So are you stuck in a rut, or are you just refusing to move forward

 If you are in the water or the mud, or you are just not moving forward, then you are usually sinking. You can tread water, but you’re still not going anywhere, and if you don’t take steps to swim forward you may end up drowning. Being in a rut is similar to treading water. Choosing not to do anything is really choosing to do nothing.

Have you ever gotten your car stuck in foot of snow on a patch of ice? No matter what you do, you can’t seem to get out. You move forward; you sink,
you move backward; you sink deeper. That is what it is like to be “stuck in a rut”
. Sometimes in life, you can hit “patches of ice” that seem to create barriers and limit your options! 

We all go through periods where we feel like we might be stuck in a rut. In fact, it's not uncommon to feel like you're just going through the motions, treading water, or jogging in place. You're doing the same old things, but it doesn't seem like you are actually getting anywhere. Things that used to excite you start to feel less interesting. Instead of moving forward toward your goals, you're remaining stagnant. These feelings can be frustrating. But, there are things that you can do to not only figure out why you're stuck, but also learn how to get motivated and excited again.

Until a couple of weeks ago, l had no idea that I've been stuck in a rut. It's an odd statement: How does one not notice getting stuck? If your car is stuck in the mud, you don't say, "It's no big deal, I'm just feeling tired." But that's the good and bad thing about being human—when we are stuck, we just keep going.

So, let's talk rut diagnosing, beginning with a checklist. The more items you find yourself checking off, the more likely that you are stuck.

1. Day to day, you don't look forward to much (other than maybe sleeping or just getting through whatever you're doing).
2. You'd like to get your creative juices flowing, but it seems someone left an empty juice bottle in the fridge.
   
3. Even though you keeping checking things off your to do list, it doesn't feel like you are getting much done.
   
4. Your days all blur together, and it's not weird to look up blinking and ask, "Is this Tuesday or Thursday?"
   
5. By the time you get "free time" you are too tired to do something interesting with it or are just plain unmotivated.
   
6. If you answered "How are you?" genuinely, you'd say something like, "Meh."
   
7. You fantasize about getting away (and not just away on vacation).
   
8. You'd like to add something new to your life, but you're sure that you'll never have enough time and/or energy for it.
   
9. You're getting sick of hearing yourself complain about feeling stressed, tired, and unfulfilled.
10.  And the Number One rut symptom: Even though you think you'd be happier if you made a change, it's more comforting to stay the same and mope about it.

If you recognize yourself or someone close to you in the items on this list, it might help to think about rut psychology.