I’ve been in a bit of a slump for a few weeks… nothing really happened to put me there… I just felt like I was going through the motions with everything. No one probably could tell, because that’s what we do – right ? We put on our normal faces and just keep going.
Last week I got really frustrated as I read through my goals for the month and realized I was falling behind on all of them. All because… of my lack of passion about really anything…was preventing me from accomplishing ANYTHING… I was just blah. All the important things were still happening.- Schoolwork with kids, hosting events, teaching my classes all keep going. But it was all on robot… not from my heart like it normally is.
Let me tell you when it’s not from my heart- it’s exhausting!
I had lots of excuses- we are so busy, I have no margin, I have to do this and this… before that…, It’s impossible, blah blah blah… It was this daily cycle of being discouraged, tackling the MUST BE DONE and not seeing a way to flip things around- so just keep going.
Then starts the negative self talk. “Why can’t you pull it together?” “Look how those other people are killing it- and you are barely pulling yourself through the day.” “You are supposed to be all together— if people only knew what a mess you are.”
John often notices when I’m in these funks. He doesn’t say anything. He just dives in and knows that the key to getting me out is to help me feel treasured and less overwhelmed by life.
Realistically though, it can’t always be my knight in shining armor that pulls me out of a slump. John will not always notice I’m slipping. Sometimes we might slip at the same time.
As John and I talked through some of these things I found myself realizing what had changed were some of the really important routines in my life.
So how do I put things in place to help me catch it myself and not get so completely overwhelmed?
Take (and give away) Control of Your Day!
For me I love to start with a morning prayer giving God my day- and telling Him I’m open to anything HE has for me. He knows I have things “planned”, but I give Him permission to interrupt with things that are more important or more aligned with HIS plan for my day.
Then, knowing as you begin each day/week what the top 3-5 priorities can really set you up for success. It takes the pressure off! If the other then things don’t get done, it’s okay because the priorities moved forward. I divide these things up into a couple lists.
Balance: Things that must be done to keep my mind and spirit in balance.
Mine are: Prayer and some worship music in the morning a then a short “regroup” before I head to the dance studio for the evening, and washing my face before bed.
Must get done: These are the things that must get done today. These are my top 3-5 tasks for the day. They are not negotiable and they are the priority.
Mine might be: update the website, create a flier, teach algebra lesson to kids, cook dinner for small group
I’d really like to: These are the things that I’ll work on if the “must get done” list gets finished. They are typically bigger projects or ideas that I may need to break down into smaller steps to accomplish.
Mine might be: brainstorm topics for blog, look up lesson plans for new book, watch a training video for dance, choose a new fireplace design
Things I can ask for help on: These are the things that someone else can do Often these are things others actually do better or enjoy more than me. They free me up to have time for other things. Or maybe someone can do this at a much higher quality than I would do.
Mine might be: paint a room, light office work, run errands, assemble furniture, or math
Identify What’s the source of the Blah….
When it comes down to it in these moments, there is something specific that is causing the blah. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! You are in control of so much more in your life than you think! If something isn’t working or is causing you to lose sleep, life, creativity- change it!
This time, for me, it was Algebra II. We home school and so I had put the girls in a co-op to handle this for me because I’m a ballerina- I’m not a math girl.
Shortly into the year, we discovered that the majority of the course work in my oldest’s class was going to be self taught with a TON of homework. which means… I’m teaching it and helping with homework. Exactly what I’d signed up NOT TO DO! Each week 1-2 hours was spent with me studying. Then 4-6 hours would be spent on teaching this terrible subject and then she’d do homework. Homework, which she didn’t understand because I’m a terrible algebra teacher (remember I’m a ballerina- we only count to 8) So homework would take us about 30 minutes for every 4 problems.
We made a decision. We needed a different approach. The moment we made this decision we all felt light… free… stress lifted, creativity came back, colors were brighter, food tasted better… well that might be a bit of an exaggeration… but not much.
Sometimes you just push through and sometimes you shift the plan. Either is fine… just don’t get stuck in the blah…
