7 Ways to Get Yourself Out of a Slump

Posted by Ben Lumley on Dec 15, 2009 in Overcoming Challenges | 6 comments

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

Note: The original version of this post was one I submitted on my previous blog The New Horizons Project back in 2008. I was chuffed to bits to find all of my old posts recently (as I thought that they had been lost forever) and thought that some of them were worthy of reposting here, after a little reworking that is.

I will be reposting some of them here over the coming months. I hope you like them.

No matter how positive you try to be, some days you just can’t liven your spirits. Sometimes you don’t feel like being very helpful and just want to be left alone. From time to time you can’t find the motivation to do the things you want to do. Some days you don’t want to face the world. Call it a slump, call it depression, call it the blues; we’ve all been there at some point in time and we’ve all dealt with it in different ways.

I remember going through a bit of a slump in my life about 18 months ago. There was no real reason for it. I’d not had a life changing experience that has left me feeling shattered; I’d just been struggling to find the energy to do things. I remember it started when I came back from a summer holiday in Spain. I’d spent 10 days not really doing much and just relaxing by the pool. My problem, I think, began when I got back and I stayed in the same relaxed manner. I started sleeping in later and later in the mornings, which led to me going to bed later and later each evening. I found myself watching more and more TV and less time writing or reading. Before I knew what had happened I was becoming irritable and stressed out. It took a couple of weeks until I noticed what was happening and what had gone wrong. So I decided that I need to make some changes in ordered to haul myself out of the hole I was in.

Now there are many of ways to bring you out of a slump but here are the things that I did and that I know have worked for me in the past.

1) Get some fresh air.

I can be a nightmare for just sitting in my ‘nerd cave’ and busying myself on my computers on a normal day. However, this can become increasingly more common when I’m in a slump. For me one of the best things I can do is go outside. Fresh air wakes up my senses and can really lift me out of a slump. Either going for a walk or just going out in the garden can sometimes be enough.

2) Drink more water.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I drink way more Red Bull than is good for me, but hey it’s my only vice. One thing I do find though when I’m in a bit of a slump is that my average daily water intake goes down and when you add that to my daily Red Bull intake you can see why it becomes a problem. It takes a fair amount of me reminding myself to drink more to begin with but after a few days my brain kicks in and remembers what it should be doing and I find myself drinking more during the day.

3) Get organised.

When I’m in a slump I find that I become disorganised with everything in my work life balance. The way I remedy that is to take more notes. When everything is good and I’m buzzing, I take down a lot of notes but when I’m in a slump I forget to write things down and then forget about them all together. It’s best to try and keep your notes together; personally I use a plain paged Moleskin.

4) Get an early night.

One of the tell tale signs that I’m in a slump is that I stay up later and later into the night. This then means that I sleep in later and later in the morning and then, because I can’t get enough sleep, I’m tired all day. The best thing then for me to do when I’m feeling like I’m in a slump is to get an early night and then get up early in the morning. My usual wake up time is 6am on a normal day so I normally go to sleep around 10pm but at the time I’d been going to bed at 1am and waking up exhausted at around 8am. By forcing an early wake up time, I started to reset my body clock and get back into my normal routine.

5) Spend time with the ones you love.

Nothing lifts my mood more, when I’m in a slump, then playing with my daughters or sitting talking to my wife. When I’m feeling good this is something I do all the time and it makes me feel great, but when I’m in a slump I tend not to do it, so there’s nothing better for me than some family time.

6) Read and Write.

I also find that when I’m in a slump I stop reading books and stop writing for my blog and for my own book. I suppose this comes from a lack of motivation and energy, but I do find that these creative parts of my life cease to happen when I’m down. I know that when I start reading and writing again my creative juices start to flow and I’m suddenly lifted out of my slump.

7) Help someone.

Finally, a good thing for me to do when I think I’m in a slump is to help someone. Not to gain anything by the end of it but simply to make things better for someone who needs my help. Acts of kindness are a great way of helping people and they can really lift your spirits knowing that you have truly helped someone.

What do you do to lift your mood?

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• The Keys to Unlocking Success: Part 5 Determination

Ben Lumley writes about Success and Personal Achievement at 6aliens.com. He is a Personal Achievement Coach and Motivational Speaker.

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