Feeling unmotivated or overwhelmed with life today? I’m over at MomLifeToday sharing 7 tips for pulling out of a slump:
After the holidays have come and gone and the New Year’s resolve has worn thin, it’s easy to find yourself in a slump. You feel lethargic, unmotivated, and in a rut.
Here are seven tips to help you restore your energy and zest for life again:
1. Do Something
Sometimes, the best remedy for pulling out of a slump is just to get up and do something. Set the timer for 10 minutes and go organize a drawer, or fold a load of laundry, or clean the kitchen.
Just getting up and getting busy will usually help you shake off some of the feelings of sluggishness. And many times, when the timer goes off after 10 minutes, you’ve forgotten how unmotivated you were and have fresh inspiration to tackle other projects.
What are your best tips and advice for pulling out of a slump? I’d love to hear!
Just what I needed. Until I read this, it didn’t have a name. Now it does and I’m just going to start doing something. This week I have been in a slump. Now it’s done and next week will be better!
I was in the hospital for a day before DS was born, and I still have the iPod playlist I listened to over and over that day. Whenever I need a kick start I listen to it.
I also like to look at blogs with people with prettier houses than mine — like The Nester or Like Merchant Ships. I find that motivating.
Those ideas are great! I find that some exercise or fresh air can be really good! Sometimes, though just getting out of the house and change of scenery revives me and gets me back into the grove, so to speak!
A slump alerts me to do 3 basic things: Check sugar intake in diet. Too much sugar can cause “the blues.” Next, I check the focus of my life…usually too much on me. Immediately shift focus from me, myself & I onto “him, her & them.” Works every time. I cap the whole thing off with my favorite Bible verse for times such as these: Psalm 42:5.
Usually my slump includes not wanting to do any housework. So lately if I feel unmotivated, I try to think of all of the millions of people in the world who would love to have my house to keep clean. Or how not that many years ago I would have loved to have a house to keep clean. Or how back when I had to lug my clothes to the laundromat while a missionary I swore I would never complain about doing laundry once I had a washer and dryer at home. Or how the last time I was sick to my stomach I would have done anything to feel well enough to do menial household labor!
Not that I am always great at this, but I do find that perspective is key here.
Changing the scenery helps a lot. Going for a walk or run. Going to an art museum to look at something beautiful. A day trip. You start thinking of new ideas, and new ideas can lead to action…
What a great timely read. Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful tips. I have been in a slump all week too. I want to stay focused and motivated to accomplish my goals for the year. I tweeted & posted it on my Facebook to motivate others who may be feeling this way 🙂
#2. Serving someone else – that’s the best way I’ve found to get my mind off of my problems and how blessed I really am.
I totally agree with the “Do Something” point! Well, I agree with all of your points. 🙂 A while back I posted 5 simple steps to follow when you’re overwhelmed with the housework. They were 1. Put Something Away. 2. Put another thing away. 3. Put another thing away. 4. Put another thing away. 5. Put another thing away. It sounds so silly, but after putting just 5 things away, things start looking better and I’m ready to “just finish cleaning off this counter.” After that, I want the other counter to match. Then the dirty floor looks terribly out of place. And the snowball effect kicks in.
Oh, I like that!! So simple and so true that once you start it’s so much easier to keep going. It can be so easy to look at all of it and just be so overwhelmed that you don’t know where to start. I need to try this with my baskets of unrelated stuff… you know, where everything collects that just isn’t where it belongs but I don’t have the motivation to put away? Once a basket builds, I avoid it like the plague, but if I follow your five steps, I just may accomplish something!
Some days it is better for me to keep a list of things I did get done rather than looking at a list of things to do. When I do this it helps to motivate me to look around and see if there is something else I can clean up real quick so I can put it on my list of accomplishments. Some would call this “reverse physiology” but it works for me when I am in a slump or not feeling well! Great post Crystal!
Great idea, Steph! 🙂
I totally needed this. The blizzard has got me down but I am going to bake something. Thanks.
Thanks for this article! Just FYI, the top link works, but the link that says “…. Read the whole post” does not work. I love your blog! Keep up the great work!
When I’m having a hard time, this is what I do:
http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/frugal-living/encouragement
When I’m in a slump, I have to set little goals of stuff that I want to do or things that will make me feel better. Once I check that off my calendar, I feel more accomplished and start to perk up.
I’ve been in a “slump” for, no lie, almost six years now. (Not depression, although I agree with Leighann that feeling low for an extended period of time is very often indicative of clinical depression; my slump is situational in nature.) My go-to pick-me-up is taking a walk and turning up the iPod LOUD. I live in the country so there’s nobody around to laugh at me rocking out. It usually makes me feel better for at least part of the day.
Thanks for posting this because I’ve been in a slump the past week or so too.
The biggest points for me are the Do Something, making sleep a priority, and following my morning routine. The last one especially. If I fail to manage our mornings well getting ready for school is a frantic mess and we all end up in a sour mood. I also love the idea of setting the timer. Even if it’s only for 5 minutes. You can do anything for 5 minutes, right?
For me it’s also very important to manage my diet and not eat junk food or lots of sugar. Monday night I stopped at McDonald’s and all Tuesday I was short tempered and in a foul mood. Like an idiot I got even more lax and have eaten far too many sweet things the rest of the week. It’s a vicious circle I need to work hard at learning how to break.
thanks…. I needed some inspiration today…. as soon as I saw the flowers, I was like : this is how I feel!!!
Make sure that you’re not “in a slump” often. If you find you’re “in a slump” once a month, or that your “slump” has lasted for several weeks (or months), and that you just can’t pull out of it, see your doctor. You could be suffering from depression.
Depression isn’t always as is pictured in Hollywood: not eating, not getting out of bed, not taking showers, wanting to kill yourself. Depression comes in different grades, and low grade depression can feel like a slump you just can’t get out of no matter what you do, feeling tired and down all the time, losing interest in doing things you used to like to do because you “just don’t feel like it.”
Everyone gets into a slump every now and then, but don’t confuse being in a slump with being depressed. Depression hurts, and it doesn’t just hurt you, but your family as well, in ways you don’t even think about. Check with your doctor if these things don’t pull you out of your “slump.” And don’t be afraid to get help, we can’t do everything by ourselves.
What a funny photo to go with this post.. it’s perfect!!
jen
I was thinking the same thing! love it! 🙂
Michael Hyatt also had a great post on a similar topic- 3 actions to take for changing your attitude. It’s worth a read!
http://michaelhyatt.com/3-actions-you-can-take-now-to-shift-your-emotional-state.html
Thank you for sharing that Stephanie!
You read my mind, I have been in a slump all week:-(
I will set the timer and move forward.
Thanks for all you do!