Catastrophe, Stress & Motivation

Sorry about the missing post on Tuesday, but when I woke up that morning and turned on my computer -- nothing but a blinking cursor. All day. The diagnosis? Catastrophic hard drive failure.

Breathe with me now...

Yes, I had an article due the next day that I needed to work on. Yes, I had JUST saved the final version of my book manuscript the day before. And, yes, when the computer goes down, the emails don't stop.

It was actually an interesting experiment. As the IT guy sat in my office, trying to figure out what was happening, I found myself in the kitchen -- with my hand in the kids' Halloween bags. It was absolutely mindless consumption of chocolate. Because really, what can consuming multiple mini Snickers bars really do for a writer on deadline whose computer has kicked it?

Nothing.

But I was nervous and mad and upset. Instead of punching a wall or doing jumping jacks, I chose to deal with my nervous energy by swallowing it. And that, I think, is very telling. As things get busy and stressful in my life, it's more important than ever that I create a plan for dealing with my feelings -- one that doesn't involve chocolate. Maybe gum will work.

Anyway, that's the story behind the missing post.  As a bonus, here's Melissa with a great tip on getting motivated to exercise.  

The 10 Minute Rule

This is a simple way to get over a big "I don't want to exercise" hurdle. When you just aren't in the mood to exercise, the thought of climbing steps for 40 minutes isn't intriguing or you look at the treadmill and feel your legs go weak...tell yourself you will be happy with 10 minutes of exercise. That's enough time to get your body warmed up, get the blood flowing and to start feeling good. Nine out of 10 times, you'll find some sort of motivation and keep going. Then, you'll feel even better about yourself for going above and beyond. 

Worst case scenario? You really only do 10 minutes and burn off that little candy bar left over from Halloween -- and don't eat the other two that were staring you in the face before the gym. 

Thanks, Melissa, for the motivation!

Comments

[Sagan]

Ten minute rule is so useful.

With reaching for the chocolate- sometimes its just going to happen. The real test is whether it happens EVERY time these kinds of things happen. That's when you know how much progress you've made:)

[Kara from Mama Sweat]

You've reminded me to back up my hard drive! Been there, so I know the feeling. I had irrecoverable damage. It was heartbreaking...

[Dara Chadwick]

You're right, Sagan. That's going to be my new motto: Chocolate happens. But it doesn't happen every time anymore.

I'm glad I inspired you, Kara. My IT guy just installed a little button right on my desktop that I can click to do a system back-up, in addition to a regularly-scheduled weekly back-up. He made it really easy, now I just have to press the button.