8 Tips for Getting out of a Slump

Are you in a slump? Unsure of whether you feel burnout or not? This might be something you need to read.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Falling into a slump is maddening at times. The scene was set, your routines were sustainable and your productivity was through the roof, and it plummeted. Some people call it blues, some refer to it as a slump, others feel burnout. Whatever it feels like to you, you know the feeling and at the moment, it feels like the worst thing in the world. There’s work to be done, but you just can’t get yourself to do anything. Your mind and body refuse to cooperate to achieve anything.

Sometimes, you let it wander on for a period but eventually, you have to snap out of it because there is no time for you to let any pass by. It could feel like laziness, but finding it hard to maintain your usually high levels or even complete a menial task can be a sign. Other common symptoms to identify a slump could be:

• Being emotionally exhausted. Feeling lethargic and unable to cope with any form of stress at all. You feel like you’re stuck in a situation and you have no energy to break out of that cycle you’ve found yourself in.
• Isolation from others. Staying away from others, and declining invitations to events you’d otherwise be excited about could be a sign. Social interactions becoming difficult could be a sign that you’re in a funk.
• Finding it hard to concentrate on the task at hand can be a sign. Fantasies about getting home from work, or going on vacation can be a sign that your mind is stretched out and not in a very good place, sometimes you could even use drugs or alcohol as an escape
• The quality of your work is steadily depreciating. Even though you’re working, if the recent quality of work being produced is not up to the normal standards, if starting something is hard, you might be going through a slump.
• Pessimism seems like the only option. If you find yourself gradually turning into a glass-half-empty person, or it suddenly becomes difficult for you to see the positive side of situations, then you need to check yourself

Tips and Hacks on getting out of a slump

Now, the problem facing you is how to get out of the funk that is the slump. It is considerably easier said than done, you can’t just will productivity into existence. People experience slumps all the time, they are more or less a common theme running through lives but breaking out of them can be extremely difficult. I took the liberty of scouring the internet and taking feedback from the most productive people I know to figure out how they broke out of these situations and hopefully when you find yourself in the dump, these can be practical steps for you to take to drag yourself out of the mire.

• Identify What You Want

It’s easy to just lie around and mope about when you’re down in the blues. It takes the pressure off and you get to tell yourself things like you’re relaxing, this is just a break. The truth is you might be avoiding the situation and not doing anything at all to make it better. Acknowledging to yourself that you want things to go back to your normal pattern is the proper first step in leaving a slump. Sometimes, it is all it takes. You could simply have just fallen out of your pattern but reminding yourself of what you’re working for and why you want to get it is a quality first step in the right direction towards recovering your former good state.

• Journal

Recently, it seems like there has been a recent wave of people telling you to journal. I have a friend that preaches the gospel to everyone she meets about the benefits of journaling. Journaling helps you to be extremely present in situations, you get to unravel the threads and knots of unease that are within you by simply writing it out as it is. You could write it down or type it out or even say it all out in a voice note, all that matters is that you’re putting it out there and not internalizing the situation, so you can process everything you’re feeling in the moment. You get to decipher what is good, what’s not so good, what you need to move on and you’re all the better for it. In a slump, its good to be present and identify the root cause of the situation and journaling is a great way to do that to set yourself up to return to normalcy

• Get Moving

Something common to the majority of guides you get for leaving slumps is doing some sort of physical activity. This could be something as simple as jumping jacks and could go all the way to doing deadlifts in the gym. The goal is just to move your body. Exercise and physical work do a lot for your mental health with benefits such as reducing anxiety and improving self-esteem and cognitive functions. (CALLAGHAN, 2004). Exercise also serves to reduce things like social withdrawal and low self-esteem which are common symptoms of being in the blues. It gives you sharper memory, more energy, and greater resilience. There are a lot of advantages to being physical, so when you’re down, try to take a walk, go for a jog, etc. and watch it do wonders to the state of your mind and recovery to boost yourself out of that slump.

• Set a Deadline for ending the slump and relax until then

Intentionality is key. Funks are common, a lot more than you realize and sometimes, you just have to feel them through. Identifying you are in a slump could turn what is normally a draining experience into something akin to rest and recovery. Setting a deadline to resume normal productivity levels works for some. It’s all about being intentional about yourself. Setting a deadline to pick yourself up and get into your normal workflow no matter what is something that can be tried out.

• Clean your environment as it helps to clean up headspace

Decluttering your living space could be a step in the right direction. Clearing up and cleaning the environment works in two ways. While cleaning physically, there is a subconscious clearing up of the headspace, so that when you’re done physically, you’ve created enough room in your head to start functioning and nothing is stopping. It is de-cluttering on multi-levels.

• Achieve Something

A symptom of funk is not knowing what to do or knowing what to do and just being unable to do it. Set yourself a task, the most minute of tasks, it could be leaving the bed, could be drinking water. Anything to stem the tide of helplessness you’re feeling, and just get a win anyhow possible. Ride the wave of that small win and start incorporating slightly harder tasks until you’re back in workflow. It helps if you have goals you’re working towards, so you can break them into chunks and tick off something to feel you’re in the right direction.

• Chill Out

Stop beating yourself up as that only takes more of a mental toll, and further drains your physical energy. Know that funks are a big part of life and it’s just a matter of dealing with them when they come. It’s an ebb and flow and you just have to ride it to fit your purposes. Relax, play music, sleep. The dangerous part of a funk is when you allow it to occupy a lot of space in your head and you’re then unable to do anything helpful. Use the time to practice more intense self-care, however that works for you. Refusing to allow the slump to drain you mentally to the extent that you’re physically exhausted should be done as soon as possible.

• Shake things up a bit.

Change your working pattern. You can get overwhelmed from working the same routine, same pattern, same flow and your mind could get exhausted from the sheer repetition of this type of situation. Doing things differently, and switching things up leads your mind to explore more and find new situations where it can thrive better. It doesn’t have to be drastic changes, take a new route, try a different coffee. You simply have to break the previously followed pattern you were operating on before and you should be on your way to beating the blues.

• Final thoughts

It is important to understand that it is possible that only one of these strategies works for you, self-help is not a comprehensive guide where all the advice works for you in chronological order. It’s simply going through the help and advice that has been offered and figuring out what works for you and hopefully, there are enough strategies there for you to cope and overcome the slump when it comes. If none work for you, you should try reaching out to a professional mental health service provider for a better guide on working through this situation. Hopefully, you break free of the slump and get back to your normal working self. Thank you for reading and good luck in feeling like your old self again.

References

Some materials were beneficial in compiling this guide.

• https://www.betterup.com/blog/feeling-stuck
• https://youmatter.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/how-i-get-out-of-a-productivity-slump-five-ways-you-can-do-the-same/
• https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/16-ways-get-motivated-and-break-out-the-slump.html
• https://incafrica.com/library/chris-winfield-13-ways-to-break-out-of-any-slump-and-get-motivated