go sit down again.

I made my first mini missions unloading the dishwasher and putting on make-up.

#3. Make a short list of things to do today, and break them down into small jobs. This way you know what to do next, just in case you pick up energy.

You might not accomplish all of the things on the list, but you can get at least some of them done. The first step is always the hardest, right?

I made a list, and then once I was on my feet I focused on the ones that were important and that I had the energy to do.

#4. You might find that after one or two mini-missions, you suddenly feel like a new person.

That is why you want to have the list, to keep yourself from sitting down. When we sit, we are going to have to fight to get back up again! I was terrified to sit, knowing it would be hard to get back up again.

But if you need the award of sitting, sit when you need to sit.

#5. Get dressed in clothes you could wear outside the house, and fix your hair and face to look good. When you look better, you feel better.

In the photo above, I did not make it to putting on make-up that day, but at least I had real clothes on. My hair was under control, and a good walk is excellent for mental and physical health.

#6. Not ready to stand much? See how many little things you can get done from your chair.

You might have a medical condition that is causing this fatigue. Your body is telling you it needs to be still. When I was recovering from having babies or dealing with pregnancy anemia, I would see how many household jobs I could turn into sitting jobs.

Make it a game to see how much you can get done while sitting on your sofa and maybe even put a show on. Folding laundry while watching a good show is my favorite.

#7. Take a nap!!

Maybe you need a nap. I took one the day I made the video. After I accomplished a few things, I went to bed.

Did I wake up refreshed and energetic, with new optimism to face the day?

Nope. I still felt exhausted. Low energy days are like that sometimes, and it is what it is. However, I still think the nap was good for me long term. It helped me catch back up on needed sleep. The next day I did wake up with more energy.

#8. Sometimes you have to give energy to get energy.

Hopefully, after you do a couple of mini missions, you will find that you get some pep back in your step. I felt so much more alive after simply fixing my face and doing the dishes. It is simple but true.

The hardest part of getting things done is that first rise off of the sofa. It’s like how the hardest part of cooking dinner is deciding what to make and starting it up.

If you tell yourself I am going to get up for only a bit, I do not have to do much, it will feel safer. “Okay, I can do this little thing. No big deal.”

#9. Last but most importantly: Pray for wisdom, energy, and strength. Dig into God’s word for encouragement.

Pray and tell God what’s going on, and ask him for wisdom and help. You may just need some coffee and some fresh air. Sometimes the Holy Spirit can remind you of that.

The Bible can be surprisingly inspirational. Try Psalms or Proverbs or the book of John. There is power in God’s word.

I hope some of these tips will help you cope, and you can knock out a mini mission or two.

These strategies can come in handy any time you are down, tired, or unmotivated.

These tips may not fix the problem of being tired. For me, once I got up and about, I did get energy for a little while. However, it was temporary, and I still needed a nap.

Even the nap did not permanently solve the problem. The point of these strategies is to still get things done in the middle of being tired. The fact is that sometimes we are all going to feel bummed or unmotivated, and we cannot always fix it right away. These are ways to still accomplish things while dealing with the challenge of low energy.