The Funk.
“How are you?”, asked a mum-friend at school this morning…
“Tired, achy, grumpy and fucked off”, I answered, honestly, for a change…
“Oh!”
She was expecting the usual: Fine. Great. Happy. Energetic. Lively.
Bleurrrgh. I CBA-ed.
The hard thing with this job, is that that’s what people expect from you. All the time.
“You got 15 minutes to find your happy face, Chris.” I think to myself…
We all get funks. We all deal with them differently. But there’s a whole spectrum to bad, good, better, best ways to deal with them.
Which is what this post is about.
Hint: eating all the donuts is on the bad end of the spectrum.
Ways to get your head out of a funk.
#1 Music. This is my go-to. Especially when I need a quick turnaround. I have a playlist of 7 songs which I call my “power” songs. There’s different moods, happy, pumping or really angry, depending on the nature of my funk. They work mostly because I’ve conditioned myself that I will play the song, play it loud, and sing at the top of my voice. And once the song is over, my game face is on.
It works. But if I’m honest it’s a sticky tape fix rather than a long term fix.
#2 Exercise. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. But note I say exercise, not training. It’s on purpose. My training is specific and measured. I’m not really able to ‘lose’ myself in it. Chances are when I train in a funk, I don’t perform well. I’m over critical. And that deepens the funkiness…
So better to work it off first. My go-to is a a kettlebell workout. Swinging heavy stuff in a free-flowing format is a great feeling! Or a circuit session. Just follow the timer. No need to think about it. Also circuits hurt quite badly, which kindof works when I’m in a funk.
#3 Get outside. Again no points for originality here. It’s fairly obvious. But I know that when I’m in a funk, I don’t want to get out. I don’t want to walk the dog. I’d rather lie in bed scrolling Instagram. But I know that doesn’t work. And I know that getting outside does.
Luckily, having a Labrador means that getting outside is non-negotiable.
So get out into nature and work it out. Kick stones. Throw sticks. Run. Lie on the grass. Or simply sit and watch the world go by.
#4 Organise. Sometimes a bad mood is a symptom of something else: feeling overwhelmed, feeling unsafe, feeling out of control. So a way to get this control is to organise something: the garage, my leggings drawer, the cupboard under the stairs. Get it all out. Chuck the rubbish. Put it back again.
It’s therapeutic.
Be careful though, not to start something that’s too big and will cos even more stress and overwhelm. So if you’re ripping a bathroom apart, you’ve probably gone too far.
#5 Make a gratitude list. Grab a piece of paper and some nice Sharpies. Write out 5 things that you’re grateful for. Big or small. Doesn’t matter. May sound a bit woo-woo, but how many times to do you stop to actually take a moment to count your blessings?
#6 Don’t do anything destructive. Accept that right now is not a good time to make any dramatic changes. I’ve written 461 explosive emails that are sitting in my drafts. I’ve had 193 imaginary arguments with everyone in my family and also with complete strangers.
And finally,
#7 Do the time. As much as we would like to be able to simply rub out our mental and emotional struggles, we also need to acknowledge them and deal with them. Sometimes there are real, structural reasons for being in a funk: like relationships issues, money issues, health issues. So the reality is, you’re gonna need to deal with them at some point. Ignoring it won’t make it go away.
Sometimes the reasons behind the funk are less ‘real’: hormones, tiredness, boredom, overwhelm, too much to do, too many people needing things from you…
When this happens, my strategy is to just sit with it. I often embrace it and watch something soppy on TV like Grey’s Anatomy. In the middle of the day. And cry. Because of whatever the latest tragedy that poor Meredith Grey is going through. Then, once I’ve exhausted that, I’m somehow able to pull myself together and sort chipping away at life again!
Sometimes you need to allow yourself to be where you’re at, to feel whatever you wanna feel.
Oh and one final tip: reach out to people. Phone call or coffee with friends or even just a shout out on our fabulous group.
Pretty sure someone there will have something wise or funny to say!
P.S. I’m writing this on the 2 February 2018. I have been in a real funk. Did you notice? Reason is overwhelm: I have a mountain of reviews to do for the guys on the Nutrition programme, and 2 programmes to write for clients. I have loose ends galore on matters such as PTA, the retreat I want to organise and God knows what else is lurking in my inbox. I have an achy glute, still, after 5 days, and I should probably stop ignoring it. Tracey is requiring some blog posts to load up. I have no Grey’s Anatomy episodes to watch. So I decided to write about my funk instead. Which is another way of “doing time with it.” I’ll let you know how it goes…
P.P.S. I’m updating this on 2 July 2023. I’ve been in a real funk for several days now. I think many of you have been aware. I feel less need to hide it these days. It will pass.
