By Lynne Wester
If you’re like me, at times you wander through this pandemic, 8 months long at the time of this blog wondering how to feel some days. We are experiencing life like never before.
Angie Joens and I recently hosted a webinar on recapturing your mojo during the pandemic. One of the key things we did was allow time for each and every attendee to vent, to yell out in the chat what’s bugging them, releasing some pent up negativity. Sometimes just venting it out in a safe space is all someone needs. Other times, people need more! Here are some of the salient points from our webinar that hopefully will help you locate your mojo too:
We suggest that as you waver through the four stages of disaster fatigue below:
Stage 1 – Rally Phase
Stage 2 – Disillusionment phase (loss of hope)
Stage 3 – Retaliation phase (anger and striking out)
Stage 4 – Coping phase (accepted and adapted)
You instead create a fifth phase- Resilience and Perseverance – we need to do more than cope. We need to stay in the fight! Our causes need us and we are stronger than we realize. Yes, its ok to have times when it is hard to cope, but in order to maintain and regain our mojo, we need to live in stage 5!
Here are some practical tips for stage 5:
Start with one small win. When you let yourself think you'll never be able to win again, you're setting yourself up for the very failure you fear. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when you're trying to reverse your mindset, so try focusing on doing small things well.
Focus on your mission, not your obligations. What's the motivation, the drive, the passion, behind everything you're doing? We do great work for people that need us— never lose sight of why you do what you do!
Get unstuck by shifting your perspective. Move your desk, change views, work outside, work from a different room, swap houses with someone, or just take a fresh look at your current environment!
Stay far from negativity. There’s two types of people in the world. Tiggers and Eeyores. Be a Tigger, surround yourself with Tiggers and when you’re having an Eeyore day, be someone else’s Tigger—it will help! Avoid Eeyores at all cost!
Mind what you say to yourself. Be as kind and compassionate to yourself as you are others.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. Whether it’s a walk with a friend, petting a dog, reaching out to a professional or just asking for a break, do it and do it without guilt!
So these are all the professional good for you tips, but I also have some silly ones that keep me going—so here they are:
Have fidget cubes, playful putty or something at your desk to “play” with
Have at least one day a week without on screen video time (or one a month)
Listen to music that makes you happy—for me its Disney music-—hard to be mad when Hakuna Mutata is playing
Incorporate play into your meetings, whether its bingo, trying to get someone to say something silly, hiding objects in your background, or silly dress up—try it! Try crowdpurr.com, its so fun!
If you can, invest in some office supplies you love. Fun sticky notes, great pens, ect. anything to surround with joy
Try to get a view you love—I face my view, beautiful Lady Bird Lake—if you face a wall, may I suggest kid art, photos of puppies or baby anything like otters or sloths or anything that brings a smile!
Have you tried an app? I like CALM, and Angie discovered this great app-Covid Coach- check it out!
What are you doing to get your mojo back? I would love to hear your thoughts!
