Ok, so over here in the UK, we’re in the middle of our 2nd lockdown, and I thought I’d use this as an opportunity to address feeling down.
As creatives, I think we’re predisposed to feel this way. I know I was a LOT when I was younger – I’m a little better at managing it now, and I wanted to share with you some of the strategies I use to get in a better mindset.
Before I start, I want to say that this is if you’re feeling a bit down, glum, out of energy or anything along that spectrum… if you are in a really bad or dark/dangerous place, please always seek professional help. At my lowest, I started CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), and it’s the best thing I ever did for myself, and it’s a big reason I share my experiences so openly to help others.
Ok so back to it! When I’m feeling down:
- I make a plan and get some structure to my day. Even if it’s just knowing that every morning, I get up at 7, have breakfast, then have a walk… anything past that can be fair game, but at least I feel I’ve achieved something. This can also expand to planning what to eat which can be in the form of meal prepping 🙂
- Get my body moving – this can be in the form of my morning walk, or just jumping up randomly and dancing like an idiot to some of my favourite music 🙂
- Learn something new. I couple my morning walks with listening to audiobooks, cause as they say – ‘if you ain’t growing, you’re dying!’… bit dramatic I know, but I feel like if I know I’m just 0.0000000000001% wiser than the day before, then I’ve won.
- I allow myself to fell all the feelings – sometimes you just gotta indulge in how you’re feeling. I’ll plonk myself down and spend the day watching Netflix, ordering a pizza, and eating my body weight in chocolate, but most importantly, NOT let myself feel bad about it.
- The final and biggest thing that is the reason I have found to combat these feeling and with great consistency, is: finding a way to contribute. This is like the holy grail of happiness, and has led to this blog, my A Drummer’s Guide To… videos, Drum Stem Club and my Remote Recording Business Workshop and Course. Literally, ANYTIME I feel down, I turn my attention to helping someone who might need it. Hello motivation, hello energy, hello joy. If you can find that thing for you, I promise, you will crack the code.
I hope these examples help you in some way, and as I say, if you think you would benefit from professional help, go do it! And afterwards, we can trade strategies 🙂
Sending you all my love xxx