Getting out of a slump…

Being an avid reader, I know it is very common to find myself in a reading slump. It happens, I know that. After reading a great book or book series, you often find yourself with the overwhelming feeling that there is no way there is another great book like this out there, I just need to bask in the joy I felt while reading these books for a while longer. That is what happened to me after finishing the Harry Potter series for the first time. It took me a couple weeks to finally pick another book up, because of how sad I was to see those books end.

But the thing is, its not just reading slumps that we get in, we can find ourselves in a sort of ‘life slump’. Over the last month and a bit, I have found myself in a ‘life slump’ (for lack of a better term). I haven’t been reading like I used to, I have been getting eye strain and headaches often because of binge watching tv shows and movies. I have been falling dramatically behind on my university work that now I can’t even fathom being on top of my work. I am losing touch with some of the friends that I used to talk to daily and I just can’t force myself to clean my room which is now looking very messy.

For some people, motivation seems to come easy but right now, especially in a slump, I just feel like nothing can motivate me. Believe me, I have tried everything: exercising, re-reading a favourite book, making a schedule, getting some fresh air but nothing is working; I just feel like I am on this endless cycle of no-motivation.

So to help both myself, and any of you out there that are dealing with the same ‘life slump’ I took the liberty of researching ways of improving motivation and breaking out of any draining slump that we may find ourselves in. Some of the advice I found are as follows:

Acknowledge and accept it. There is absolutely no point in being in denial. Being aware that you are in a slump is the first step towards finding a solution that will get you back to feeling as amazing as humanly possible. You need to understand that you will eventually get out of this slump, that it can’t last forever. If any of you are finance enthusiasts, think of a slump as a recession in an economic cycle. Everyone knows that the economy won’t stay in a recession forever, it is always followed by a peak which is what we are aiming for. And hopefully one day, our slumps or recessions, will increasingly go for shorter periods of time and we are able to stay motivated for longer.

Go outside. I know I did try this but I wasn’t consistent with it. Research shows that going on even just a small walk once a day has the power to boost your energy and improve your overall mental health. At the moment in Australia it is Autumn (my favourite season) so I absolutely love going outside and walking through the fallen leaves and having that cooler air just wake me up of a morning.

Change up your routine. One of the main motivation problems I had during the very long lockdown and online learning last year was motivation. Where I live the restrictions were super strict, so I wasn’t able to go for as many walks and of course I couldn’t leave the house. When studying or reading, or whatever you are in a slump with, it is essential to change up your environment every now and then. Now that it seems the world is opening up, you have the freedom to decide to study in a coffee shop or a library, or even the beautiful park that you walk past on the way to school. Changing up your daily routine can help re motivate you and allow you to look at life through a new lens.

And lastly, Talk to someone. Whether its a psychologist, a teacher, a relative, or a friend sometimes all you need is to talk to someone about what is making you stressed, and making you feel as if you are stuck in this slump. You never know, one of your friends might be going through the exact same thing, or has done so recently and knows exactly how to help you.

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I hope this has helped you all. I will definitely be trying some of these techniques over the next week or so, especially before the scary exam season is upon me. If there is anything you can take away from what I have just written, is probably just make a change. It’s as simple as that, change up your routine and hopefully in time you will find yourself feeling so happy and motivated about everything that nothing can bring you down 🙂

Are you in a slump at the moment? Are there any other techniques or ways that you have found helped you with slumps? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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Stay safe and keep connected,

-Soph xx