Four Strategies to Work Through Slumps
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
Winter is hard. (winter is a season and a metaphor) The days are short. It gets dark early. It’s cold. It feels like all the excitement leading up to the holidays with the joy of first snow and the celebration of New Years are all over. It’s back to bleak January and back to work.
So what should you do when you’re in a slump and nothing feels enjoyable?
First, Understand
Do you know what the slump is about? You may be feeling stuck and meh overall. Ask yourself some questions:
Is it related to work or home? Both?
Is it around a specific person or location?
Take a look at the Wheel of Life to see if the slump is around a particular facet.
Helping to understand what’s driving the slump may help to get through it. At the very least, it provides an area of focus to work through the slump.
Patience
I personally struggle each day with being patient, and essentially doing nothing. It helps to know that slumps are normal and just a part of being human. It’s a part of the cycle—there are days of having amazing highs and other days or weeks or months where things feel blah. Doing nothing is hard. So keep doing the things you do. Keep your routine of work and commute and chores. Take an active role of tracking and observing. The more specific the observation, the better. The tinier the observation, the easier it’s likely to be to record.
If your slump is about work, what’s the one thing you were most excited about at work each day
If your slump feels like it’s about everything, notice the one thing you’re most grateful for each day. More about the neuroscience of gratitude.
Track your observations of each day. Are there themes?
Kindness
When you’re in a slump, be kind to yourself. Get enough sleep, exercise, and eat well if you can. If you can’t, don’t beat yourself up about it. When (if) you have down-time don’t worry about being productive. Binge-watch Netflix, read Us magazine, take a bath, do whatever works for unwinding you that you won’t feel guilty about afterwards.
Inspiration
What inspires you? Knowing what type of person you are, as well as your slump focus area may help you. Some examples:
Spending time with a friend who’s kind & who seems like she’s rocking it with your slump area
Read memoirs of terrible childhoods & protagonists with the resilience to rise above that adversity. I highly recommend The Glass Castle and Educated
Bake or cook. Fingerpaint or draw. Make something with your hands.
Get outside. Surround yourself with the mountains, the ocean, or simply a little bit of green at a park.
Make a playlist of music that excites/soothes/fires you up
Move your body
Take a bath or a shower. Change your environment.
Figure out what works for you by trying different things. One of the sources of inspiration may break you out of your slump.
And ultimately, know that this slump is temporary. Patience, kindness, and inspiration can help you exit it faster. This too will pass.