At the time of writing (Tuesday morning, 10.30am) I have lost my mojo. Completely. It's gone. Hence I'm writing this when I should really be doing some "proper work". I'm tired, not feeling it.
Just updated my stats for my main blog, social media and everything for February and it's left me depressed. I had an amazing December (best month ever), which was almost bettered by an amazing January (usually the worst month) - I was busy, full of ideas and motivation. In February it started to slow down (I had expected this) but now it's stopped. I almost feel as if I've dropped off the face of the planet.
A very short trawl through social media tells me that I'm not alone - I genuinely think a decline in work and mood generally does go with the last few weeks of winter. Oh, and to cap it all the weather is lousy again - filthy. I've put the flowers above on my desk this morning in an attempt to counteract the filthiness going on outside the window...
So I figured if I'm feeling miserable and plenty of others are too, I'd compile a little list of cheering (also free or very cheap - which is important if business is slow!) things I like to do - either to restore the mojo or just to give in and wait it out.
1. The flowers. So no, this one isn't free, and yes I have pushed the boat out today. The flowers above were bought this morning in Sainsbury's for £5. This is way more than I usually spend. At this time of year daffodils are my favourite and they're £1 a bunch. Sometimes I splash out and buy 2 bunches. Alternatively they have tulips for £2.50. I tend to get at least a week out of them.
2. Tea and cake. A day without tea in it is a very bad day indeed. My favourite tea at the moment is Twining's Everyday (the one in the yellow box). If this can be accompanied by cake, all the better.
3. Tidy up. As I type this my studio is a mess again. If I can drag myself up from this desk I should tidy it. I have more, better ideas in a tidy, inspiring space. I need to take down old stuff and stick new things on the wall.
4. The garden. One for the summer, not today as it's just hideous out there. Hideous I tell you. But, in the summer if I'm feeling a bit meh I drop everything and go out in the garden. My absolute favourite job out there is mowing the lawn and doing the edging, but I'll settle for weeding or pruning if that doesn't need doing. There's always something to do, and I find pootling around out there to be far more relaxing than sitting in a chair looking at it.
5. Restyle a room. Sort of the equivalent of doing the garden but for nasty days like today. Might try this later. Bonus points for taking pictures to share on Instagram at a later date!
6. Read. Not something work related. This is hard for me as I have stacks of stuff to inspire me, but sometimes you need to loose yourself. So ideally a novel. I don't have time to read usually so this is also a real luxury for me. See my earlier post here for some ideas.
7. Make something. This also needs to not be work related (in my case preferably something that can never be and that I won't photograph and share/write a blog post about either - this is tricky!). So painting and drawing can be good, or any craft - best to do something you're familiar with so you don't have to think about it too much/get frustrated.
8. Glossy magazines. I'm talking to you Vogue. I also like Bazaar. None of the self improvement nonsense, no depressing gossip about celebrities I've never heard of. Nothing I can possibly turn into something work related. Just unaffordable beautiful clothes, nice pictures and a bit of escapism.
9. Woody Allen. Or insert your favourite films here. It has to be a very bad day though for me to sacrifice so much "valuable work time"...
10. Sort out the wardrobe/make-up drawer. Sometimes doing number 8 above can prompt this. I had a wonderful wardrobe clear out a few weeks ago and it made me feel great.
11. Have a bath. All the more indulgent if you rarely get to have one. I'm a shower girl due to necessity (small boy, and spend all of my evenings working, one way or another). I'm a fan of a Lush bath bomb - the Yoga Bomb is my favourite.
12. List achievements. I don't mean in your life, I mean in the last day/week. If you're anything like me you're brilliant at remembering and listing the bad stuff and the things that went wrong. Focus on the good stuff - you've probably achieved a lot this week, you've just forgotten about it.
13. Stats. Now if you're a stats person like me, you need hard evidence of those achievements. One of the things that has contributed to my funk today is stats. My stats for February 2016. One month. This is already rubbish. I need to compare month on month, year on year. And I know, without even checking, that this is a pretty continuous upward trajectory of growth, and I am definitely heading in the right direction. So snap out of it Kate. And don't look at one day/week/month of rubbishness in isolation.
14. Keep going. Still feeling rubbish? There's one guaranteed way to fail. Giving up. I frequently need to remind myself of this. If I give up, someone will take my place. If I give up I will regret it and wonder what might've been forever. If you can afford/have the time and opportunity to keep going, keep going.
15. However, step away... But step away today and have a break. It won't make any difference (unless you're on a major deadline today and you'll completely mess up everything if you don't achieve it, in which case take the break tomorrow!). That's what I'm planning to do now.
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