From time to time it can happen to us all, for one reason or another we get into a bit of a funk. Our motivation seems to dissapear overnight and suddenly nothing is particuarly inspiring. Whether you’re a creative person or not we can all be prone to that feeling of just generally not quite being ourselves. It can come out of nowhere and when it does it can feel truly crap. Maybe it lasts a few days or maybe it hangs around for a few weeks, either way lifting yourself up again can feel so difficult and overwhelming.

Despite the fact that the weather has started to perk up a little (and I’m someone who is massively impacted by the weather) over the past few weeks I have been in a major funk. I haven’t felt myself at all, I’ve had next to no motivation to do the things that I usually love and have had to force myself to keep to social engagements and do the things that I know will make me feel better. I’ve had to take on a role of being something like my own parent, forcing myself to do the things I don’t want to do in the hopes that it will help me shake this god-awful feeling. Thankfully I’m now reaching that point where I’m coming out the other side and things are starting to feel a bit brighter again. I’m slowly getting my mojo back and boy am I grateful for that. But if you’re still muddling your way through it or can feel one setting in then here are some of the things I found to be helpful.

Don’t be too hard on yourself: I’m always too hard on myself but when I’m feeling in a bit of a funk I try to lay off a little. I know that eventually it will pass but one of the least useful things I can do is sit there going “come on, get up, get motivated and stop being lazy”. Yes, sometimes there is a time for some tough love but often I find it isn’t right in that moment.

Take some time to relax: One thing I’ve realised over the years is that I often start to feel like this when I’ve been having a really busy period. It’s as though I’ve put every ounce of my energy into other things and a little way down the line I realise I’ve had no chance to actually recuperate. Taking some time out to just ‘be’ and to do what you want to do can really help you to lean into a slightly slower pace and let yourself get back to your A-game.

Remove some of the pressures: If I’m feeling like I’m not quite myself anyway and then I put the pressure on to be churning out 3 blog posts, 5 instagrams and a podcast alongside all of my actual work and life commitments in a week then I just find it’s too much and nothing will ever be to the standard I want. Over the past few weeks I’ve taken some time away from my blog and it’s made the world of difference. Removing just one thing in the short term can help to you feel that bit more resilient and help you to bounce back faster.

Try and nail down the cause: Sometimes it’s obvious what’s caused the funk, othertimes it’s a total mystery. But I often find it helpful to sit down for a little while and try and work out what may have caused it. Maybe it’s hormonal, maybe you’ve had a tough few months or maybe something has just not gone to plan and thrown everything out of whack. If you can work out what had caused it then you’re often in a better place to start tackling the problem. If you’re not so sure? Well just be kind to yourself for now and tackle the rest later.

Be strict with yourself: OK, this may sound at logger-heads with the ‘be kind to yourself’ idea but sometimes we just have to be our own parent and make sure we do the things we can’t be bothered to do. When I’m feeling out of sorts I don’t want to work out, I don’t want to spend my time cooking meals and organising my life seems like the last thing I want to do. (I know, a Class-A Monica can be a bit ‘over it’ sometimes too). But ultimately I know that all of these things will help me to feel that bit better and if nothing else it does help to give that little boost of self achievement. So get an early night, eat your veggies and get moving, it will help.

Focus on feeling better: When your funk starts to lift (and eventually it will) don’t focus on how much time you’ve wasted or been unproductive for whilst you’ve been feeling like that. Instead focus on how much more you now feel like you can do. Switch your focus to how inspired you feel by your work or your new found motivation to clear out your wardrobe and organise your diary for the week ahead. You can’t get the time back and sitting there beating yourself up sure as hell isn’t going to make you more productive now so just focus on what you can do and how grateful you are that you’re feel back up to speed.

It’s never nice when you feel that low mood or funky feeling start creeping in, espeically if it starts to come out of nowhere. It can really push you into that downward spiral of self-critisim and comparison which is never going to be a constructive place to be. It can feel like it’s never going to end and that a good ol’ self-pity party-for-one is the only way forward but it will get better. Just as quickly as you fell into the funk you can work yourself back out again and it will come, you’ve just got to be a little patient and very nice to yourself (even if that does involve eating your greens).