How to get out of a rut (fast)

Aathraey Shrikanth

Jun 27 • Discipline & Productivity 📈

A while back, I was stuck in the worst rut of my life.

And I kept hearing the same advice over and over again:

“Just meditate.”

“Start journaling.”

“Read more.”

And yeah, I tried it.

Day 1 felt good. Day 2, still motivated. Day 3, maybe a little less.

By Day 7? I was right back in the same place. Still unmotivated. Still stuck. Still feeling like nothing was moving.

It wasn’t until I added one specific habit that things actually changed.

And I didn’t even know at the time — but this one habit has literal science behind it. It’s been shown to literally rewire your motivation system.

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That habit was exercise.

Not yoga or walking around the block.

I mean hard, painful exercise.

The kind that makes you want to quit halfway through.

Let me explain why this worked — and why all that “meditation, reading, journaling” advice didn’t.

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📌 Why Traditional Solutions Fail

Motivation is like fuel.

You only have so much of it.

And what drains it fastest is instant gratification — scrolling, junk food, video games, all that.

It’s like flooring the gas pedal.

You go fast, but you burn out quick.

And after a few dopamine hits, your brain tips into that guilty, tired, burnt-out state.

Now let’s compare that to the other habits people always recommend:

Meditation, journaling, reading.

They’re good habits — but they still take motivation.

They slowly use your fuel. It’s like driving normally instead of flooring it.

But here’s the issue — when you’re in a rut, you’re not full on fuel.

You’re running on barely anything (low motivation).

So even the slow-draining habits feel pointless. You try them, but they don’t move the needle. You still feel stuck.

That’s because you don’t just need to save motivation — you need to replenish it.

That’s where exercise comes in.

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📌 The Pain-Pleasure Balance

See, your brain runs on a pain-pleasure balance.

This isn’t some wishy-washy idea — this is neuroscience.

Dr. Anna Lembke breaks this down in her book Dopamine Nation.

Every time you do something pleasurable — like scrolling or eating chips — your brain tips the balance toward pleasure.

And what goes up must come down. So after that dopamine spike comes a crash.

That crash is the rut.

It’s that “I want to do better but I just can’t” kind of feeling.

You’re stuck in the pain side of the balance.

Now here’s where it gets interesting:

Exercise flips the balance in the opposite direction.

Instead of starting with pleasure, it starts with pain.

You push your body. You strain. You suffer a little.

And then — once you’re done — the balance swings back toward pleasure.

That’s why people talk about a “runner’s high.”

It’s a real chemical effect. Your brain floods with dopamine after the pain.

And here’s the best part:

After I exercised, I didn’t feel like scrolling anymore.

I didn’t need a dopamine hit — I already had one. But this time, it was from the aftermath.

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📌 You Need Extreme Pain

Compare that to something like meditation.

Yeah, sitting still for 10 minutes might be annoying…

But it’s not hard.

It’s not painful enough to trigger a real bounce back.

So the reward afterward is small too.

And that’s why it doesn’t break you out of a rut.

It helps maintain discipline — but it doesn’t fuel you.

Exercise does.

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Think about it: why do people who just went through heartbreak always hit the gym?

It’s not a coincidence.

It’s because exercise releases pain and replaces it with real pleasure.

It’s a biological way to overcome mental struggles.

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📌 TL;DR

If you’re stuck in a rut, stop looking for tricks.

Stop waiting for the perfect journal prompt or the ideal book recommendation.

Just do something hard.

Go to the gym.

Lift heavy. Push till failure.

Or go on a run that makes you want to quit.

You don’t even need exercise even.

Cold showers do the same thing — they spike dopamine by up to 250%.

There’s legit research on that.

So if I can feel 2.5x more motivated just by turning the dial to cold…

Why wouldn’t I?

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So yeah, meditation, journaling, and reading are great — once you’re already stable.

But if you’re stuck in the pit, those won’t dig you out.

You need intensity.

You need pain first, so pleasure has a reason to follow.

And once you experience that shift, you’ll never have to suffer in a rut again.

And by the way, if you need help with that or want to go deeper into this, you can msg me abt it or even call me.

So yeah, go chase some pain. It’s worth it bro.

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