Today I woke up with the blues.
Not depression – I’ve been there and I know what that feels like – but an all-pervasive feeling of sadness and brain fog that I knew would be a barrier to achieving the things I needed to today.
What I would normally do:
😕 Plough into the day as best I could.
😕 Find it difficult to stay focused.
😕 Do sub-standard work, with sub-optimal results.
😕 Kick myself for being unproductive and/or weak.
So that’s a tried and tested strategy. I’ve tested it quite a lot! Yeah, it doesn’t work well. Unless your goal is self-flagellation and loathing!
A wise man once said “if you keep doing what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.
Wise words indeed. And words I often quote when talking to others about strategies for pulling themselves out of slumps.
But isn’t it so much tougher when it’s ourselves we are dealing with?
So, I decided to write this short piece to remind myself of the kinds of things I would suggest to others facing something similar. Different strokes for different folks though, not everything works for everyone!
😍 Be kind to yourself. Days like this happen sometimes and that’s okay. Take a moment and allow yourself to acknowledge how you feel. Mentally and physically.
😍 Do something mindfully. Meditate if that’s your thing. Draw a picture, play the piano. Take a walk (without your phone!). But something that channels your mind totally.
😍 Organise your working space. Even if it’s just rearranging the piles into fewer piles! Create yourself space.
😍 Make a list with one thing on it. One thing you want to achieve today. Make it small. Make it specific. That’s your primary focus.
😍 Do one thing at a time. Literally one thing only. Finish it properly before you try doing anything else.
There’s lots of advice out there for breaking out of a funk. I’m going to try and take some of my own advice.
My one thing was to write this short blog piece. It’s taken me a while, but I did it and my one-item To Do list is complete. Everything else today is a bonus now.
What a relief!