As evident by my lack of posts this past week, I’ve been stuck in a bit of a rut. Not just in blogging, but in most areas of my life. My house is a disaster, I was feeling overwhelmed at work and I’ve had a string of injuries that is driving me crazy. I realized that I was getting into a tailspin of negativity, which was keeping me from being productive. I’m not back to full speed yet, but here’s what I am doing to help me get charged up again.
1) Allow yourself time to relax.
I do a lot. When I start to get in a rut, the first thing I do is embrace it. I think it’s important to have periods of laziness and inactivity. It allows your body and more importantly your brain to recover from the rigors of an active life. Of course, I can’t embrace it for too long without feeling the stress of falling behind. But I do allow myself an evening or two to do absolutely nothing. I indulge myself by watching a dvd of my favorite tv show or spend hours leisurely leafing through magazines. To fend off the stress of feeling irresponsible, I set a time limit and I savor ever moment of it.
2) Start Small, Just Do Something
When I fall behind, I have a really hard time starting. If I think about doing all the dishes, I don’t even want to start. Instead, I break it up. I tell myself, I’m just going to unload the dishwasher. That’s not an overwhelming task. But almost always, after unloading the dishwasher, I keep going and load up the dirty dishes. The same works for me at work and in every other aspect of life.
3) Ease Back in by Taking Breaks
When I get stuck in a rut, it’s usually because I worked too hard or did too much and am experiencing burn out. If I try to dive right back in, I often find myself back where I started, in another rut. Instead, I treat it like I’m recovering from a physical illness. I break things up into manageable sizes and I take lots of breaks. During this time, I might not be very efficient but I know that I’ll be more efficient in the long run. Going slower now, is worth knowing that I’ll be back to full-speed in no time.
4) Surround Yourself with Other Doers
I feed off of the energy of others. If I’m hanging out with people who are also in a rut, it’s nearly impossible for me to get out of it. I seek out people who are going full tilt and feed off of their energy.
5) Start the Day With Exercise - No Matter How Little
When I start the day with exercise I feel more energized. Often this is the first habit to go by the way side when I get stuck in a rut. Getting back into this routine helps to get my body and mind back into action-mode.
How do you get out of ruts? Share your tips in the comments.