Currently I am a uni student, working 4 days a week during the summer, moving to about 3 during term time.
Every day I’m not working I feel tired constantly, regardless of amount of sleep. I push through anyways to get the work that needs done finished, then sit down and just collapse basically. I wouldn’t even call it relax, just sit and switch off.
I don’t have any energy or motivation to play games anymore, even though I used to play avidly. I play guitar but it’s been feeling like I’m not getting as much out of it now…
Once I’m out of uni, I’ll be in full-time and, if I get into the industry I want, more mentally taxing work.
In short, is there something I’m missing here, or is work-eat-sleep-repeat all there is until I retire? Cause frankly I’m more sure I can be arsed if not…
EDIT
Thanks for the responses, I kinda posted this in a moment of hopelessness for life and I don’t really know what I wanted as a response.
Asking for the meaning of life? Lemmy’s great and all, but I don’t think I’ll find it here lmao
Regardless, there’s a few things here for me to look into and take further, so thank you again!
If this is to close for comfort for rule 3, feel free to delete mods
Yes, there is more.
You sound like you are experiencing burnout and as a result anhedonia and depression.
Burnout is a very real clinical condition caused by the demands you are operating under being dysfunctional in some way. It is very real and can lead to a dangerous depression.
Anhedonia is the loss of enjoyment in things you previously enjoyed. For example, when I had anhedonia video games because uninteresting, boring even, and the effort required to play was too much and there was no reward to playing.
You need to deal with this before it escalates into full blown depression and burnout. It can take much longer to fix than it will take to stop now, so get started ASAP. Starting an antidepressant may be helpful, it may not, but it is just one tool and I personally would avoid it having done it before.
The other steps for managing burnout are largely about changing the demands on you, the level of connection to other people, and what you do to relax. Exercise is a really helpful tool and honestly is what makes me resilient against another bout of burnout now.
Good luck
This comment right here.
With burnout and depressive states your ability to foresee the good in life, or even experiences outside of the grind, is severely curtailed: you essentially develop emotional tunnel vision. A psychiatrist can help you break the negative spiral.