Ever have one of those days -- or weeks -- where you feel like you're beating your head against a brick wall? Nothing goes the way you plan; projects crash and burn; even the simplest of tasks turns into a maze of road blocks and speed bumps.
You know you need to get a grip, but HOW?!
Reboot your system. Sometimes a bad day is simply the natural consequence of fatigue, burnout, distraction, etc. Stepping back from your work for a few hours, a few days or even a few weeks (depending on how bad the situation is) often restores clarity.
Get a reality check. If things aren't going well, don't be afraid to ask for some honest, unbiased feedback from a trusted source. Ask them what they think might be causing the problem. Sometimes you just can't see the forest for the trees.
Look for patterns in your stuckness. Step back and take an inventory of the past week. Look for things that tend to take three times longer than necessary because you just don't like doing them.
- What is it that I consistently do not want to do?
- Which tasks seem like a chore every time I do them?
- What do I always put off until the last possible moment?
DELEGATE or ELIMINATE these things! And if you can't bring yourself to delegate or eliminate them, look for ways to AUTOMATE or SYSTEMATIZE your least enjoyable tasks via technology, checklists, worksheets, etc.
Revisit your successes. Something that helps me get back on track is to review past accomplishments and successes. This is a great practice because it not only boosts morale ("I've done well before, I know I can do well again!") but it also gives you the chance to see what worked and why it worked. You might see a solution in a past success that could be applied to the current situation.
Give yourself permission to fail. Remind yourself that it's okay to have bad days, for things to go wrong. I don't know of anyone who hasn't failed, usually over and over again, on the way to success. And there are good lessons in every mistake or failure, too. Look for the pony buried in the pile of poop!
Stop complaining. What you resist persists, and what you pay attention to tends to become more real. So when you complain, you're only reinforcing the negative. Plus, complaining tends to infect others -- and pretty soon, you've got a pity party going on. Try giving yourself three free passes on complaining about an issue, but when you've used up the third pass, it's time to stop complaining and either accept things as they are and move on, OR do something. Anything. Just stop complaining.
Next time you're sick of the day you're having, get a grip!
