Form is temporary, class is permanent
Just because you’re going through a rough patch doesn’t mean that you’ve lost your skill, passion, or drive.
Sometimes, whether you know the cause or not, a rough patch, writing block or period of languishing — whatever it may be called in the industry that you work in — can come along. You’ve definitely gone through these periods before, everyone does. But sometimes it can feel like these hits are harder, even more so in times like these. When you’re in it, it feels like every little thing drains your energy or automatically triggers a feeling of being annoyed, agitated, or tired. Additionally, the quality of the output that you’re used to from yourself might not be there, which adds even more frustration and confusion on top.
Personally, when I noticed myself starting to get into this rut, I would dive into a personal project, fully dedicate myself and my time to it, defending it by saying that it calms me down and makes me relax, takes my mind off of things. While this has helped a few times, I noticed that I come out of these distractions more exhausted and confused than before. Don’t get me wrong, they can be a great tool to get some motivation and creative juices going but there’s a fine line between jump-starting and completely emptying the battery. Most often, what’s actually hidden behind starting these projects is more about proving to myself that I can do a certain thing again/still rather than trying to help myself get out of the overall situation.
By now, I’ve started noticing when this happens and actively try to resist the urge of letting the ecstatic feeling of a new project fool me into starting it and rather try to keep myself busy with activities that actually calm me down, like reading, sports, being outside and connecting with friends and family — basically anything that’s not connected to what I do at work.
Another tool that has helped overcome these phases quite a lot is reminding myself that just because I can’t solve a problem currently or find a good solution to a problem, it doesn’t mean that I can’t do those things at all anymore. What it comes down to is either being too drained or not in the right mindset to do it but I still have that skill because I’ve honed it for years and reminding myself of this has helped regain confidence and start the process of recharging the battery.
The last and very effective tool that I’ve noticed is jumping on the opportunity when the energy does come back — and it will. This means keeping an eye out for instances when I see myself getting passionate and energetic about topics that have achieved the opposite before and riding that feeling of possibly getting back into a state of flow. This requires awareness, self-reflection and listening and observing what makes you feel good and what drains your battery in order to then understand your reaction to either of those groups of events.
There’s a phrase that is more recently being used in investment/crypto communities: “When in doubt, zoom out” referring to the investment charts and graphs that might be in the minus or dipping currently: this doesn’t necessarily mean that that particular currency or stock has been there or will stay there, it’s merely a snapshot of the current state. This directly applies to the feeling of languishing in a particular state but the next upwards trend is just around the corner. Understanding this, noticing and listening to the signs and not forcing yourself upwards again are absolutely necessary to reduce some of the stress, friction and energy that might be keeping you down right now, temporarily.
