We’ve all been there—caught in that endless loop of wake up, coffee, work, Netflix, repeat. The pandemic only intensified this feeling as days blurred together in what Harshibar aptly describes as “one big old rut.” Her recent video resonated with me deeply because it captures something universal yet rarely discussed: those periods when we feel completely stuck. If you’re going to stop being stuck, you have to do something; it doesn’t just happen.
As someone who also meticulously plans everything, I understand the frustration that comes with life not following our carefully crafted blueprint. Harshibar mentioned how she had planned her life “to a tea with a year-by-year plan from med school to having kids,” only to find herself making videos at her parents’ house at 24—a path she hadn’t envisioned.
The Reality of Modern Productivity Culture
We’re constantly trying to optimize every minute of our lives, yet we rarely stop to reflect on why we feel stuck or unmotivated. This insight from Harshibar struck me as particularly important. How many times have I pushed through feelings of burnout without pausing to understand what triggered them?
The pressure to be productive 100% of the time is both unrealistic and harmful. As Harshibar points out, even at university, there was a natural rhythm — intense study weeks followed by periods of downtime. Yet somehow in adult life, many of us expect constant high performance without breaks.
“I need to treat my work as a marathon not a sprint. I can’t force myself to hustle 24/7 and expect not to burn out.”
This shift in perspective from sprint to marathon is something I’m trying to adopt in my own life. The productivity hacks—tossing phones across rooms, using Pomodoro timers, playing focus music—sometimes work, but they’re not sustainable solutions for deeper issues.
Practical Strategies for Breaking Free
What I found most valuable were the actionable approaches Harshibar shared for getting unstuck:
- Maintaining an active “brain dump” to gain mental clarity
- Embracing the “do something principle”—taking any action to build momentum
- Adding variety through simple changes like rearranging your workspace
- Finding new activities (cooking experiments, different workouts) to look forward to
The brain dump technique particularly appeals to me. Writing down what’s overwhelming you, what’s annoying you, or what errands you’re avoiding can provide surprising relief. I’ve started doing this myself, and it helps externalize the mental clutter that contributes to feeling stuck.
Preventing Future Ruts
Beyond just coping with current ruts, Harshibar’s long-term preventative measures offer wisdom for building resilience:
- Embracing a slow growth mindset instead of fixating on specific milestones
- Limiting social media to reduce unhelpful comparisons
- Incorporating mindfulness practices like meditation
Even with a curated feed, I still find myself falling into comparison traps. Limiting exposure to platforms that trigger these feelings seems like a sensible boundary to maintain mental health.
Perhaps the most powerful takeaway is permitting ourselves to be imperfect. As Harshibar concludes, “It’s okay not to be 100% productive all the time, and it’s okay to need to take a break sometimes.
In a culture obsessed with hustle and optimization, this message feels revolutionary. Some days will be productive, others won’t—and that’s not just okay, it’s normal. The next time I find myself staring at my computer, unable to focus, I’ll remember that forcing productivity rarely works. Instead, I’ll try embracing the rut momentarily while taking small actions to build momentum back.
Life isn’t meant to be a hamster wheel of constant motion. Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is step off, take a breath, and remember that our output doesn’t measure our worth. That’s a lesson worth remembering, especially on those days when getting out of bed feels like a monumental achievement.
Deanna Ritchie
Editor-in-Chief at Calendar. Former Editor-in-Chief and writer at Startup Grind. Freelance editor at Entrepreneur.com. Deanna loves to help build startups, and guide them to discover the business value of their online content and social media marketing.