Hello, writers!

Let’s talk mental health. Because mine took a dip this month. Not a debilitating dip, but the kind of dip that makes it hard to find motivation to do things. 

Some six months into pandemic life, and all the other haywire stuff going on, I know there are plenty of other people with similar struggles. So let’s talk about how I’m coping.

I had to scale back a bunch of things I was hoping to do this month. As soon as I realized I wasn’t completing as many items per day, I changed my daily list-making. Instead of “Here’s everything I’d like to do” it became “here’s the handful of things I must do.” 

And even ‘must’ is misleading. I gave myself space to not accomplish everything. In the last couple of weeks if I’ve checked off 2-3 items a day I’ve considered it a win. Very few of those are creative things.

Another thing that’s helped is having a really robust planning system for handling ongoing projects. I follow an adapted version of Sarra Cannon’s HB-90 method. The upshot is that my long-term planning is contained in a space in my planner, my quarterly goals are on my kanban board, each week I have a list, and each day I select from the weekly list. 

When I’m feeling fuzzy-headed or overwhelmed I can look at only the weekly and daily lists, knowing that all the larger-scale issues are safely written down. I’m not going to lose anything. Losing track of things leads to anxiety, so I’m glad I have a means of not ‘forgetting’ even when things aren’t top-of-mind.

The last thing I’m doing to help get me through this dip is to indulge myself as needed. If I need a nap, I take a nap. (Weighted blankets are amazing, btw.) If I’m craving a sugar/carb boost, I need to eat something. And if I need to ask for help, I’m getting better at that. 

If you’ve been feeling crummy, lacking energy, or not been as productive as usual, I’m right there with you. You may think of depression as something that is always severe and obvious--crying jags, can’t get out of bed, self-harm. But depression has different manifestations, and if you continuously feel “low”, you may have Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD), formerly known as dysthemia. 

To be clear, depressive symptoms can be set off by the circumstances you’re experiencing, and everything going on now (pandemic, police brutality, existential elections, shortages, and so on) is definitely challenging. If someone you love dies and you feel terrible for a while, that’s a normal part of grief. If you’re still in a deep funk a year later then something’s gone awry. 

So, is it normal and understandable to be feeling awful right now? Absolutely. And you should do two things: 1) Be gentle with yourself, and 2) Keep a close eye on how long it lasts and how low you go. Keeping a log or journal can be really helpful. If it’s gone on for two months or longer, it’s time to talk to someone.

If you’d like to talk to me about this stuff, just hit reply. I’m no medical professional, but I’m happy to help direct you to the resources you may need or answer questions. 

Starting in September I’ll be talking about preparing for NaNoWriMo (including how to take good care of yourself while you attempt the challenge), how the Monster can be useful for planning, drafting, and revision, and so on. 

Cloudy skies do clear. Take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you in September.



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