I believe that the forthcoming season holidays can be an excellent idea and timing for you to tackle about the ups and downs and flows of life. In other words, how to rebalance after the moments that knock you off from time to time. You know the moments. They can be inconsequential, like winter bugs that keep us in bed for a few days. Or having a few urgent responsibilities pop up that breaks your usual routine. Even holidays (especially busy holidays that leave you feeling like you need to rest afterwards!) can leave you struggling to get back on track.
Then of course, there are the bigger things. Someone close passing away, G-d forbid. A job loss. A break up. A scare.
After a bit of time to process and work through the issue, there comes a time when you’re supposed to get back on track. But there’s always that weird, awkward phase in-between. You don’t know where to start, you can’t remember where you left off, and you’re just not in the zone.
It’s hard, and it feels like you’re wasting time. So, I wanted to give you a few ways to help you get back in the flow of things if you find yourself in that place:
1. Give yourself time to transition, and cut yourself some slack for a couple of days. If you can do the bare minimum, give yourself a high five and count anything .
2. If you can, spend some time alone, it’s great! You can recharge, reflect and rest. This may be harder to manage if you have kids and a family to wrangle, but even a couple of hours to yourself while they watch a film will be helpful.
3. Take your time to shift your mindset with light-hearted books or films – especially if you’re moving out of a place of grief, sadness or despondency. You’ve got to ease into it. This is your time to binge on trashy TV, magazines and socials!
4. Familiarise yourself with what is it you’re getting back into. This might mean re-reading over your goals and plans for the next twelve months, re-organising your office, cleaning out your emails, or the files and folders on your laptop. These are great ways to inch back into the work without feeling to overwhelmed with it all. If you feel like you need it, give yourself a date to jump back in, and enjoy the time till then doing whatever you want to do – absolutely guilt free.
The time needed for this process depends on the cause, and on your own personality. You might only need an afternoon, or it might be a week. Something more significant might knock you off course for a couple of weeks or a month.
If you’re struggling to get back on track after a few months, I would suggest talking it over with someone. There may be some underlying issues that need resolving – once you address those, you can move forward.
So I hope that helps you if you’re in the space now, or the next time you find yourself there. It basically comes down to: give yourself a break and be gentle with yourself and with others! Cheers!
