My humble opinion: burnout exists, laziness doesn’t

Laziness is a buzzword concept to describe way too many states of mind, downplaying the causes of lack of motivation.

I think there are some words that, if avoided, allow deeper investigation into important things, and “lazy” is in the top 10 of that list

I had one of the most desirable jobs in my field. It was one that everyone thought was very cool when I was asked. I got burnt out. I was sad and depressed every day. When I was done with work, I didn’t want to do anything that required energy. I just sat and watched tv or similar. That’s burnt out.

I am extremely lazy at my current job. It’s a pretty easy job, but I resent being assigned more responsibility (happened the other day). The added responsibility isn’t that difficult and only happens one day per week, but I’m still annoyed. After work, I pretty much scroll Lemmy and watch streaming content, but I don’t feel used up; I’m just lazy. That’s lazy.

The difference is when you can’t do more vs you choose to do less. It’s subjective. Good luck!

There is is “being lazy” thats just capitalism way of saying you’re not making your boss or society enough money.

Enjoy your life.

The word “lazy” exists for exploiters to shame their thralls if they aren’t profiting them enough. Think about anyone who might call you lazy and their relationship to you. They are not your friends; you don’t have to serve them.

If you’re not satisfied with how you’re living your life, that’s meaningful. The protection from loss you have gained through your job doesn’t balance against the stress of what you’re doing. There are no easy answers but something needs to change. I would suggest working on those changes before you get burned all the way out, because at that point you’ll be making changes whether you want to or not.

I am really sorry that you are going through this. I really appreciate all of the people in these comments who are dispelling the myth of laziness. It’s hard not to fall into the hole of guilt and shame, and it’s something I really needed to hear right now. But to me it does sound like you are experiencing burnout, and maybe depression? I have ADHD and after about the 1 year mark I get very bored with work and it starts to take a very real toll on me so I start to under perform and it makes me feel really guilty. So I am trying to be more kind to myself and give myself some grace and acceptance.

Are you sure you’re underperforming, or is that just an idea you came up with yourself? Have you talked to a boss or manager about their expectations for your role and if you are meeting those expectations?

It may just be a self-sabotaging thought, and getting confirmation that you are meeting expectations could let you relax and work at a preferred or natural pace without stressing about your performance.

Honestly that sounds a lot like me. I had a decent job but was underperforming, burnt out and depressed. I started at some point pulling out my facial hair as stress coping mechanism.

I ended up saving up enough to be without a job for a few months, quit and I’ve not looked back.

My hair is regrowing, I’m feeling less stressed than ever, I’ve got a positive outlook on life again and I’m finally getting back into hobbies.

if you’re able to, talk to a mental health professional, share what you’re feeling and let them help and guide you. If not, talk to your partner (if you have one) and get their opinion on how you’re going.

I also acknowledge that my struggle is different to yours, and the decisions I’ve made are working for me. I think you need to talk to people and get their views on how you’re doing, and figure out what’s best for you

Might be depression, at least it was for me

What has helped me is I put together a daily checklist of every possible thing I have to do for any given day at work and check it off. I get overwhelmed sometimes and when I stick to my checklist I realize it’s really not that much I have to do.

Try doing that and checking it off as you go and you might see, as I did, I was completing tasks that I wasn’t suppose to be doing because I thought I was helping. Cut out stuff like that and stick to the list and you should see an improvement in your mood because you will feel like you’re actually getting stuff done.

It’s burnout it’s always burnout (or ADHD–which just makes you more prone to burnout)

Tricky one to weigh up there. It might not be that you’re lazy, you may well just be burned out, not working effectively (i.e. overworking yourself), or it could even be imposter syndrome. On the other hand, yes you could just be lazy, or you might just really hate your job. Hell, there have been times where I’ve felt unmotivated because our leadership team were just arseholes - sometimes a lack of motivation goes beyond just your own choices.

There just isn’t enough data in a short post.

Take some leave, go get checked out by a doctor, talk to a friend/partner, take a look at job ads to see if anything sounds better than where you are.

Take a vacation and see if that improves things. If so, burnout. If not, look for other reasons that you’re lacking motivation.

Why not both?

If money is the only motivation, and especially if some part of the job is demotivating for you (maybe ethically speaking), then I’d count that as burnout. Remember, they can never pay you what you’re worth, because then there’d be no profit for them to leech. Also, the corporate entity has no morality. It’s just a machine.

The big symptom unique to burnout is anger. Ultimately leading to blowing up at coworkers. If you’re not experiencing that it’s probably not burnout.

Depression and ADHD might be good thing to check for.

Is either diagnosis really helpful in figuring out a solution?