There are times in life where you may feel down on your luck. You know the feeling you want to get rid of but you can’t figure out how to get out of it. Your friends and family may tell you to just cheer up but you know it’s not that easy.
These feelings can be very frustrating. Yet, there is a way you can get yourself from the situation and resume your exciting life.
Here are 7 helpful steps to help you get out of feeling stuck in a rut.
1. Journal About Your Feelings
This might not seem beneficial at first but writing about whatever is keeping you stuck in a rut might help you understand the situation better. Try not to give it too much thought. Just get started and let your mind take the lead.
Don’t try to protect your ego or sugarcoat what you’re feeling. This is a chance, to be honest with yourself. For instance, you are probably feeling unhappy right now. Write down “I am feeling sad right now”.
Now that you’ve affirmed how you’re feeling, ask yourself why “why am I feeling unhappy right now?”
It might be anything from your career to your personal life. Just start writing and keep going. Be curious about the things you feel and analyze them.
Keep asking why and soon enough, you’ll know what’s causing your sadness.
2. Come Up With a Plan and Set Goals
By now you’ve been writing in your journal about why you’re stuck in a rut. Now it’s time to start solving the problem by creating a plan based on your negative feelings. The plan must be specific and contain small goals.
Setting smaller goals is best since they’re easy to measure. Big goals may intimidate you in the beginning and cause you to stay in the same spot.
Imagine you just realized that you don’t like your current job anymore and you need to find a better one. That’s a great goal but it’s more attainable when broken into smaller tasks.
Think about it like this:
- Update your resume
- Look for openings
- Send out three applications
- Schedule your first interview
- Get hired in a new firm
This sounds easy and achievable. This will keep you motivated instead of forcing you to stay paralyzed in the thought of the big goal.
3. Accept that It Might Take Time
After deep soul searching to know what’s keeping you stuck in a rut, you might have realized that it’s not something that will take overnight to solve. The negative feelings that you’re experiencing might have been old patterns that you’ve developed for years. These habits are not always easy to change.
That’s why you need to accept that it may take time to get out of this hole. Also, finding long term happiness is a process that you can’t afford to rush.
Create small actionable steps to get you back on your feet. Now do what it takes and move forward one step at a time.
If you have a terrible day and fail to make progress, don’t beat up yourself. You’re human and will encounter a rough road once in a while. Just let it go and try the following day again
4. Try Out CBD Oil
Learning how to use CBD oil to relieve stress might be just what you need. CBD is a natural option that can help in reducing anxiety, SAD or social disorder.
CBD oil does not only help in solving your current situation but also change your first reaction to the anxiety. Brain scans of people using CBD oil show a change in blood flow patterns in the parts of the brain that are associated with stress and anxiety.
5. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep plays a huge part when it comes to your mental health. You might feel okay after sleeping for five hours for three nights in a row. But you might be surprised at how much sleep deprivation side effects last.
There are so many benefits of having enough sleep. It boosts your immune system, physical well being, and increases your productivity. Make it a habit of sleeping 6-8 hours every day.
Come up with a routine that helps you settle in at night to make sure you’re getting sufficient sleep consistently.
6. Spend Time with People You Love
Most people have an inner circle of trusted people. This might be your friends, relatives or spouse. This is a group of individuals who have a positive influence on your life.
When you’re stuck in a rut, it’s essential that you talk to these people. Even though you might feel like spending the whole day watching Netflix, meeting up with friends may help you get back on track.
If you’re very close to them, you can even share your plan of getting back on your feet. This way they can keep you accountable and help you keep going on the bad days. This might be somewhat scary and intimidating but it’s necessary to have your support system assist you.
7. Tidy Up Your Space
If you feel like your house is cluttered and disorganized, this might be contributing to the feelings of being stuck. Spend some time to tidying up your space.
If your laundry basket is overflowing, put a load in. If your desk is full of clutter, go through everything and throw what you don’t need. Consider using the Marie Kondo method to get rid of items that you no longer need that might be taking up too much space.
These Tips Can Help If You’re Stuck in a Rut
Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned and we lose all the motivation to keep going. This is frustrating especially when you’ve got work to do and a family to tend to.
The above tips can help you stop being stuck in a rut. For more tips on dealing with stress and staying productive, visit our blog.