I know the feeling. The worst part is that the apathy extends the time it takes to get the work done, putting off the time when you are done.
Making a list of all that you have to do helps, because it makes the work finite. Instead of obsessing and bemoaning what you have to do—and for the most part, not doing it—instead, detail the work into 30 minute chunks. Then start crossing them off. Force yourself to take breaks after you complete a chunk.
On paper, you can see a path to it all getting done, and that path is finite. You can only focus on so much of the task at once in your head, so it feels infinite, because there is always something else off your mental stage that needs to be taken care of.
Write it down. Cross it off, a piece at a time.
One thing I would note. You talk about your desire for free time with nothing to do. Apathy really starts when you have nothing you want to do with the time you have. Find something you want to do in that free time, and completing your other work so that you can do that thing may be more motivating than getting “free time”.
I know the feeling. The worst part is that the apathy extends the time it takes to get the work done, putting off the time when you are done.
Making a list of all that you have to do helps, because it makes the work finite. Instead of obsessing and bemoaning what you have to do—and for the most part, not doing it—instead, detail the work into 30 minute chunks. Then start crossing them off. Force yourself to take breaks after you complete a chunk.
On paper, you can see a path to it all getting done, and that path is finite. You can only focus on so much of the task at once in your head, so it feels infinite, because there is always something else off your mental stage that needs to be taken care of.
Write it down. Cross it off, a piece at a time.
One thing I would note. You talk about your desire for free time with nothing to do. Apathy really starts when you have nothing you want to do with the time you have. Find something you want to do in that free time, and completing your other work so that you can do that thing may be more motivating than getting “free time”.