I just finished reading an article on stagnancy http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/5-steps-to-move-out-of-stagnancy-in-life.html. From my own experience I couldn’t agree more with all the suggestions given. I’m one of those cyclic people; I go on a high working tirelessly and then I reach a low point. So now I try to relax a bit more and spent some time doing things other than work.

My one tip for combating stagnancy is to start slowly and let the momentum build. This is especially useful when you are having trouble starting a project; start with something mundane. I have trouble with focusing when reading something very technical, so I start off by writing down what I read. The combined motor action helps me focus more and gets me started. The hardest part to combating stagnancy is getting started. So start off slow and steady.

You know that feeling. Where you’re that close to finishing a project, or achieving a goal, or crossing a task off your to-do list … but you just can’t muster the energy. You’ve lost interest. You’re exhausted. Drained. And you don’t know why. From zenhabits.

I have been burned out several times in my life while working on big projects. There are several trends I see during the times I’ve burned out: it’s a big project where I am the only person working on it, I spend the first couple of months working tirelessly and after a while my interest has dropped. And the article from zenhabits describes it beautifully:

It’s like driving toward a mountain in the distance. You can drive for hours, but the mountain doesn’t seem to get any closer. And spinning your wheels gets real tiring real fast.

And the rest of the article talks about how you should set goals, work less and just enjoy your free time. I find a balance between work and life are extremely important and the article stresses this point and I couldn’t agree more.

I’d just like to add a further point of “How to start working”. Sure we may have all the right requirements in the car to start the engine, inspiration, motivation and anticipation, but we first need to start the car. This is also a problem I usually face. But usually I overcome this by doing some extremely simple/mundane work to get started; writing down stuff/taking notes is usually the best way I get my engine started.

Then just like a snowball rolling down a mountain, it turns to an avalanche. And hopefully it keeps on rolling

So I’ve been in a slump lately, which can be attributed to several factors; lack of sleep, lack of nutrition and lack of exercise. Coincidently, I was watching a documentary last week about sleep on SBS called “Awake is the new sleep”; it documented how lack of sleep can severely affect a person’s lifestyle. It was very intriguing, even though I knew the importance of sleep. An important message that was conveyed in the documentary and also why I brought up the documentary, was that to have a healthy lifestyle we need the three pillars of health which are composed of good nutrition, exercise and sleep. As such I suffered the consequences of having no pillars to support my health.

Today is the first day of the month, a good time to start a new regime. I went grocery shopping tonight and purchased almost 120 dollars worth of groceries. I bought lots of fruits, vegetables and breakfast! I’ve been buying food from the university for almost two weeks now, and besides wasting a lot of money, it has been unhealthy. I have also finished doing some light skipping and weights, and necessary cleaning of the bathroom! And my mind is definitely much more clear and active now. A week ago I would have difficulty writing my blog and just thinking concisely. I should really remember the importance of good health.

I know I can easily lose focus and lose track of things, but for once I would like to keep focused. It has been physically and mentally rewarding, and it is only day one.