Right Now w/ Joey Garcia (LinkedIn / Twitter)
What I’m Doing – Procrastinating on some wedding planning
What I’m Binging – Fours Weddings, Say Yes to the Dress,
What I’m Cooking – Papas con Espinacas
What I’m Listening to – Latinx Therapy: The Shame & Anxiety Behind Cleaning
It’s been a wild ride at work the past few months. I’ve had major swings in motivation vacillating from feeling good about the work I’m doing to feeling l should quit and leave it all behind.
Heading into a long vacation, I was riding high on the success of a recent project. I had kicked serious butt in making sure that an important infrastructure program was fully-funded and launched. The 3.5 week long vacation was great! I felt like I was the living embodiment of a good work-life balance.
Then I came back to work and there were no fires to put out and no new exciting projects to work on. I fwas doing a lot of catch-up or “busy work”. How do I get out of this slump and get back to my peak? I read Lynn Kelly-Lehner’s timely post about being in a slump and thought there has to be a term for post-project blues. This was not the first time I was in a slump. My motivation and enthusiasm peaks and goes downhill fast.
I contacted one my personal board members and asked how I could get through this slump. He explained that he often had those same feelings. Being retired, he explained it took a long time to understand that our “passion” in public service is sometimes cyclical.
“The more you care, the more it hurts”
The depth of the valleys would vary throughout my career but there was nothing wrong with asking for help to slow the descent or climb back up. When I don’t have the support for a project, it hits me hard; even if I understand the reasoning behind the decision not to proceed with the project. Conversely, when times are good, times are really good!
Make sure you have a support group when you’re in the valley. It’s okay to feel low but it’s not okay to linger without purpose. Take care of yourself and find a couple people who can lend an ear when needed.
Further Reading: