What To Do When You Feel Stuck

We all get stuck. You know what what it’s like to feel stuck. Life’s busy. Too much to do. Thoughts swirling around in your head. Not sure how to move forward. What do you do in this situation?

stuck

I recently thought about it this way. I asked myself “Why do I feel so stuck?” I had just finished facilitating a leadership conference, a coaching seminar, teaching English classes, hosting multiple guests, and found myself fatigued.

1) Clean and Organize

Clutter confuses us, it communicates disorder, and it increases stress. It makes us feel stuck.

My wife is an organizational expert. I called in the reinforcements to help. She led the charge.

I got excited. I took her advice (finally). Within hours, my office morphed from disorder to order. Simply seeking advice and acting on it enabled me to removed a cluttered desk as an obstacle which cleared my thinking and made my work more effective.

2) Make a Could-Should-Must List

When I get behind or “feel stuck” one of the best things is to create a Could-Should-Must list (see earlier blog post titled “Could-Should-Must: A Productivity Tool“). After clearing my desk, I took 5 minutes to type in everything I needed to get done. I felt refreshed that only 30-40 % needed to get done that day and started checking them off.

3) Exercise

We as humans normally have a creative boost mentally when we exercise physically. When I exercise, my brain still functions but it functions differently. I begin to have ideas, I see life through a different lens, and what was unmanageable becomes more manageable. Aside from “being healthy” physically, what benefit would exercise have on your performance at work?

4) Rest 

We all need rest. When we get “stuck”, we are often simply tired and in need of rest. My recent blog post on “Why We Must Rest” focused on the effects of rest. For you, this may mean sleeping. For others, this may mean reading a book. You know what you need.

It’s time to get out of the rut your in (perhaps that’s why you’re reading this post). Pick one or more of the ideas above and get into action.

Which tips proved most helpful to you? What ideas do you have for others who “feel stuck”?