Bare Minimum, Big Impact: How I Keep Moving Through Burnout and Low Motivation

Some weeks I'm working 80-90 hours, and other weeks I barely hit 10. The irony? Burnout from the busy weeks lingers into the slow ones, leaving me feeling drained even when I have time to rest. And when I lose momentum, it feels like burnout all over again.

As a personal trainer navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, I've learned that motivation isn't a steady river – it's more like a temperamental faucet that runs hot, cold, or barely at all. But here's what I've discovered: you don't need to wait for motivation to strike. You just need to master the art of doing the bare minimum.

This isn't about lowering your standards or giving up on your goals. It's about creating a sustainable way to keep moving forward, even when your energy tank feels empty and your motivation has ghosted you completely.

Recognizing Burnout vs. Losing Momentum

Before you can fix the problem, you need to understand what you're dealing with. Burnout and losing momentum might feel similar, but they're different beasts that require different approaches.

Burnout feels like exhaustion that lingers even after rest. It's that bone-deep tiredness that doesn't go away after a good night's sleep or a weekend off. When you're burned out, even small stressors feel overwhelming. Adding one more task to your plate feels like the final straw that might break your back.

I know I'm in burnout mode when rest doesn't actually restore me. I can sleep for 10 hours and still wake up feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation. Any additional stress makes me burn through energy faster, and I have to be extra careful not to overcommit.

Losing momentum, on the other hand, feels like not having enough tasks to keep you engaged. It's the opposite problem – too little stimulation rather than too much. When I lose momentum, I feel restless and unfocused. I might have energy, but it's scattered across five different half-finished projects.

The cruel irony is that these two states can create a vicious cycle. After a few brutal 80-hour weeks, I crash into burnout. But then, when work slows down and I only have 10 hours of client sessions, the burnout lingers into those easier weeks. Before I know it, I'm losing momentum because I'm not engaged enough, which somehow makes me feel burned out all over again.

For someone with ADHD like me, this cycle hits especially hard. I need just the right amount of stimulation to stay focused, but finding that sweet spot feels like threading a needle while riding a roller coaster.

The Power of Bare Minimum Effort

Here's where the magic happens: embracing the bare minimum as a strategy, not a failure.

I developed this mindset over years of listening to coaches, trainers, and mindset experts through countless podcasts. The breakthrough came when I realized that so many people get trapped in all-or-nothing thinking. You know the drill – if you can't do it perfectly, why do it at all?

But what if "nothing" doesn't have to be the only alternative to "everything"?

When I don't feel like doing anything substantial, I ask myself one simple question: What's the bare minimum I can do to move forward today? Maybe it's writing a single blog post instead of planning an entire content calendar. Maybe it's recording one podcast episode instead of batch-creating ten. Maybe it's just walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes instead of crushing a full hour workout.

The beauty of this approach lies in activation energy. When you're feeling burned out or unmotivated, the thought of a massive task feels daunting. But committing to just 20 minutes of movement? That feels manageable. And here's the secret: once you start, you often find you can handle a little bit more than that bare minimum.

Action is a great cure for procrastination and anxiety. When you don't know what to do next, doing something – anything – makes you feel productive and can help build momentum for bigger tasks later.

Take today, for example. I've only worked about an hour because clients are on vacation or dealing with illness. Instead of writing the day off as wasted, I set my bare minimum goals: write a blog post, record a podcast episode, and create a few training programs to get ahead of future client needs. By the time you're reading this, I've already exceeded my own expectations.

Environment Shapes Behavior

One thing that's become crystal clear to me is how much your environment impacts your energy and motivation. I've been stuck in a tiny studio apartment with roommates who are up at 3 AM making noise and leaving the kitchen in a constant state of disaster.

Your environment matters more than you think. When the kitchen is disgusting, I don't feel like cooking, which means I'm not fueling my body properly. When my living space feels chaotic and cramped, I don't want to be there, so I spend my time elsewhere instead of working on personal projects. When there's no floor space to stretch or move, my body gets tight and my energy drops.

Living in that cramped, messy space drained my energy in ways I didn't fully appreciate until I started house-sitting in the country for a few days each week. The difference was night and day. Open spaces, clean surfaces, quiet surroundings – suddenly I felt more motivated to take care of myself and work on my goals.

I'm excited to be moving back to my parents' house for a few months. It's a temporary situation, but it represents a complete environmental reset. There's open floor space in the basement where I can stretch while watching TV – something I haven't had in almost three years. There's a clean, functional kitchen where I can cook and prep meals properly. There are safe neighborhoods where I can take evening walks.

I'm particularly excited about establishing a nighttime stretching routine. Instead of smoking a little weed to unwind before bed (a habit I've been trying to break for nine years), I can use that open floor space for mobility work. It's a healthier way to transition from day to night, and it gives me something constructive to do with that restless evening energy.

Environment shapes behavior more than we realize. When your space invites healthy habits, those habits become easier to maintain.

Measuring Progress and Success

Success isn't about hitting some massive milestone or making tons of money – though both of those are nice when they happen. For me, meaningful success comes down to a few simple questions:

Am I excited about what I get to do when I wake up, or am I lying in bed like a vegetable for hours? Do I have a sense of purpose in my day? Am I taking care of my health?

If I can wake up feeling engaged with my day, get some sunshine and fresh air, eat two good meals, get a solid workout in, and sleep for 8 hours, that's a pretty successful day in my book. Everything else is bonus points.

This perspective shift has been crucial for maintaining motivation during slower business periods. The last six months have been economically challenging for many personal trainers, and my client load has reflected that reality. It would be easy to measure success purely by income and feel like a failure.

But when I zoom out and look at the bigger picture, I realize my bank account has never been higher. I've been saving money consistently, taking care of my health, and building systems that will serve me well when business picks up again. Sometimes you have to remind yourself: when in doubt, zoom out.

I'm constantly reminding myself that overnight success can take 10 years in the making. Even when I'm not seeing immediate results from my work, I'm planting seeds. You never know which ones will sprout and when.

Tackling Habits and Goals

If I could wave a magic wand and feel motivated again, the first thing I'd tackle would be cutting back on cannabis at night. It's been a habit for nine years – something that helps me sleep and unwind, but I know it can become problematic for several reasons.

Here's the thing about long-term habits: they're hard to break, even when you know they're not serving you anymore. I've successfully cut back for a few months at a time before, but I've slipped up. The difference now is that I'm approaching it with the same bare minimum mindset I use for everything else.

Instead of trying to quit cold turkey and setting myself up for failure, I'm thinking about small replacements. Maybe one night I replace the cannabis with that stretching routine. Maybe another night I go for a walk instead. Progress doesn't have to be perfect – it just has to be consistent.

This ties directly back to environment. In my cramped studio, I felt bored and restless at night with no healthy outlets. But in a space with room to move and stretch, I'll have better alternatives. And if I'm being honest, cutting back on cannabis will probably help me focus more on marketing my personal training business – something I know is currently my biggest bottleneck.

The irony of habit change is that addressing one area often creates positive ripple effects in others. Better sleep leads to more energy. More energy leads to better workouts. Better workouts lead to improved mood. Improved mood leads to more motivation. It's all connected.

When in Doubt, Zoom Out

This phase of low motivation and scattered energy feels temporary, and I think that's an important distinction to make. I know my brain well enough to recognize the patterns of anxiety and depression I've dealt with in the past. I try to keep my highs longer and more sustainable while mitigating my lows.

Right now feels like a low – low energy, low momentum, complicated by a living situation that drains rather than energizes me. But I also know that change is coming. A new environment, better habits, and the natural ebb and flow of business cycles will shift things eventually.

The key is not waiting for that shift to happen before I start moving forward. The bare minimum approach ensures I'm still planting seeds, still building momentum, still taking care of myself even when I don't feel like it.

When in doubt, zoom out. Even if you feel stuck in the moment, remind yourself that you're playing a longer game. Success isn't about overnight results – it's about showing up consistently, even when it's just the bare minimum.

Your bare minimum is better than nothing. And nothing is what happens when you wait for motivation to magically appear before you take action.

Start small. Stay consistent. Trust the process.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is simply refuse to do nothing at all.