There are days when I feel like I am absolutely overwhelmed and paralysed with choice and work.
My to-do list is 1000 items long.
It feels like no matter how much work I do, I’m not making any progress.
I have a failsafe fool proof method for getting unstuck.
It might just change your life.
- Walk away from the computer.
If it’s not getting done today, you just being at the computer isn’t going to make any difference.
So you might as well walk away, and take a break.
That might mean for 1 hour, it might mean 1 day.
Trust me when I say that distance and perspective make great motivators.
- Do nothing
Something my Mum used to do with us when we were kids, if we said we didn’t have anything to do (when we had hundreds of options) was to plonk us down in the living room.
It didn’t have a TV – it was very middle class and grown up.
Just two sofas and a chair with a coffee table.
Within a few minutes of actually doing nothing, my brother and I would usually sneak out and start doing something.
The same thing applies for work.
When you’re overwhelmed, do NOTHING for 15 minutes.
No screen, no phone, no podcast, no books, no nothing.
Be still, silent and bored and you’ll suddenly have the urge to do something.
- Eat and drink
Whenever I complain about my motivation to Olivia (my wife), she’ll make me eat some fruit or nuts and drink a big glass of water.
The rule is I can’t drink it at my desk, it has to be somewhere else and I can’t watch TV.
Your body needs to register the food and within a few minutes you’ll probably perk right up.
Avoid processed “energy” shit like sweets or glucose heavy protein bars.
Eat something your body can easily digest. Hell, even homemade bread is better than that junk.
Take another glass of water with you for the next hour too.
P.S. I love coffee, but often find if I’m unmotivated, being caffeinated and unmotivated just equals anxiety.
- Tell someone
Be honest and open and vulnerable with someone and talk to them about how you feel.
Text someone.
Hell, email me.
Tell them why you feel unmotivated and why you’re in a slump.
Listen to them and talk to them.
Sometimes we just need to air our ideas and worries out and then we feel much better.
- You might be ill or tired
It happens.
A bad night’s sleep. Some gone-off milk.
Our bodies and minds aren’t separate things, they work in tandem.
If you’re run down, ill, under the weather or sick, you might just feel too tired to deal with what’s going on.
And that’s 100% ok.
Take time off, recover, rest.
Go to bed early.
Most of all, don’t punish yourself.
You’re not a machine – you’re not a printer.
Your job is not to be productive.
Let me know what you do to beat the slumps.
