Looking for advice on how to fix the floor of my Japanese level
So, for context, I started self studying back in 2020 having very little Japanese knowledge before that except of some kanji, previously learned Hiragana and some basic words.
I was studying from JFZ, then switched to Genki which didn’t work for me at the time (I became stuck about 2/3 of the way through) so I switched to MNN which seemed to work better and help improve my reading/ recognition. I struggled with furthering my knowledge through textbooks so switched to tutor led studying, free talking and reading (I binged Tadoku free readers across 2 days before switching to other graded readers, short stories for language learners and other learner based recommendations).
I burnt out a few years back after switching to proper novels (キノの旅 and Zoo book 1). I then found it extremely difficult to re motivate myself into proper studying of grammar to help improve my understanding and ability to use Japanese.
Since then I have managed to spend at least half the year each time reading through multiple manga (104 volumes of manga some read multiple times) and children’s novels/ easier light novels or short stories (26 books) but I still struggle with grammar and feel like I’ve never recovered from the burn out.
Online tests show me at around N3 level though I feel like I’m much lower than this and I know my vocabulary isn’t that level for sure. My tutor currently has me going through できる日本語 intermediate book but I feel like I’m still missing a lot of the foundational stuff that I should know.
I have completed Genki 1 & 2, and MNN red and blue series but I don’t feel like a lot of it has stuck and I’m floundering a bit with できる日本語 but don’t want to get the tutor to go back to Genki or to dumb things down for me.
I can’t stick to anki though I do Wanikani and Bunpro, except Bunpro has been neglected for the last few months as I was starting to burn out again. I do try to read or listen to something in Japanese every day even if that’s just a short article, a page of an easier book, a podcast, anime episode, game voice over or part of an audiobook I’m familiar with.
I do find that listening to something repeatedly does help me to embed it into my memory as did writing stuff out but I kind of want to get all the gaps in my understanding fixed by the end of the year and I’ve no idea how to do so except by re-reading through the textbooks which I’ve tried before but ended up just making me start to burn out again.
I do work full time hours but have up to 3 days off per week and I do at least 2 hours with a tutor and language exchange partner every week in addition to anything else I do in Japanese. It’s not lack of trying, I think I just don’t know how to progress and going to a class isn’t an option for me.
Not counting tutor lessons or language exchange hours, I have completed 500 hours of Japanese study this year including 204 hours of reading, 154 hours of listening/ watching, 15 hours of reading while listening along (trying to improve my listening comprehension), 70 hours of grammar study through Bunpro flash cards (approx 10 hours per month), 40 hours on Wanikani and the rest split between textbook study, Kanji writing and JLPT practice tests.
I need something to help keep me consistent but that works both on good days and bad days, something that isn’t going to burn me back out but still helps me to see improvements over time.
Does anyone have any suggestions that might help or anything they tried that helped them identify gaps and work on them without burning out?