Highly enjoyable things require concentration too

It's because the time-to-dopamine and minimum time commitment are short.

Stimulants.... Or lots of coffee... I mean loooots of coffee

Some people say "hack yourself" ... create a TODO list in anyway you like. First thing on that list is to "create a list" and cross that off after you've listed some items.

Keep the items small and doable. Going outside or watch a movie isn't a "big" item but it's worth on this list damnit!

Don't be down on yourself for any reason about doing nothing on the list. If you are, recognize that you did that, forgive yourself for feeling that way and try again. Feel free to throw out items and put even simpler tasks on it, if you can.

Doesn't work for everyone, but it does work for some.

Free time helps. But also, finding other people in the hobby/trade to work with helps. Being in a book club is nice, because talking about the book you read can be as much fun as reading the book. Same with art.

I feel like watching new movies is a no-brainer, though. I might suggest pulling from the Criterion Collection on random, maybe by genre. But it's often fun to watch this stuff with other people.

Got my wife into old movies for a minute. "Bringing up Baby" and "One Two Three" managed to hold up after over 60 years. Give those two a shot.

I think this is less a sign of depression these days as much as it is just falling victim to attention capitalism. Your brain chemistry is being hijacked to keep you scrolling and watching and wasting time.

Losing interest in things you want to do is a sign of depression, this post is more just pointing out the reason people are depressed.

And just a dash of ADHD to spice up the ennui.

Well, depression/anxiety is spending your time agonizing about it and not doing it. Most people are doing this to some extent they just have brains that don't have them dwelling on it all day. I have friends of all sorts who casually lament not reading or not picking up an instrument. Some are depressed some aren't.

At least with me I am not really in the mood to do that and will do something else that has caught my attention at this moment.

Or, you really enjoy a hobby but your hyperfocus makes you research the hobby instead of doing it. E.g. you like photography and your hyperfocus kicks in researching places to go take photos, or gear to buy... Or you spend hours choosing the best cycling route until it's too dark or the weather changes and you go "What happened to my beautiful afternoon??".

My hyperfocus tends to kick in whenever the ADHD gremlin inside my brain chooses, not always when I'm doing whatever I enjoy. I wish that was always the case.

The hyper focus only kicks in when i'm doing something, the problem is to start to do something

I don't know, I find that my hyperfocus doesn't kick in until I start doing something

Not necessarily. I definitely go through waves like this, and it doesn’t feel like depression to me.

I’ll have a couple of days (or weeks) where I want to do things, but not enough to actually motivate myself to start any of it. Then I’ll bounce back for a while and be so focused on something that I’ll forget about taking care of basic needs like eating and sleeping.

I’ve kinda learned to embrace those extremes. What I hate is the middle ground where I want to focus and get something done, but I realize about every 5 minutes that my brain is off topic again.

Yes! Switching around naturally when it feels right is the way. No more shame, just following the brain signals where they lead.

Doomscrolling? That's actually part of the problem, lol.

Lying on the couch feeling anxious about the things I should be doing.

Same here though I use Busuu. Used Duolingo in the past, to be fair there's not that much difference between the two.

Been dreaming of a FOSS alternative, where people work together to make the best possible ever-improving courses, and all is free and customizable to your every need. That would be so awesome ! Surely some day some one will make this happen, right?