Crisis Mode. How To Repair The Damage.
Hi Musers, I’m going to start today’s post with an apology. In fact, I need to start today’s post with an apology. Anyone who has gotten used to the flow here at CMooMuses knows that I post every week on Thursdays and Sundays. Last Sunday though I didn’t. I posted nothing. Zip. Nada. Unlike the previous time I missed a posting I didn’t even have time to stop and apologise to all of you for being absent.
There is no real excuse other than the fact that I was in crisis mode and feeling pretty damn bad. My normal priorities when out the window and I’ll explain why in a bit. So for now just know that’s I’m sorry and I promise that our regular service will resume from now. Following on from that, after several posts lately all about the benefits of taking care of ourselves and nourishing our bodies I think it’s fitting that today is going to be about what happens when we don’t. Spoiler alert! You feel like crap.
Enter Crisis Mode…
It happened to me lately and to be honest I’m still going through it. Let’s start off with a little bit of background. Hopefully you know that I started CMooMuses in August 2020. At that time I had a fairly stable job but it was boring and not particularly well-paid. I was looking for a creative outlet and, hopefully, the chance to reach out and help others. It was scary but I took the plunge, bought a domain and web hosting and got to work. As I’m sure you’ve spotted this blog is still very much a work in progress but I love it. I’m not going anywhere!
Once I realised how much I love writing I started to wonder if I could use it to earn a little money. Not full time. Not tens of thousands. Just a bit extra each month to make paying the bills easier. That’s when I started to explore the world of freelancing. Since then life’s been pretty good. I’ve moved on to a better job which is closer to my skill set and better paid. Even with the extra money I’ve kept working on the side too because I really love it. Recently though I made my first major mistakes.
Firstly, I forgot how exhausting it is to learn a new job, especially when you’re learning remotely. Secondly, I drastically underestimated the amount of time that a job I accepted would take to complete. Thirdly, just to round out the whole mess, I also taken on other jobs for some of my regular clients that I didn’t want to let down. So for about a week I was in nothing but survival mode.
My Survival Mode
I ate. Takeaways, processed food and lots of sugary treats.
I did not sleep enough. Two nights I didn’t get to sleep until 3am and had to wake up at 8 for work
I worked my 8 hours at my full time job then immediately went to work on freelancing. No real breaks except to eat. No down time.
I alternated between feeling tearful and feeling anxious and panicked.
I didn’t exercise, not even a 15 minute walk.
I hadn’t washed my hair in a week.
How did I feel? I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I felt like crap. I’m still not feeling great. It’s dented my confidence in myself. In my ability to plan my workload and write well. I’m sure with time to recover I’ll be able to look back and see all the things I did wrong. I’m a long way from that though, it’s a task for another day. For now, I need to fix the damage I’ve done. To my mind and my body.
How I’m Going To Look After Myself
I’m not going to take on any new freelance work until I recharge my batteries
I’m going to get a minimum of 7 hours sleep per night
Starting this Saturday i’m going to take a walk every day. Being permanently in the house isn’t good for me
I’m going to give myself a break. Nap if I need, cry if I need, ask for hugs from my husband if I need.
I need to thank Mike. He picked up a lot of the slack. I want him to know how much I appreciate him.
I want to eat better. Take notice of the very principles I wrote about these last few weeks. For now I’m going to focus on one meal a day that I prep by hand and pack with nutrients.
I’m going to keep drinking my Berocca. I don’t know if it helps but I enjoy it.
Once I’ve done these things for I while I’m going to see how I feel. If I feel better. Decided what works and what doesn’t and keep refining it until I’m where I need to be. I think we all need to remember how important our own self care is. That pushing ourselves to breaking point is stupid.
How Do You Handle Crisis Mode?
As ever, I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments 👇 when you go into crisis mode now do you handle it? Do you have your own list of never-fails hacks? Or maybe you’re struggling with the balance in your life too. Whatever you have to say I can wait to hear from you.
Love CMoo xx
