"Do what you love."

    We've all heard this advice before. It's great advice, though not many people truly take it to heart.

    But sometimes doing what you love isn't enough to keep you going. Inspiration, passion, and motivation are difficult things to hold on to. They always seem to slip away right when you need them most.

    You know that feeling. Where you'rethatclose to finishing a project, or achieving a goal, or crossing a task off your to-do list … but you just can't muster the energy. You've lost interest. You're exhausted. Drained. And you don't know why.

    That's burnout. It's something many of us are all too familiar with. I'd like to share with you a few ways that I fight burnout – or prevent it from catching me in the first place.

    1. Achieve in increments. When you only focus on a big goal someday, it's easy to get burned out by the daily grind. It's like driving toward a mountain in the distance. You can drive for hours, but the mountain doesn't seem to get any closer. And spinning your wheels gets real tiring real fast.

    The solution is to give yourself a way to measure and record every little step forward you take. Here's how:

    Get a journal, notebook, or calendar. Writing things down is important.

    Identify milestones on the road towards your goal.If you're writing a book, you could treat each chapter as one milestone. Or, even better, treat each 500 words or 1000 words as a milestone.

    If milestones aren't obvious, create them. For example, if you're training for a marathon, hold yourself to a progression of distance. If you start out running at your maximum distance, you'll plateau very quickly. Instead, start at a shorter distance – even if it's very easy for you – then work your way up slowly.

    Track milestones in a simple, visual format. Think of the progress bar on a download. One glance tells you exactly how much progress has been made. The format you choose doesn't need to be detailed or comprehensive. It just needs to show that you're moving forward day by day.

    Learn to appreciate the little accomplishments. Let yourself enjoy the feeling of getting things done.

    2. Train your muse. One of the biggest myths about inspiration that it's random. One day you're inspired and motivated, the next day you're burned out – and there's no way around it. Or so they say.

    In fact, inspiration is just like any other skill. It may start out as unreliable, but it can be trained and developed into something you can rely on.

    So how do you train your muse? The best way I've found is immersion. Surround yourself with things that inspire you and reflect your goals. Great composers listen to music. Great authors read voraciously. Great marketers attend seminars. Great productivity-ists subscribe to Zen Habits. And so on. Immersion trains your mind to work efficiently in the ways you need it to.

    The more that your inspiration becomes a part of your life, the less likely it is to run out when you need it most. With that in mind, be creative. What ways can you connect with your inspiration on a daily basis?

    3. Work less. Cut down on the amount of energy and time you spend working. If you have sick days or vacation days left, take advantage of them. Or, if you're self-employed, force yourself to work fewer hours each day – even if that means turning down new projects.

    Working less doesn't mean you have to slack off or get less done. It does mean that you:

    Eliminate unnecessary tasks.

    Take strategic breaks.

    Stop multi-tasking.

    Seek help from other people.

    4. Define success realistically. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having big dreams and big ambitions. But if you're constantly frustrated by a lack of progress, it might be time to take a step back and examine your goals. Are they achievable? Are you holding yourself to a reasonable timeline?

    Here's a good way to do this. Get a piece of paper and write down your big, ambitious goal. Then write down at least 10 specific, concrete steps that will allow you to achieve that goal. Be as detailed as possible. If you can't come up with a series of down-to-earth steps to get you from here to your dream, that's a sign that you need to either redefine your goals or rethink the way you're pursuing those goals.

    5. Get more sleep. You've heard this before, I know. So have I. But that didn't stop me from going against my better judgment and tiring myself out by staying up late to work. Getting enough sleep takes a conscious decision – and, just like any good habit, takes time to develop.

    One of the biggest barriers for me in this area is procrastination. I have a tendency to put things off throughout the day, then stay up later as a result. What's keeping you from getting the rest you need?

    6. Take it slow（er）. The world tells us to rush things: "Get there faster. Make money quicker. Retire sooner." And while these things aren't necessarily bad, they can easily get us in over our heads. If you're feeling burned out and overwhelmed, it's time to slow down.

    A few ways to take yourself out of 24/7 high gear:

    Spend at least 10 minutes a day in a quiet place, away from distractions. Breathe.

    Put together a playlist of slow, relaxing music. Listen to it whenever you start feeling frazzled.

    Take a butcher knife to your to-do list. Set a limit to the number of tasks you take on each day and stick to it.

    Extend your deadlines. Do you absolutely, positively have to get this done now? Just remember – this isn't an excuse to procrastinate.

    7. Get a second opinion. It's hard to spot burnout from the inside. Your close friends and family are likely to identify the signs of burnout long before you do. So listen to what they're saying. The next time your spouse, parent, or best friend tells you you're working too hard, take it seriously.

    8. Set clear boundaries. Burnout happens when we allow work to overflow its boundaries and interfere with every other part of our lives. So set strong boundaries. The clearer the better. In writing, if possible.

    For example, instead of saying: "I'll spend at three hours every night with my family," make it clearer: "I won't work after 8 o'clock. That's 100% family time." Clear boundaries are easier to stick to and harder to rationalize away.

    Once you've set up your boundaries, make them public. Let your family know that you've set aside time just for them. They'll hold you accountable to your promises. Let your clients know that you'll be unavailable during certain hours. This will reduce the temptation to fudge on your boundaries.

    9. When you're working, focus. I've found that concentrating on work is actually less exhausting than allowing yourself to be wishy-washy about it. When you decide that it's time to work, buckle down, eliminate distractions, and do it wholeheartedly. There's something amazingly refreshing about pure, sharp focus.

    10. Create outlets. If you're a person of diverse interests （and really, who isn't?）, it's likely that you have several very different goals and ideas bouncing around in your head at any given time. These ideas need outlets. If you hold them inside, they'll eventually start interfering with your focus and creating unnecessary frustration, leading to burnout.

    In other words, I think it's okay – healthy, even – to start a few side projects as outlets for creative energy. Just make sure that you keep your priorities straight and your side projects fun. If these side projects become sources of stress, cut them out immediately.

    11. Know when to power through it. This is going to sound out of place given what I've said above, but it's powerful – if applied correctly. Sometimes the solution for burnout is just to power through it. Sometimes burnout can be an illusion. In these cases, the best choice is to refuse to use burnout as an excuse, ignore the fact that you feel burned out, and just work through it. It's like a runner gaining her second wind and coming out stronger on the other side.

    However, just as an experienced athlete knows when to push through the pain and when to pull back, you'll need to be very careful how you take this particular piece of advice. Until you develop a keen awareness of your own tendencies, it's usually better to err on the side of caution and pull back when you start feeling burned out.

    12. Never accept defeat. Burnout is an obstacle like any other. It can hold you back for a while, but it's not the end of the world – unless you let it defeat you.

    If you have a great goal in mind, don't give up on it, no matter how apathetic, exhausted, or frustrated you might feel. If everything I've said up until this point fails, do this: hold on to your dream – even if it doesn't feel like much of a dream at the moment. Hold on to it anyway. That way, when the storm clears, your dream will still be intact, ready for another try.

    "做你喜歡做的事。"

    我們都曾聽過這個建議。這是一個很偉大的建議，雖然不是很多人真正的將它放在心里。

    不過，有時候即使是干你所愛的事情也不能足以讓你一直保持熱情。靈感、熱情和理想是那種難以堅持的東西。它們似乎經常在你最需要它們的時候溜之大吉。

    你很清楚那種感覺。在差不多搞定一個項目，或接近一個目標、或將你一項任務從你的待辦清單拿下等等的那些時刻，但你就是不能提起勁來。你變得毫無興趣，筋疲力竭。而你不知道這是為什么。

    這就是怠惰。一個大多數人都非常非常熟悉的現象。我很樂于向你分享一些我戰勝怠惰的方法--或者說，防止它從一開始就發作的方法。

    1.完成微小的疊加。當你只將注意力放在一個大目標的時候，很容易你就被日常單調的事情磨得筋疲力竭。這就像開著車朝著遠方的山前進一樣。你可能開幾個小時了，但那座山看起來一點都沒有靠近。你的輪子一直不停的轉啊轉，當然很快你就累了

    解決方法是，用一種方式來測量和記錄在前進道路上的每個小小的一步。這里是建議：

    *拿起一本日記、筆記本或日歷。寫下事情是很重要的。

    *找出朝著你目標前進的道路上的里程碑。如果你在寫一本書，你可以將每個章節視為一個里程碑。或者，可能會更好，將500個字或1000個字視為一個里程碑。

    *如果里程碑不是很明顯，創建它們。舉例而言，如果你在正在進行馬拉松訓練，給自己設定一個漸進距離作為目標吧。如果一開始就設定你能跑的最遠距離作為目標，那么你很快就會到達平臺期。相反，如果從一個較短的距離開始-即使這對你而言相當容易-你會慢慢地取得進步

    *以一種簡單的、可視的方式來跟蹤你的里程碑。想象一下，你下載東西的時候，出現的進度條。只要你瞥一眼就能知道你現在的進度是多少。你所選擇的方式，不必拘泥于細節或在內容上有多么廣泛。它所要做的，只是告訴你每天你進步了多少。

    學會去欣賞你每一小小的成就。享受那種完成某件事的感覺。

    2.訓練你的靈感。靈感是不可捉摸的，這是一個最大謊言。在前一天你還充滿靈感和活力，第二天你就開始筋疲力竭--別無他法。這就是他們所說的。

    實際上，靈感和其他的技能一樣。在一開始，它可能不那么能靠得住，但是它可訓練的，具備成為你信任的能力的發展性。

    如何訓練你的靈感？我所找到的最好的方法就是，沉浸到你的目標中去。僅僅圍繞著你自己的東西，全部都是能激勵你和反映出你的目標的。偉大的作曲家努力地聽音樂。偉大的作家貪婪的閱讀。偉大的經營者努力的參與各式各樣的討論會。偉大的高效者，訂閱Zenhabits,如此等等。沉浸到你目標中去，能訓練你的頭腦，讓它以你期待的方式，變得高效。

    當你的靈感越來越融入你的生活，它就越來越不會在你需要它的時候溜掉。要變得有創意，記住這一點。究竟什么方式能讓你每天都與靈感接通？

    3.少工作。砍掉那些你花在工作上的時間與精力。如果你病了，或你有工假，利用它們。或者，如果你是個自由職業者，每天強迫自己少幾個小時去工作--即使這意味著你拒絕了新計劃。

    工作得少，并不表示的變得懶惰或完成得少。它的意思是讓你：

    *去掉不必要的任務。

    *獲得關鍵性的進展。

    *停止同時多任務的方式。

    *從別人那里獲得幫助。

    4.給成功下明確的定義。擁有一個大大的夢想，或抱負是沒有任何錯的。不過如果你經常為缺少進展而感到沮喪，那么可能是時候回過頭去檢查一下你的目標了。它們都達到了么？你是否一直堅持一個合理的時間表？

    這里有一個好方法。拿起一張紙，在上面寫下你大大的夢想、抱負。然后寫下至少十個特定的、具體的能讓你達到目標步驟，越詳細越好。如果你不能務實的暗處一系列能讓你從這里到達你目標的步驟，這就表明你需要去重新調整你的目標或重新考慮你去實現這些目標的方式。

    5.睡多一點。我知道你聽說過這個。我也是。不過這沒能阻止我違背我正確的判斷，我還是每晚熬夜，令自己疲累。充足的睡眠，能讓人做出清晰的決定--但睡眠也和其他好習慣一樣，需要時間去培養。

    我在這里遇到最大的阻礙，就是拖延癥。我喜歡將事情一整天拖著，結果我要熬夜到很晚。那么，是什么阻止你去休息？

    6.慢慢來。全世界都告訴我們要匆匆忙忙做事情："更快。賺更多錢。更早去退休。"雖然這些東西并不一定是壞事，但是它們讓我們更容易沖昏頭腦。如果你開始感到怠惰，不知所措，那么就到了放慢腳步的時候了。

    這里是把你從一個星期二十四小時高負荷工作里面弄出來的方法：

    *每天都在一個安靜的地方花上十分鐘，遠離那些煩人的事。深呼吸。

    *將那些緩慢、放松的音樂放進同一個播放列表里。當你感到勞累的時候，就開始聽它們。

    *干凈利落地砍掉你的待辦清單。在你每天必須要做的事情上設定一個限度，然后堅持下去。

    *放寬你的期限。你是不是絕對要在這個時候把它完成？不過要記住，這不是拖延的借口。

    7.傾聽不同的聲音。要認識到自己陷入了怠惰狀態，這很難。你的好朋友、家人會比你更早的發覺怠惰的跡象。所以，要聽聽他們的意見。下一次你的愛人、父母、或你最好的朋友跟你說你工作得太忙，要認真對待。

    8.設定明晰的分界線。當我們讓工作超出了其必要的限度，并讓它滲透到我們生活中的每一個方面的時候，怠惰就會發生。因此要設立一個強力的分界線，越清晰越好。盡量把它寫下來。

    舉例來說，與其這樣說："我每晚將與家人共處三個小時。",倒不如讓這句話更明了："晚上八點之后，我將不再工作。之后的時間100%是家庭時光。"劃清界限讓你更容易堅持，而且更合理。

    一旦你設立了你的分界線，公諸于眾。讓你的家人知道，你專門為他們抽出了時間。他們將為你的承諾負責。讓你的顧客知道，你在一定的時間段是不在工作的。這將減少你在捏造分界線的機會。

    9.當你工作時，專注。我發現，專注于工作確實是比讓自己在工作的時候搖擺不定，更不容易疲勞。當你決定了工作的時候，全力以赴，排除那些讓你分心的事物，全心全意的去做它。你就會發現單純、犀利的注意力，擁有著神奇的恢復力。

    10. 創造出口。如果你是一個興趣愛好廣泛的人（當然，誰不是呢？）,那么很可能在每個規定的時候，你都有幾個非常不同的目標和想法，在你的腦袋里面，不停的跳來跳去。這些想法需要一個出口。如果你一直保留著它們，它們最終會干擾你的注意力，造成不必要的困擾，是你變得怠惰。

    從另一個角度來看，我認為啟動一些小計劃作為創新能量的出口，是很好的，甚至符合健康。只是要確保你一直在做重要的事，以及保證那些小計劃都有趣。如果這些小計劃，開始變得有壓力，立即把它們砍掉。

    11. 知道什么時候撐下去。這個建議與我上面所說的相違背，但這個方法很強大--如果能夠正確的運用。有時候，要解決怠惰的問題，就是要依靠撐下去的力量。有時候，怠惰可能是一個幻覺。在這樣的例子里，最好的方式就是不要將怠惰作為一個接口，不要理會你感到怠惰的事實，就是不斷的工作下去。這個過程，就像一個跑步的人，在他經歷最初的疲勞之后，恢復了精力，反而使他的力量得到了增強。

    不管怎樣，正如一個經驗豐富的運動員所知道的那樣，當在經歷了痛苦之后和在開始回復的時候，你需要特別細心的對待這個特別的建議。直到對你的意圖有了敏銳的認知，這個方法才能讓你避免從感到怠惰的時候開始往往犯下的錯誤。

    12.永遠不承認戰備。怠惰，與別的阻礙一樣。它可以阻撓你一時，但它不能阻撓你一世--除非你讓它擊敗你。

    如果你心里有一個大大的目標，不要放棄，不管你感到別人多么冷淡、你自己多么勞累和灰心。即使我在這里所談論的每一點都錯了，你也要這么做：保持你的夢想--即便它此時此刻并沒有那么美妙。不管怎樣，都要堅持。在那邊，當風暴褪盡，你的夢想仍完美無瑕的時候，再次上路吧！