O que significa "to go through the motions"?

I don't know if you've ever stumbled upon the idiom of the day, but it's very likely you have. It is a very common way of addressing people who are not putting their heart into what they're doing, and what do I mean by that? When you're going through the motions or, as I said before, are not putting your heart into something, you're doing it in a cursory fashion because you're expected to do it, not because you want to. Let's go over some examples of people who are just going through the motions.

There are many reasons for someone to be making a feeble effort to do something. If you're sad, for example, and you still have to do something, you may not put all effort into it and end up going through the motions. When someone very close to you dies, you may get so sad you wind up going through the motions of living. That means you're going to keep living because you have to, but you're not going to feel much of it, maybe you're going to follow through your routine in a very automatic way.

Let's think of a less dramatic situation: your husband has been pretty busy lately, and every time he gets home, he seems to want nothing but rest. Last time you asked him to play with the children and help them with their homework, you could see he was actually just going through the motions. He just sat by their side with his eyes barely open and it all seemed like a brutal torture. The thing is, the situation is getting so bad even during sex time you get the feeling he's just going through the motions. That's it for today guys. Take care!