You know that feeling when your laptop opens... and your soul closes?

You used to care. You stayed late, you gave your best ideas, you actually wanted to grow. But now?

Now you are just trying to get through the day without snapping at someone, spending all your time in the coffee shop or disappearing to secretly play golf. 

You don’t recognise how you got to where you are, somewhere that you don’t like anymore. 

That feeling?
That is active disengagement.

And if that is where you are right now, have no fear! You are mostly out of alignment, and that my friend, we can fix. 

What is Active Disengagement, Really?

Active disengagement is when you are mentally and emotionally disconnected from your work, and you know it. You are still showing up, still getting things done… but it feels like dragging a heavy weight behind you. 

You are just going through the motions, there is no joy, no spark, no belief that what you are doing even matters anymore.

The tough part, most people don’t talk about it. You think you are the only one feeling this way, maybe you are scared to talk to your manager or colleagues about it in fear that your performance (or lack there of) will be rated badly.

Maybe you are unsure if you are actively disengaged, but if not here are 5 quiet signs:

1. You feel a wave of dread on Sunday afternoons - and it lasts all week.
   
   
2. You zone out in meetings and secretly hope they get cancelled.
   
   
3. You find yourself scrolling LinkedIn - not to network, but to find something different.
   
   
4. You are no longer proud of your work, even when you do it well.
   
   
5. You keep thinking, “What happened to me?”
   
   

If any of these hit home, you are not alone. I have coached dozens of people through this, and the pattern is always the same: they used to feel alive in their work… and now they just feel stuck.

I also know this feeling well. 

There were too many days that I would get to work, feeling miserable, no energy or care for what I was doing. Some days were ok, when I had something new to do, or something to get stuck into. 

Now I must say that this goes against the grain of my being! I am a very passionate person, who loves to make an impact in whatever it is I do. There are no half measures here! 

So imagine passionate me, feeling trapped by a job that no longer lit me up. 

The worst bit was not knowing what I wanted to do, I felt that I was wasting my precious time away, wasting my life. I knew I wanted something different, something that lit me up. But day after day I would go to the office and transact my role because I didn’t know what else to do. 

I wish I had a step by step guide back then. “Do this, then that”, with an outcome at the end that would give me what I was so desperately looking for. But I didn’t. 

Fortunately, you are in a different position as I have put all I have learned in my Career Clarity Blueprint. 

No more wasting precious time, or wondering aimlessly what you should or could be doing. 

Maybe you do know what you want, but have no idea how to get there… I’ve got you covered too. 

Why Staying Disengaged Is So Costly

The danger of disengagement is not just about lost productivity or bad performance reviews.

It is personal.

When you stay in a state of misalignment for too long, it starts to chip away at your confidence. You begin to question your abilities. Your ambition. Your identity.

And the hardest part? You stop believing that anything could be different. You convince yourself that this is just how it is.

But that is not true. And I am living proof of that. So are the clients I work with. 

You Deserve to Feel Alive in Your Work Again

If you are nodding along to all of this, do this one thing:

Take my free quiz to identify the tool or resource that is right for you based on where you are, and what you want in your career. It takes less than a minute and will help you with your next step.

You do not have to stay stuck any longer. Commit to taking action, even one small step today can compound and change everything.

Get excited about your future again!

Always with love,

Elsa x