I’ve recently been going through a bit of a slump in my life. There’s been no real reason for this. I’ve not had a life changing experience that has left me feeling shattered; I’ve just been struggling to find the energy to do stuff. I suppose thinking about it now it started when I came back from my holiday in Spain around 4 weeks ago. I’d spent 10 days not really doing much and just relaxing by the pool. My problem, I think, began when I got back and I stayed in the same relaxed manner. I started sleeping in later and later in the mornings, which led to me going to bed later and later each evening. I found myself watching more and more TV and less time writing or reading. Before I knew what had happened I was becoming irritable and stressed out. I was only during this last week that I noticed what was happening and what had gone wrong and only today have I decided that I need to make some changes in ordered to haul myself out of this hole I am in.

Now there are many of ways to bring you out of a slump but here are the things that I am doing and that I know have worked for me in the past.

1) Get some fresh air.

I can be a nightmare for just sitting in my ‘nerd cave’ and busying myself on my computers on a normal day. However, this can become increasingly more common when I’m in a slump. For me one of the best things I can do is go outside. Fresh air wakes up my senses and can really lift me out of a slump. Either going for a walk or just doing some chores in the garden can sometimes be enough.

2) Drink more water.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I drink way too much Red Bull than is good for me but hey its my only vice. One thing I do find though when I’m in a bit of a slump is that my average daily water intake goes down and when you add that to my daily Red Bull intake you can see why it becomes a problem. Its take a fair amount of me reminding myself to drink more to begin with but after a few days my brain kicks in and remembers what it should be doing and I find myself drinking more during the day.

3) Get organised.

When I’m in a slump I find that I become disorganised with everything in my work life balance. The way I remedy that is to take more notes. When everything is good and I’m buzzing I take down a lot of notes but when I’m in a slump I forget to write things down and then forget about them all together. Its best to try and keep your notes together; personally I use a small plain paged Moleskine.

4) Get an early night.

One of the tail tail signs that I’m in a slump is that I stay up later and later into the night. This then means that I sleep in later and later in the morning and then, because I can’t get enough sleep, I’m tired all day. The best thing then for me to do when I’m feeling like I’m in a slump is to get an early night and then get up early in the morning. My usually wake up time is 6am on a normal day so I normally go to sleep around 10pm but recently I’ve been going to bed at 1am and waking up exhausted around 8am.

5) Spend time with the ones you love.

Nothing lifts my mood more, when I’m in a slump, then playing with my daughter or sitting talking to my wife. When I’m feeling good this is something I do all the time and it makes me feel great but when I’m in a slump I tend not to do it, so there’s nothing better for me than some family time.

6) Read and Write.

I also find that when I’m in a slump I stop reading books and stop writing for my blog and for my own book. I suppose this comes from a lack of motivation and energy, but I do find that these creative parts of my life cease to happen when I’m down. That’s one of the reasons that I’m writing this. I know that when I startreading and writing again my creative juices start to flow and I’m suddenly lifted out of my slump.

7) Help someone.

Finally, a good thing for me to do when I think I’m in a slump is to help someone. Not to gain anything by the end of it but simply to make things better for someone who needs my help. Acts of Kindness are a great way of helping people and they can really lift your spirits knowing that you have truly helped someone.

What do you do to lift your mood?

Peace

Photo by Sarah Azavezza.’s

If you’d like to subscribe to TheNewHorizonsProject.co.uk then you can do so by RSS or email, just simply click the Subscribe link on the side of the screen and follow the instructions.

ShareThis

1)   Spinvox – Voice Powered Text

This is a great hack I came across a while ago when I was off ill from work. The idea is simple. Your voicemail messages are converted to text format by a ‘super’ computer and then sent to you as a text message or email. Genius! This has been brilliant for me. As some who speaks in front of young people all day long it can be hard to make contact with people during the working day, especially if I have to leave them a voicemail message for them to respond to. In the past people would call me and leave a voice message. The fact that they had called would be evident by my phone showing that I had missed their call but it could sometimes be 2 hours before I found out what they wanted. And we all know what it’s like when you have a really important phone call that you’re waiting for that you miss but can’t dial your voice mail because you’re in a meeting or something. Nightmare! Well Spinvox solves that problem.

By paying a small subscription fee, you can have your voice messages converted to text messages that are then instantly sent to your phone for you to read, so if your in a noisy restaurant or in a meeting and can’t dial out to your voicemail you can simply now read a text. The really amazing thing is the Spinvox computer can cope nearly every word and name you throw at it. It’s amazing! You can check it out here www.spinvox.com. You can even call Spinvox to post blogs or memos! How amazing is that?! Its available in the UK and the USA as well as a whole host of other countries around the world.

2) Deskspace – 3D Virtual Desktop

I actually came across this little beauty today! I’ve always been a fan of the Mac and Linux spinning desktop globes that feature on some of the operating systems but being a windows user I have never been able to replicate it. Deskspace enables me to run 6 virtual desktops on one screen that I can interchange between with the click of my mouse. So now rather than have lots on windows running on my desktop and can place them strategically across my 6 desktop. For example, I am (as I type this) run Word on one of my desktops, Firefox and Outlook on another, MSN and Skype on another, and iTunes on another. There are even 2 I’m not using right now! Brilliant! Its keeps my desktop tidy and uncluttered. I am even able to cut and paste things wherever I want across my 4 active desktops with no hassle at all.

You can download a free trial of this at http://www.otakusoftware.com/deskspace/

ShareThis

One of the things that I’ve been considering over the past few weeks’ concerns something I read around six months ago and it was regarding principles. I actually read it on a blog but I can’t remember which one I’m afraid and rather than guessing and possibly offending someone I won’t state which blog I think it is. Needless to say it was very good and in discussing the idea of developing your own principles it set me on to the road to considering my own principles that I would live my life by.

I’ve written in the past about Bushido and the Way of the Warrior. Those of you with really good memories will also remember that I did say that I try to stay true to the ideas of Bushido and that still is true today however recently I been thinking about expanding my principles and even develop a code, if you will, which to live my life by.

Why?

Before I set out my principles and explain why I have chosen them, I’d like to say why I feel that setting out your principles is a good thing. When you have principles that you set out you have a frame work to live by and work by. Ask anyone who follows a religion and they may tell you that they follow the principles or codes of conduct set out by there religion. Some may tell you that even though they follow a certain religion that they don’t follow closely that which is set out by the belief system.

Many people go through life unable to confront situations because they are unsure how to approach it. They have little or no idea of what they stand for and how they want to live. By setting out principles or codes of conduct that they can live by they can begin to face challenges head on because the have a framework within which to work in. Simply, if you know what you principles are you can begin to live your life in an ethical and moral way that will be both productive for you and for society as well.

My Principles:

I have spent some time thinking these through over the past few weeks and it is these that I begun to follow and use as a structure to my life. They are taken from many different codes, tenets and principles that I have come across in the past few weeks and years. I would like to say that I am not perfect and that I am not always able to stay within my framework but the principles I list below are what I try to live by each day.

1. Serve others

I do firmly believe that for me to be happy I need to put others before myself and ensure that their needs are met before mine. I try to always to put others before myself.

2. Discipline

This is hard one for me but because of that fact I try really hard every day to stay disciplined with many different areas in my life. These include, exercise, food, mediation as well as many more.

3. I don’t play with crap

I came across this idea recently on youtube from Humble Sensei. If you’re into your martial arts he’s got some great videos to check out. If you’re not a martial arts fan check him out any because he’s got some great philosophies. In a recently video he talked about letting go of past attachments as they do you no good and he liken them to picking up dog crap that you see on the street. You wouldn’t do it because it’s dirty so you don’t do it, you don’t play with it and you don’t carry it with you. Watch the video here Philosophy on Let it Go

4. Gratitude

I try to be grateful every day for all of the good things I have in my life and try to take some time each day to remember the great things I experience everyday. Doing so puts a smile on my face and lightens any mood that I am in.

5. Back to basics

It’s not easy sometimes with everything that goes on in our lives to live simply and just concentrate on the basic, like spending time with our families, reading, being in nature, sitting, etc. All too often we miss out on these simple things, wishing rather than to go here or there, check emails, watch TV, or go shopping. With this in mind I try hard everyday to get back to basics, sometimes this is harder than usual depending on what I have to do that day but that doesn’t stop me trying.

I’m not saying I’m perfect a following these principles I have set for myself but I try, everyday and in everyway. If you find that you are often unsure how to approach situations or you question your reactions to things, then why not sit down and work out what your principles are.

Peace

Photo by flyzipper

If you’d like to subscribe to TheNewHorizonsProject.co.uk then you can do so by RSS or email, just simply click the Subscribe link on the side of the screen and follow the instructions.