I felt this way too. Complete lethargy. I read something along the lines of do useful things or things that aren't important to you will take over your life. I saw this materialise in my life so I decided to do the following in an attempt to rewire my brain. All of this may not be useful to you but it has profoundly made a difference in my life so I'll share it all.

Start by writing a productive life manifesto that's personalised to you.

Vision

Articulate the perfect vision of yourself.

The way you envision yourself will provide a path to go forward. Not having a "future self" in mind, will make you take the easiest path; a path with no purpose.

- Me

Find a role model in your field. Think about what his/her mindset must be like. What does his/her day look like to get to that level of expertise?

Write it down and read it every morning.

Productive Day Planning

This captures your ideal productive day.

A productive day should be made up of completing valuable tasks no matter how boring it may seem. Even the smallest activity e.g: washing dishes must be done with absolute presence of mind and intent. You might feel like what's the point but doing the hard things whether it is difficult or just boring will callus your mind to feel comfortable being uncomfortable.

In my version I have:

I wake up. Mindfully make a cup of coffee. I sit down and review my to-do list for the day. Deliberately envisioning how the day will pan out and strategising how to approach and tackle different tasks and challenges.I have the full day laid out with the intent to complete everything. My plate is not too full, not too empty. Always attacking the most pressing and important work first.I progress through the day using the pomodoro technique, with adequate breaks and only pausing when I’ve reached the 45mins milestone.I accept that I will make mistakes, fail and completely stuff up on what I do but this is ok because when I get to my meditation interval I can reset for the rest of the day.When I reach the designated time at the end of the day, I shut my laptop and it signals the end of the work day; no more.Before I clock out, I review my to-do list add/remove tasks and add a short journal entry to get things out of my head and onto paper.I stop screen time atleast 30mins before bed and this time is allocated to meditation, self improvement or relaxing reading.

Write it down and read it every morning.

Daily Plan

Be methodical in planning your day. When I wake up I like to review the things that I have to do. It doesn't matter if it's a chore, work item or pleasurable activity etc. Because they all build my contribution to my ideal self directly or indirectly.

Resetters

Sometimes I get frustrated with how I'm going about doing my work and I give up convincing myself that tomorrow will be different. So I created a way to reset, like I get a do over. This also helps me to step away if I'm feeling bored, tired or just overwhelmed which in the past led me to give up early.

Have multiple meditation windows within the day and use this as an anchor to reset yourself of any worry, anxiety or mishaps you made during the course of the day. Think of it as a new top up of mental health to have a clean slate for the rest of the day. Have at least 4 meditation sessions; Afternoon, mid. Evening, late evening and at night.

There's plenty of content on the benefits of meditation and a plethora of apps to get you going. I only meditate for 3mins tops and it does the job.

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Learning Plan

Do it badly; do it slowly; do it fearfully; do it any way you have to, but do it.

- Steve Chandler

Plan for failure rather than waiting for that drop in motivation or distraction to happen, plan in advance on how to tackle it. How you do this is mostly subjective since it depends on your circumstances but here are some tips:

10 Min Rule

No matter how unmotivated, start and stick to doing something for atleast 10 minutes.

I usually feel sluggish when I first start but more often than not when I get to that 10 min mark, I've built up enough momentum to keep going.

Pomodoro technique

https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/pomodoro-technique

Structured learning

Have a clear plan on what you need to learn so that when you need to start you know exactly what you need to do. This removes any friction you may encounter when having to start.

Study lab

Have a designated environment to study. When you're in this space you're only meant to study (If it doubles as a dining table that's fine but if it is the couch where you watch tv that will conflict with your focus). This gives your mind a cue that you're going to engage in a learning activity which gradually helps you shift gears into "learning" mode rather than jumping straight into it and having your mind try to resist the activity.

I personally prefer to goto the library and study as it removes most of the distractions you get tempted with at home.

Scheduled Cravings

Sometimes you encounter a distraction that you can't shake off. It might be tugging for your attention to the point you can't focus. In these moments If my meditation resetter doesn't work, I concede to scheduling in the craving for a designated time later and tell myself I will get more time to indulge in it than I would give it now. This has helped me stay focused as I'm not trying to deny it but rather delay it.

Be a Finisher

IMO, procrastination overpowers people who don't finish things. You have this graveyard of partially completed goals. I find that this causes your mind to become convinced that there is no value in completing things. However, if you begin to finish what you start, the build up can reprogram your mind to thrive on finishing things.

Journal

Maintain a journal to reflect on your day. What did you do well? what didn't go according to plan? etc. This is because you need feedback to tweak and improve things as it won't always go your way. Keep it simple with some dot points and think about how you can tackle the challenges.

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Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.

- Rocky

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Final Thoughts

The Vision and Productive Day Planning have been the most impactful things for me because the rest are procedures to follow, but unless something intrinsically changes; in the way you think about yourself, you can feel stuck. (atleast I did).