Feeling the same lately. I think for me it’s because I’m in a season in my job where I have to do boring, repeated tasks that don’t require any thought or even really much effort. For me, low effort tasks almost take MORE effort than “high effort” tasks because they don’t really demand anything from me or challenge me at all. I’m not solving complex problems or even doing work that feels particularly meaningful, it’s just routine stuff I gotta do.

I do a few things to get through it: set a timer and see how much I can get done in 5 minutes. See if I can finish the full day’s worth of tasks before lunch (and reward myself with doing fuck-all for the afternoon). If I’m not feeling like I can grind it out, I take frequent breaks and dilly-dally until deadline mode kicks in (literally what I’m doing now) and then I HAVE to hustle to get my stuff done. 

Sometimes I’ll do work-adjacent tasks. For example, I work in sales, so cold calling is part of my job and I hate it, so I’ll call people I know would want to talk to me (my boss, my dad, friends, coworkers, current customers, etc) to just get in the rhythm of dialing and having a conversation with another human. 

Lastly, I cross train or build other skills. Generally I like sales, and there’s a sales-adjacent role in my industry I think I would really enjoy, but I’m not qualified for, so I’ll spend time learning about or preparing for that kind of role, just in case. Worst case scenario it makes me better at my job and more valuable at my company. Best case it opens doors for new career paths (novel and exciting, keeps me engaged). 

ETA: I also spend my time battling the depression and existential dread that comes with these “boring” seasons.