13 Sep 6 Tips To Help You Beat The End Of Year Slump

It’s that time of the year, December is inching closer and closer and so are the feelings of demotivation, tiredness and being so over ‘it’. You may have had a few hectic months or given most of this year 100%, so your brain is well and truly ready for the champagne brunches and sleeping in but there’s still so much to do! And trust us, you’re not alone in feeling this way, many of us reach this time of the year and just can’t seem to fight the need for the year to end so we sit back, relax and hopefully encounter that “new year, new me” energy. 

If you’ve been battling the slump, here are 6 practical things you can do to help you fight the fatigue, and hopefully end the year off strong.

Acknowledge your feelings

It might be cliche to say, but to get out of a slump, you have to acknowledge that you’re in one. When you acknowledge and accept that perhaps you haven’t been performing or giving your best, you can plan a way forward. 

Ask yourself the tough questions

Now that you’ve acknowledged that you’re not feeling your best, try to pinpoint what could be causing you to feel this way. Perhaps you’ve taken on too much work or you haven’t been resting enough and find yourself running on empty, whatever it is, it will be a good idea to list the stressors so you can find a way to address them. 

Take it one step at a time

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I always ask myself, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. Translation: When confronted with a seemingly endless to-do list or problem, it’s best to approach the situation a little bit at a time. When looking at your stressors, try small actionable steps that can help you solve the problem. For example, if you find that you’ve taken on too many tasks, look at your time management, how you prioritise work or perhaps delegate tasks if you’re able to do so. Another example could be that you’re not resting enough, to remedy this, schedule some time daily “me time” or clean up your nighttime routine by limiting screen time, using an eye mask to fully block out light or listening to ASMR.

Declutter your space

Cleaning can be extremely therapeutic, so if you find your work area, home or even your mind is cluttered, take some time to get some spring cleaning done. Organise your desk, clean up those old sticky notes or rearrange your space, you’ll be surprised at the motivation a tidy space can bring. 

Reflect on your year so far

Usually, these last few months of the year can bring up feelings of disappointment at the things you haven’t done or goals that didn’t work out but chances are, you did quite a bit this year and you should celebrate that. Spend some time journaling in your brag book (sidenote, if you don’t have a brag book, you should! Get yourself a cute journal completely dedicated to celebrating yourself, it’s really helpful when it comes to reflecting on your wins). Spend time reflecting on your victories (big and small), the challenges you overcame, the new things you tried and all the things you did these past months. You deserve to celebrate yourself. 

Change things up

They say that variety is the spice of life, so a sure way to put some pep in your step is by changing things up a bit. The change doesn’t have to be drastic or involve new goals or challenges, it can be as simple as leaving your desk when you eat lunch, changing up your work environment or buying yourself a new outfit or lipstick colour so you look forward to getting dressed for work or going out. These little changes can breathe new life into your day and hopefully inspire some positive emotions. 

When feeling like you’re stuck, tired, in a slump or uninspired, it’s important that you’re gentle and kind to yourself, even in the moments when you feel frustrated with yourself for not getting things done or being slower than usual. Slumps, fatigue and overall tiredness didn’t happen overnight, so you can’t expect that they will solve themselves overnight, chances are that you’ll need to take it nice and slow with yourself. Work in extra time to focus on yourself and rest, you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to sleep in or enjoy some champagne, you deserve to do those things now. 

Let us know how you plan to fight the end of the year blues and finish off this year strong.