by Celes | | Email this post

© onkel_wart

Slump, n: A period of decline or deterioration, which a person performs slowly, inefficiently, or ineffectively

Lately, I had slipped into a slump. If you’ve been in a slump before, you’ll know how sluggish and disempowering it feels. Sort of like you are stuck in a sloth universe, where nothing you do translates into any sort of meaningful output.

While you can get simple tasks done, when it comes to higher-level Q-2 tasks, the progress made is just zilch. Allocating more time to do them does little to increase the output. You are just reacting to life, rather than being proactive.

After a while, everything just seems like a drain. Since nothing you do brings about anything, in the end you just don’t feel like doing anything at all. Eventually you turn to sleep as a source of comfort, though a part of you know it’s really just avoidance.

My Slump for the Past 2-3 Months

That was exactly what I had been experiencing. In retrospect, this slump started about 2-3 months ago. My productivity trickled slowly. I reacted by extending the amount of time I was spending on work, at times even pulling all-nighters.

Nada. Instead of getting more done, my output continued to reduce.

In the past few months, while I had been busy juggling and seeing through many different things in TSOPE, it felt as though I was not making significant progress in my plans. Other than my 1-1 coaching sessions and workshops where I zealously safeguard the quality of the output as part of my responsibility to my clients, everything seemed to be grinding to a halt.

Projects-wise, my book is tracking behind my desired timeline. Even though I had been continuously spending time to write, it felt like I had to squeeze my brain dry just to make a little headway in the writing. I had many projects which I ideally would have wanted to kick-off earlier (such as my blogTV), but did not as I wanted to get to the other items on my to-do list first. My lifestyle was falling apart – I was slipping in my exercise regime, my diet was off-track, my sleeping hours were out of whack (on average, sleeping at 3-4ams in most days).

As if to rub salt to the wound, I started to fall sick with flu, sore throat and fever. My limbs felt sore, my body was aching, my stomach felt queasy and I was constantly sneezing. Even as I’m writing this now, I’m still sick but I hope to recover over the next few days.

Uncovering The Cause

It was worrying. I remember thinking how it was just January 2010 – the start of the year! At this state and at the rate I was going, there was no way I was going to be bringing any of my goals to life. I felt like I was watching myself lose control of my life and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Either I could continue to pit myself against my slump (which would just lead to nowhere, as I had already witnessed for the past 2-3 months of trying), or I could uncover the root issue and address it. As I shared in my past article on creating real change, for everything that happens (effect), there is always a cause. To create real change, you have to address the root cause. Unless you do that, the effect will continue to manifest in your life.

So the past week or so, I took some time to think about this. To be honest, nothing constructive came up during the initial attempts . I couldn’t imagine why I was in a slump. I was pursuing my passion, doing what I love. I was living the life of my own undertaking. I was connecting with so many incredible individuals every day, whether across the globe with my blog / Twitter / Facebook, or in person. I was helping people, changing lives for the better. I was doing something that had real meaning, more meaning than anything else I could be doing. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else but this.

So, why then? Why was I in a slump? I went jogging and meditated to help clear my mind. I also did my favorite journaling exercise to dump out mental clutter and get some clarity on the issue.

Realizing the Cause of the Slump

© Claudio.Ar

The answer came to me a few days ago. Not through a “a-ha” type revelation, but rather through a slow, inner realization.

I had sunk into a slump because I had not been taking time out for myself.

And it was true, very true. I can’t remember when was the last time I really took time out to rest and relax. Ever since I started pursuing my passion as a career, I had been occupied with work. I lost the concept of weekends, simply because I felt there was no reason to take off days if I love what I’m doing. In a way I still stand true by this, but I forgot a very important principle – If you want to cut down a lifetime of trees with a saw, you need to continuously stop to sharpen it so you can cut more trees.

Sadly, I had forgotten to sharpen my own saw. While I did set aside time for non-work related activities such as outings with friends, recreational activities, etc, I was never truly relishing in them because a part of me would be mentally occupied with work. When I was supposed to be resting, I wasn’t fully resting. When I was supposed to be working, I wasn’t fully working because I was mentally tired. I was neither here nor there.

Unfortunately, many of us are guilty of neglecting ourselves too. We are constantly pushing ourselves to get things done, putting ourselves under heavy amounts of punishment without ever giving ourselves a breather. This is especially characteristic of neurotic perfectionists.

Let’s imagine you are out driving in your favorite car. After hours of driving, your car starts to run low on gas. Do you:

1. Continue driving on without intending to stop OR
2. Stop at a nearby gas station to refuel your tank?

Naturally, we will pick #2 to refuel our tank. You might be thinking: “Of course we need to stop at a nearby gas station to refuel! How can we drive if we have no gas?”

Yet, many of us choose #1 when it comes to ourselves.

Take Time Out For Yourself

Have you been so busy that you haven’t taken time out to really relax and unwind? Have you been too busy sowing seeds rather than enjoy the fruits of your labor? Have you been putting off fun and recreation in the name of work? Have you been neglecting your needs for the sake of others? When was the last time you took time off for yourself?

Slumps are signals that we are running low on our internal fuel. Rather than rest and relax, many of us do the exact opposite – we push ourselves to continue working. This was exactly what I did, and it backfired. Instead of increasing my productivity, it went down further. To the point where it came to a halt and took a toil on my mental and physical health.

If you are in a slump, it’s a sign you are way overdue in the rest department. Take a day off from work. To be honest, it  may seem there are so many urgent things at work that you can’t take a day off, but really – the world isn’t going to crash if you are away from work for a day. There may be lots you need to do, but if you aren’t going to be in prime condition, nothing much is going to get done at all.

In fact, rather than 1 day, make it 2 days! Spend these days doing things that you enjoy. Go out and take a walk. Catch a movie. Shop if you like. Read your favorite book. Watch your favorite shows. Rest at home if you just want to get away from the outside world. Wipe up a meal for yourself if you love cooking. Reward yourself with something you’ve been meaning to get. Spend some time out with your good friends whom you enjoy the company of, or just spend time alone if you prefer some quiet time to yourself. You deserve this, trust me.

Today, I intend to take some time off to rest and relax. I’m going to catch up on Dollhouse (pity that it has been canceled – love the actors behind Adelle, Sierra and Victor), take a walk, run some simple errands and get my hair done. I look forward to getting back to my full self really soon. Most importantly, I’m going to make it a point to allocate time out to rest from now on.

Filed in: Productivity | Posted on Jan 15 2010