The day you feel uninspired, and what you can do about it
Many of you may have experienced this before — when you woke up for work, you look around, feeling tired, trying to keep up with your surroundings but you are just not feeling the momentum. You see everything around you but you are not feeling it. You just want to do nothing as you are not feeling it. You just want to lie on your bed, or thinking should you call in to the office and pretend you have an emergency/ or sick or make up some excuses as you are not feeling it. Not feeling to work or do anything…Sound familiar?
There is always good days, and the not so good ones.
“Not feeling it” — I remember when I was young, it tends to be more often when I had a big night out in the mid week as I had a little too much to drink during the happy hours with my colleagues, while it was still a Wednesday. (The very much needed drink so I can survive the rest of the week before I was buried with the workload and crazy politics in the office). Or I overpacked my schedule a bit too much throughout the weekend so my Monday is always blue…
Nevertheless, I will try my best to drag my body out of the comfortable sheet, taking it extra slow to the bathroom so to freshen up, and especially spend more than double the time to brush my teeth (I do feel like I still smell like alcohol…), deliberately reaching out for that perfume that can cover up the alcohol odor, and put on my signature red lipstick to cover up the trace of a very bad hungover or lack of sleep (that I look like a ghost with pale lips) and still trying to keep it together so I can push myself to work.
The day went by so slowly, so stagnant…like I’m never going to pick up the energy to do anything ever again. My mind was wandering off — Why am I repeating these routines at work? Why am I feeling so tired? Why did I drink so much again during the week? I swear I am never going to do this again…
Picking yourself up again
All these years, I’ve learnt a few things when I feel uninspired, tired, not necessarily due to having too much drink, but perhaps just the vibe is not syncing or just one of those moody days. (We all have those days and it’s okay!)
Becoming mindful of my daily living has been more beneficial than I would have thought. These are some of the things I did and work to bring myself back up to the game.
Things you can do to bring your energy back slowly:
- Hydration before anything else
As a human being, we are made up of 70% of water and feeling tired is one of the side effect that we are not hydrating enough hence not detoxing regularly. Drink a big glass or even 2 glasses of water before you do anything else. You will definitely feel the difference. Keep hydrating throughout the day, you will need it.
2. Wash away your negativity by a hot shower (with bath salt or scrub)
You may have only 5 minutes, but the power of a quick shower does it magic. Water helps to cleanse our body and mind, and it helps to detox our vibes. A quick meditative shower is a powerful boost of energy for the day ahead.
3. Set an intention to just take it slow
Yes you heard my right. Isn’t we are going to talk about what to do when we want to push through the uninspired days? Yes and No. Sometimes, we just have to let go and accept the fact that there are days we are less productive. It is part of the process of living and experience. There is totally nothing wrong about it. Ask a friend to catch up for a cup of coffee or tea if you still feel like you need to do something. Catching up with friends definitely count as a productive thing to do.
4. Take a stroll and get some sunlight
What I like to do is that I will just take a stroll in the park during lunch hour, and just rest up. Maybe I will find a patio or a tree at the park and sit. People watching also does the trick to let your mind rest up for the day.
5. Take a look and dig into the moon cycle
The moon cycle apparently affects our mood and emotions more than we know. Try to look into it and see if we are experiencing a moon cycle phase (full moon, new moon, mercury retrograde, etc). By understanding the power of astrology, we understand it is a phase that we must go through as human beings.
6. Enjoy a good meal
The power of food. Boost your mood by indulging yourself to your favorite cake shop. (Of course we are not talking about you having a piece of cake everyday if you are feeling gloomy very frequently) But pampering your taste buds also do wonder in boosting our mood up.
7. Listen to nature music and take a good nap
Perhaps we are tired because we overused our brain the day before and we are exhausted. Rest your mind and body by listening to some nature music. The natural sound and environment will help to rejuvenate your mind. If you can, find a hidden corner or go to foot massage place during lunch time and take a quick nap.
8. Do something that doesn’t require your mind functioning too much
Just do nothing or minimum things so you feel like you are productive but actually not exhausting your brain power. It’s okay to rest up.
Your energy may slowly pick up throughout the day. Being uninspired is a common that happens time to time. The beauty is to learn how to pick up the momentum again with minimum effort and also allow yourself to be inspired again the next day.
P.S. This is one of those days that I feel uninspired so I decided to write this memo so to remind myself it’s okay to do less.
Have a better day tomorrow!