Typing up some thoughts on parts of earlier posts that I didn't get around to:
I'm always a bit weary when someone says they're too busy with other stuff to do something.
To be honest, I think people have a tendency to throw out that they're too busy because they feel overwhelmed or they would rather be doing other things with their free time. You wouldn't believe the people over the years who have told me they're too busy to do the bare minimum of their positions, but had dozens if not hundreds of hours logged on Steam playing games in the two weeks prior to them telling me that. For what it's worth, I don't think it's usually intentional. I'm not saying it's impossible for someone to not have enough time, but I'd bet if people really examined why they haven't tackled something they need or say they want to do, it probably has more to do with focus and motivation than literally not having enough time.
I'm not above it, either...now that I realize this, I make an effort to truly examine why I'm not doing something I need or claim to want to do, but sometimes I still fall in that trap. I think I recently said I've always been too busy to learn how to RP or to write a story...the truth is probably more that those are things I'd like to do, but not enough to have ever dedicated the time and energy to learn/do them.
I think those are all fair points, and it goes back to motivation and focus. As it so happens, I've been receiving a lot of material on time management lately, and one of the articles says this:
Unless the person has extremely low energy, even the laziest people still find time to surf the web, play games or socialize with friends. A lot of lazy people aren’t really lacking willpower, just some motivation. Without a compelling drive, being disciplined just makes you look busy to outside observers when you really aren’t getting anything done. Laziness only becomes apparent because without a strong drive, slothful people stop doing just about anything not necessary for survival or enjoyment.
Personally I don't think it's just about lazy people, but people in general. It could be that Chanku for example is usually on top of things in the UH because of her interest in legislative matters (seemingly no matter how obscure or dull they are, lol), her reputation as Wintreath's foremost legal expert, and her standing as the most involved member of the UH over the history of the region. But most people aren't going to have things like that motivating them, so what about the UH could interest or excite the people that are in it? That may be a more relevant question than merely asking how to make the UH more active.
I think it's also important to look at this from a perspective of self-care, as something that must be actively managed and scheduled to ensure our individual well-being and prevent burnout. Things like socializing or participating in leisure activities are important to our health and should be prioritized when possible. On the other hand, even though it's volunteer work that we hopefully all find fulfilling for a community that we all enjoy, doing Wintreath duties/responsibilities is still work, or at least can very easily become work.
Like you said, an important part of dealing with this is trying to find ways to make the activities we do here more engaging and fulfilling for participants. At the same time, I think we should also recognize that not all "free time" is the same and take that into account when addressing and managing burnout.
(As for myself, I've found myself taking on many, probably too many, commitments and responsibilities in terms of RL extracurriculars/hobbies, and my academics and activities in Wintreath have suffered accordingly. At the same time, I think it's important to recognize that time spent on these activities is directly eating into important time for sleeping and mentally/physically recharging, which may be more important for in the long run, even for being in a better state to accomplish my more material goals in such activities. After all, if I felt the need to meet 100% of my responsibilities 100% of the time, I would have resigned my Thaneship last year, but as you may remember, you and others talked me out of it by recognizing that taking occasional time to myself and my other responsibilities would be fine.)
