"Going through the motions:" - "... doing something because it is expected... without being interested, enthusiastic, or sympathetic."
Yes. The ideal would be to tackle every task with heart, head and spirit aligned. Or, you know, adopting the Zen approach: if you sweep, you sweep with your whole being. Be Here Now: fully alive in body and mind.
But, in real life, (ha!), there are so many things we do that "we would prefer not to." I mean, not killer-not-to, I am thinking about the mundane chores, the essential errands, the pesky, annoying things that confront us every day.
Resistance is often futile. We must surrender to the demands of the day. There are no exits, or escape routes. We must do what we must do when we must do it.
So, yeah, you often find yourself going through the motions. And by going through, you often find the thread, the reason, the determination to do what you have to do. It's that "fake it, to make it" idea.
Many times the going through leads to a little break-through. Maybe you inadvertently discover that you are interested, enthusiastic, sympathetic. You are doing you. The big things, little things, every thing.