Ever have one of those days where you just feel horrible? You’re sick, unproductive, sad for no reason, guilty, and maybe you’ve even slipped to the point of not caring about your basic needs like food.
Because screw everything I just want to go under a blanket and not deal with the world right now.
But what if you can’t afford to remain in this rut? It’s not a fun place to be, it’s not comfortable, and wallowing in it is certainly not helping you be happy and productive.
This is where I’m in right now. I’ll be a guinea pig and run this checklist on myself as an example. Maybe it’ll help you too, at some point.
Step 1: Basic needs first.
Anyone who’s known me for any length of time knows I have an issue with food. I don’t eat very much, and generally consider food and eating to be an unfortunate, if necessary, waste of time. So I don’t eat unless I make myself. I also get nauseous the longer I don’t eat, and everyone know nausea = lack of appetite, so forcing myself to eat becomes harder and harder the longer I don’t eat. Not a good combination. For me it’s an everyday struggle, really.
So, basic needs first. Figure out what yours is right now. My most pressing basic need is that damn food. I’m also very sleepy because I’m sick, so might as well get some coffee too.
At this point, you need to apply discipline. Get up. Just do it. Get up and go to the bathroom, get food, get a drink, stick your head into the cold outside – whatever your most pressing basic need is.
Then come back.
I just reached over to take a sip of my coffee – and, damn it, spilled half the cup all over my table! First instinct – an angry outburst of swear words followed by a mental beating of the “why can’t you do anything right” and “today’s just not my day” variety.
Don’t fall into the trap!
We’re in a bad enough place right now already. Breathe, focus, dissipate the anger.
As I was cleaning up the spill, my curious cat wondered over and licked at the coffee spot. My cat is cute, and my cat hyper on coffee is… an entertaining thought, so it was easy to snap out of the anger.
“But I don’t have a cat that is curious about coffee”, you say. Think of something stupid and funny instead, like a unicorn jumping over a giant flower in a sun-filled meadow.
I’m not much of a law-of-attraction kind of girl, but karma is real, tested, and continues to prove its existence to me on a daily basis. Reacting negatively to something small and bad that happens often causes something else small and bad to happen immediately after. Spilled coffee and are mad about it? Get ready to burn your tongue on that pizza you just warmed up.
And just as I got back into the frustrated state so that I could describe it to you, lo and behold, I reached out to take another sip of coffee and – of course – spill the rest of that damn cup.
A few deep breaths later, I went to clean up the spill – again – and called my cat over cause he helped last time. He wasn’t interested in the coffee this time, probably for good reason, coffee is bad for cats and the two licks from before is probably the extent that’s safe for him. But hey, helped the frustration dissipate.
Unicorns, people.
I’ve gone and made another cup of coffee, this time in a giant, immovable cup that’s not going to be knocked over as easily. I win, coffee.
Step 2: What is your most-pressing feeling? Address it.
By now you should have your basic needs taken care of. Your bladder’s empty, you’re not hungry, not screaming for water, and hopefully just a little bit less miserable. I’ve got some food in me (half a pizza slice… good enough for lunch), and sufficiently woken up from the few sips of coffee and the running around cleaning up the rest of it.
What else are you feeling? What’s the most nagging thing? Is it the guilt that you’re not doing something productive for your game, or work, or school? Is it the overwhelm of too much to do, and the frustration of not knowing where to start? Is it the overall feeling of being lost and aimless, not feeling that anything is worth putting your time and energy into?
It may be all or none or something else entirely, but find your most prevalent one. The one that, when you think about it, makes you feel the worst. For me, it’s the guilt.
Now think of one thing that could help you not feel this feeling.
If you’re guilty from not doing anything productive, find one thing that you can do quickly that will be productive.
If you’re overwhelmed, write down, and then sort, all the tasks that must be worked on today. Things that have a hard deadline.
If you’re lost and aimless, write down all the things you could possibly be putting your time into right now. Maybe its working on the design doc for your game, searching for an artist, sitting down to make a paper prototype, etc etc etc.
Go and do it now.
While I go do my one productive thing that’ll help alleviate my guilt.
Step 3: What’s your next most-nagging feeling?
By now, you should be feeling much better. I know I am. The momentum has begun to build – not only are your basic needs satisfied, but you’ve dealt with the worst feeling you had as well.
Time for another round of introspection – what else is bothering you, of anything? It’s important to address one feeling before figuring out which other one to address next – because feelings are finicky, and working around them means you fix them indirectly.
There are people out there who can say “I choose to feel happy” and then they just do it, without having to use tricks or strategies to create that feeling indirectly. My boyfriend is one of them. There are also people who are so disciplined that they always do what they have to do when they have to do it, no questions asked and no excuses given. My programmer is one of them.
I admire them, but if you’re like me, and not quite as super-human as that, the knowledge of how to indirectly affect your feelings is very valuable indeed.
So we’ve addressed the worst feeling – and now, you’ve either caught the momentum ball, or something else has surfaced as the nagging annoying feeling.
Now that I’ve dealt with my guilt, I feel much better, but also a little bit lost because I’m not quite sure what to work on next. I try to make plans, but they’re usually only effective for the day they’ve been made, and my most recent plan is at least a few days old.
So, my next step is logical – make a plan. Write down all the things that need to be done.
Figure out what your next step is, and execute.
Step 4: Rinse, Repeat, Celebrate, and Press On!
You just dealt with another nagging bad feeling, hooray!
Analyze your feelings – is there still something nagging? Or are you energized, ready to go and be productive and do the next thing? If not, go back to step 3 and deal with your next most-pressing feeling. Attack it. Attack them all, in order, until you win and only good feelings remain.
I just made my plan and ordered it in order of the things to do next. I’m feeling pretty good about that. There is no more guilt, there is no more confusion about what to do next, and I’ve caught the momentum ball, which means after I’m done writing this, I’m going to reward myself and celebrate getting out from my depressing rut this morning!
Rewards are important – so long as you don’t reward yourself with a nice long session of 9gag or cat videos on youtube – the momentum you worked so hard for will evaporate and you’ll slide right back down.
So I’m going to reward myself by publishing this post right now instead of scheduling it for later, and I’m going to get a candy and some tea.
Then, I’m going continue working on the plan of things I just made. 
Did this post help you? Did you get stuck anywhere? Let me know in the comments.
You may also want to bookmark it so you can have it handy next time you find yourself stuck in a rut.