Hi everyone, I just got back from a whirlwind summer in Japan and Vietnam, where I—and I didn’t think this would happen again for me—fell in love. With not having to work. Long walks on the beach—without answering emails. Deep conversations late into the night—but not about cashflow issues and revenues projections. It was magical; I felt young and alive again.
And now it’s over, and it’s back to the grind. But I’ve never felt so unmotivated before. I don’t want to do anything except snuggle with my kids while watching K-Pop Demon Hunters. Speaking to friends and colleagues, I find everyone seems to be having similar feelings, a sense of being overwhelmed combined with a creeping apathy and general…blah-ness. Ennui.
And who can blame anyone. Everything seems to be awful and there’s no end in sight. It’s depressing. By that, I mean, like most of us are probably depressed. I’ve been feeling like crap. And the stress has been causing me to have bags under my eyes and break out into acne, so I also look like crap! (Thank goodness my multiplying wrinkles and pallid complexion have been providing distraction).
If you’re feeling—and looking—the same way, you’re not alone, ok? Here are some tips below to help keep you/us motivated. Because I don’t feel like working at all, the quality of this post is uncertain, and I can’t vouch for the validity of any of these tips, so take it with a swig of Pepto:
Remind yourself it’s normal right now to feel terrible: A friend said something that stuck with me. With all the horrific things happening—genocide, fascism, environmental destruction—it would be abnormal to NOT be at least a little depressed. If you’re feeling bad, it means you care. And the more you care, the worse you feel. And look.
Lower your standards and expectations: I used to try to walk 10,000 steps a day. That was very frustrating, because I often couldn’t accomplish it, usually failing by 7,000 steps on average. So, I lowered it to 2,000 steps a day. And voila! That instantaneously made it better. I usually achieve that goal. Sometimes twice, which means I don’t have to get off the couch the next day at all!
Lean into joy: When the world seems to be falling apart, it can seem selfish or irresponsible to enjoy stuff. But joy is not frivolous—it’s fuel we need to continue fighting for a better world. Watch a funny show. Bake cookies. Befriend some raccoons and train them to fingerpaint. Remember that fascists hate joy and humor, and doing stuff fascists hate is always a good use of our time.
Start with one small thing: When we’re overwhelmed, huge tasks can seem very daunting. Pick one a small action that is easy to do and do it. Reply to one email. Call one donor. Put one dirty coffee cup in the sink. Build rapport with one raccoon. Sometimes that’s enough to build momentum. Other times, it’s not. But at least you tried, and trying is half the battle.
Prioritize a few important things: Instead of looking at the zillion things on your to-do list and forcing yourself to slog through them and feeling overwhelmed and then ending up doing nothing, identify the two or three things that are important. There you go. You identified them. That’s a huge success. You can tackle them later. Go celebrate by taking a nap.
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