Fighting The Funk

Yesterday was not a good day. At least not emotionally for me. It really started on Monday. I could feel it coming. I knew it was coming. I'm familiar with these kind of days. They just sort of happen. It's most likely a chemical thing for me because these are the days when life is truly good and nothing is really triggering it. But there it is: a down day.I've been having "down days" for years. They come and they go. They usually only last a couple days at most and if it goes longer then it's something else and I have to deal with it. But yesterday was a down day. I had no motivation, no focus, no drive. I was just sad. And I had no reason to be sad which just made it even worse.

It took all my energy to NOT go back to bed. Like I said, it was just one of those days. Having depression and anxiety can do that to a person.

But today, I'm good. In fact, I was much better starting at about 6 pm last night. A lot of times, these funks can last a while and I have to really push through them to function, to do anything that shows forward movement. But not this time. This time I bounced back and I was good.

So what happened? I thought about what I would tell a friend or a client. And then I took my own advice. Here's what I did:

I acknowledged what was going on

I didn't try to fight the issue. I just let it happen. I accepted the fact that it was a down day. I took it a step further too. I told a couple people so they knew what was going on with me. There's nothing like crashing a pity party by inviting some friends over.

I got moving

I got out of my seat. I got showered and dressed. I packed my laptop and I got out of the house. I went to a coffee shop and I got to work. I made a list of things that needed to be done. I let the overwhelm hit me. And then I kept moving.

I transitioned with music

This is something new for me. Instead of playing "happy music" to try and instantly boost my mood, I started with something a little easier and let the boost happen on its own. I have several different playlists on Spotify for different moods or activities. I have a mellow(ish) playlist that I call "Writing Music" that includes artists like Muse, Death Cab for Cutie and Mutemath. I let that music pull me up a bit and then I could listen to "happier" music.

I accomplished something

I have a ridiculously long to-do list. But I don't hate it. I love to be busy. On the down days, that list can be incredibly overwhelming (like yesterday) but it gives me a focal point. And I attacked it. I crossed off a few things (I'm talking less than 10% of what was on the list) but damn did that feel good. They weren't huge projects. They weren't monster tasks. But they were accomplishments.

So, now I'm good. Things are back to even keel. Will this work every time? I have no idea. But it worked this time. And that is what truly matters.