Stuck in a rut

We've all been there. You don't like what you are doing or how you are doing it. And you can't explain how you got there. All you know now is that you are in this behavior path and the edges seem too steep for you to climb out. In the physical sense a rut forms because of consistently following the same path. In the figurative sense the same is true. A rut is just the culmination of consistently following bad habits. These habits are individual sub-optimal but together they become a daisy-chain of undesirable activities that suck up your time and leave you feeling unmotivated, dissatisfied, and stuck.

How do we get out? Physically, your best chance to drive out of a rut is to turn your car wheels hard into the edge and accelerate quickly to get some traction and pull yourself up and out. Figuratively, the path is no different. Point directly at just one of those habits - preferably one of the earlier actions in your doom spiral - and charge at it. Accelerate up and out by swapping out that bad habit for a very good one. From my own life, I tend to get stuck when I spend time before bed on my phone because it leads me to sleep with my phone at my side and causes the start of my day to be immediately sucked into scrolling through apps. Next thing you know, I start my day at least an hour behind schedule and I feel stuck in that rut. To get out of that rut, I replace my evening phone time with reading a physical book which has carry-thru effects to how I start the next day.

Ruts are easy to get in and stay in. Look at the mechanics of escape and get yourself out!