4 Tips For Overcoming A Slump

As you may have guessed, I bring up that particular point because I am, in fact, in a slump. Now, to be fair, I don't believe my slump was originally a creative slump. After a week of vacation, getting back into the swing of work has been incredibly difficult. It's been about two weeks back in the office, and I still feel like I'm playing catch up, which means I feel like I'm never clearing out my "To-Do List" at the end of the day. That creates stress, which leads to moodiness, which makes me finicky and unmotivated. And there you have it: the slump. I want to do everything that has nothing to do with the things I should be doing. Work? No thank you. Writing? I'll pass. Blogging? If I must. But movies, binging on TV, going out to eat, and shopping? Sign me up!

Now, there are definitely different types of slumps and everybody experiences and deals with them differently. I happen to be in the type of slump where I just want to avoid all the stuff that's agitating or stressing me out. Which is super counterproductive to things like getting a manuscript finished or, you know, earning your paycheck. I've been in this particular slump for a few days now, but after a few really good conversations today, I think I'm ready to start shaking it off. But that got me thinking about the things that have helped me overcome those emotional slumps in the past, so I've compiled a short list of things to try when you're stuck in a perpetual feeling of meh.

1. REVIVE YOUR MOTIVATION

This is obviously an "easier said than done" tip, but for me, the dip in motivation has always been my most crippling side effect of the slump. Professionally and creatively, a lack of motivation breeds apathy and lackluster effort. So when you find yourself starting to lose a grip on your motivation, try reminding yourself of what you're trying to motivate yourself for in the first place. Personally, I'm fighting towards a raise at work and towards publication in my writing. And neither of those things is going to happen if I don't keep pushing myself to get them done. I want a raise to buy a house and I want to be published so, some day, I can make my passion my profession. If you find yourself getting worn down or burnt out, sit down and take a serious look at why you're fighting in the first place.

2. TREAT YOURSELF

I don't necessarily mean this in the traditional "treat yo self!" fashion, although that could definitely be applicable. But if you find yourself slipping into a slump, try doing something nice for yourself. Our lives are hard. Work vs family vs friends. Social time vs alone time. It's all a balancing act that gets to be incredibly exhausting. And once in a while, you deserve to reward yourself for putting up with all of that all the time. I'm not saying you need to go out and spend $500 on a pair of shoes you saw window shopping, but maybe go to your favorite restaurant. Or sit down and watch your favorite movie. Do something that you know makes you happy. Something you enjoy. When you fall into a slump, it's easy to get stuck there. But sometimes you can pull yourself back out by firing a little extra positivity into your day. Allow yourself a few indulgences and use that upswing to propel you out of the slump.

3. TAKE A BREAK

You can't always force the issue. And sometimes you do more harm than good by trying to. If you're trying to coax yourself out of a slump and everything is failing, that just creates a circle of more negativity. So you gotta know when you should just take a step back from everything. Most of us can't just decide to walk away from our desk for a few days, obviously, but maybe you can request a work from home day. Or request a vacation day in the middle of the week. And if those aren't options, get whatever you have to get done at work and walk away from it at the end of your shift. Go find a distraction and get the hell away from it all when you're off the clock. And creatively? Same concept. I know not everyone would agree with the idea of choosing not to write for a few days because you're "not feeling it," but I believe in breaks when they're needed. Personally, when I find myself in an emotional slump, I find other outlets to temporarily channel my creativity. When writing won't do it, I'll knit or play around with graphic design, or I'll bake. A lot of times, using a new medium for a few days will eventually inspire me to jump back into my writing. Dipping into other outlets I favor makes me feel good about my results, and when I feel like I'm doing well, that makes me feel like I can do well in the things I was shying away from, too.

4. TALK IT OUT

Never underestimate the power of conversation. Whether this is your first step or your last resort, talking things out can be incredibly cathartic. I didn't even fully realize I'd fallen into a slump until my manager pointed it out during my one-on-one today that he noticed I seemed withdrawn. He gave me an opportunity to admit that I was in a slump and to talk about it. And better than that, he understood. There's a huge relief that comes from realizing that the people around you don't expect you to be on point 100% of the time. And for me, knowing that there are people around me who want to help however they can? That helps. And having someone to talk to gives you the chance to articulate your feelings. One of the most frustrating things about a slump is that it's not usually super obvious why you're in one. But talking about it, having to put that feeling into words for someone else, gives you the opportunity to sort through your own feelings. And when you understand why you're in a slump, you've got a much better chance of getting back out of it.

Are any of you trying to get yourself out of a slump too? And if so, what's working for you?

3 Tips For Managing New Ideas

Now, I guarantee I'm not the only writer who goes through this. I'd even take a gamble and say that most writers probably experience this inspiration roller coaster to some degree or another. And I also don't think it's an entirely bad thing - I'd rather have too many ideas than not enough! But the real problem for me is learning to keep those bright, shiny, new ideas on the back burner while I actually try to finish something. And I've been taking some steps that, so far, have been working pretty well for me!

1. MAKE A LIST

If you're already keeping track of your inspiration, this probably comes across as a no-brainer, but for anyone who hasn't tried their hand at listing out their story ideas yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot! For a long time, I think I became so obsessed with new ideas because I was afraid I'd never remember it by the time I finished my current story. How you keep your list is entirely up to you, of course. Right now, I have a dry erase board on the wall beside my desk that I keep a short list on. There are four written down currently with a fifth that needs to be added. And for me, the list is as simple as a couple of words to remind me of what the general concept was, like "Angel + Demon" and "Swan Lake" to pull a few off my board. But if you need a little more than that...

2. STICKY NOTE YOUR DETAILS

For a few of my ideas, the simple one to three word title reminder wasn't enough. Particularly for the few that were stories I kind of started before reigning myself in to focus on one thing at a time. So for those, I've started utilizing color-coded sticky notes to highlight just a few of the most important points about the story. Right now, my sticky notes include brief character blurbs - their name and a few quick words to describe them - and a couple of research notes I wanted to be sure to look back at when I really get into the story. Obviously you don't have to use sticky notes if they're not your fav (bullet points do the same thing!), but I find they work well for keeping me organized and concise. All I want here is to remind myself of a few pre-determined details I liked so I have a solid starting point later on. And if you really just can't help yourself...

3. WRITE A LITTLE BIT OF IT

At the end of the day, if you just can't stop thinking about your new idea, and you can't get anything written for your current project because of it, stop fighting the inevitable. Open a new word document or pull out one of your notebooks and spit out the scene that's driving you crazy. Now, I say scene because that's how 90% of my ideas come to be - smack in the middle of the damn story somewhere with a specific scene that I just can't get out of my head. So when all else fails, I'll sit down and write out some or all of the scene that's getting to me and then save it for later. You may find that it never fits into your story, or maybe after getting that bit out, the characters don't speak to you anymore. And if that happens, that's okay! Maybe you have a skeleton scene for another story at your finger tips. Either way, words written is important, and you may find a place for those words down the road.

This is just a very small list of the things I've been trying at home, but the important thing here is to find a way to corral your new ideas so you can actually work some of them into fruition. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who can work on multiple things at the same time - lucky you! If you're not, give these a try and let me know how they work out for you. Or, better yet, if you're already doing something that's working well for you - let me know! I could definitely use all the tips I can get!