Hatter vs Hatter

[Mike Wazowski]

Oh wow, reading everything you just wrote could've totally been me for most of my last 1-2 years at my last job! I sincerely hope that you're able to find better work OR a sustainable way to give fewer f*cks about the work so that there's more time and mental energy for happiness!

[GoodDoug]

My work motivation has been pretty cyclical. One thing I've been trying to work on is to let the cycles happen. When I'm motivated, I'll get a ton of stuff done... though I have to remind myself to take some breaks. When I am dismotivated, I will accept that and try to do at least one hour of productive work... and then try to not worry about my lack of productivity. If all I can do is focus enough to get through email and answer a few questions on Slack, then that is all I can do. I try to not feel guilty about it and I try to remind myself that everyone goes through this. I will usually make up for it later by being really motivated to get some project done. 

It is really tough, because we are conditioned to feel guilty if we aren't operating at 100% at all times. But cutting yourself some slack, and being okay with a small burst of effort is perfectly fine.

 

Also, if the work isn't inspiring right now, but you don't feel comfortable leaving... you can look at this as an opportunity. An opportunity to look for meaning in what you are doing, an opportunity to look for an area where you might find meaning, an opportunity to take the first steps on whatever adventure is coming next.

 

And lastly, if I read you correctly, you are in a funk. Sometimes we are in a funk and that is okay. At some point you will get out of that funk. Until then, plod along and do what you can to find engagement.

 

Good luck!

[Tobbe]

I'm late to the game here, but regarding work/life separation etc, did you see this video?

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

5 hours ago, Tobbe said:

I'm late to the game here, but regarding work/life separation etc, did you see this video?

 

This video is brilliant and I wish I had seen it sooner. And I've been doing it backwards, it seems. This explains a lot. Thank you for sharing this.

[sylph]

9 hours ago, Tobbe said:

I'm late to the game here, but regarding work/life separation etc, did you see this video?

Oh, I like this VERY much.

[Tobbe]

Hatter!? Still keeping your nose above water?

[RogueLibrarian]

Following! Am I late?

[Jittersthe.Clown]

 

[@mu]

Missing your posts and drawings ❤️

[Mad Hatter]

On 8/19/2020 at 1:23 AM, Mike Wazowski said:

Oh wow, reading everything you just wrote could've totally been me for most of my last 1-2 years at my last job! I sincerely hope that you're able to find better work OR a sustainable way to give fewer f*cks about the work so that there's more time and mental energy for happiness!

Thanks ❤️

 

On 8/20/2020 at 7:44 PM, GoodDoug said:

My work motivation has been pretty cyclical. One thing I've been trying to work on is to let the cycles happen. When I'm motivated, I'll get a ton of stuff done... though I have to remind myself to take some breaks. When I am dismotivated, I will accept that and try to do at least one hour of productive work... and then try to not worry about my lack of productivity. If all I can do is focus enough to get through email and answer a few questions on Slack, then that is all I can do. I try to not feel guilty about it and I try to remind myself that everyone goes through this. I will usually make up for it later by being really motivated to get some project done. 

It is really tough, because we are conditioned to feel guilty if we aren't operating at 100% at all times. But cutting yourself some slack, and being okay with a small burst of effort is perfectly fine.

 

Also, if the work isn't inspiring right now, but you don't feel comfortable leaving... you can look at this as an opportunity. An opportunity to look for meaning in what you are doing, an opportunity to look for an area where you might find meaning, an opportunity to take the first steps on whatever adventure is coming next.

 

And lastly, if I read you correctly, you are in a funk. Sometimes we are in a funk and that is okay. At some point you will get out of that funk. Until then, plod along and do what you can to find engagement.

 

Good luck!

Ha, I don't feel guilty for slacking off in the slightest. 😄I don't get paid enough to care. 😛

 

Thank you. I do hope this is an opportunity, I'm just still in the clueless stuck phase...

 

On 8/25/2020 at 11:55 AM, Tobbe said:

I'm late to the game here, but regarding work/life separation etc, did you see this video?

 

 

I love the spaceship analogy! 

 

But, as is typical for me, as soon as I tried to separate out my spaces I got annoyed because who am I to tell myself I can't have breakfast in bed, why should I not get to move wherever I want, and what if I don't want to sit at my desk to sketch? 😛

 

I really do agree with the idea that the physical is easier to tweak than the mental, and that helping one side helps the other. 

 

On 9/4/2020 at 7:00 PM, RogueLibrarian said:

Following! Am I late?

ROGUE!!!! Awesome to see you! Not any later than I am 😄Does this mean we'll see more of you???

 

On 9/4/2020 at 8:38 PM, Jittersthe.Clown said:

 

And Jitters??! What is this magical day? 🙃

 

On 9/4/2020 at 9:15 PM, @mu said:

Missing your posts and drawings ❤️

Aww thanks - and likewise! 

[Mad Hatter]

Oh look - I made it back just in time for the challenge to finish! 😄

 

You have probably already guessed this was another flop. Motivation has been running very low, which put me off posting. I just don't want to be negative on here. 😕Then again hiding doesn't exactly help either and I've missed the chit chat!

 

I also had a bit of a health scare which threw me for a loop.

 

Spoiler

I sort of collapsed one morning, in a rather unpleasant way. I had a bunch of tests done and the doctor is 99% certain I'm fine and that I simply fainted because of low morning blood pressure. But to rule out the 1% I have to see a neurologist and get my brain scanned in a few months, just in case. 😬

 

Ok that's a gross understatement, it completely FREAKED me out as it made me acutely aware of my own mortality and that I'm aging. On the plus side it automagically snapped me right out of my crappy eating mode. So hey that's a win! 😄

 

I also took the plunge last week and signed up for the new climbing gym near my house! As predicted, it's all very hard, too hard really to be very productive yet and I don't know what I'm doing at all. BUT it has been great to have an excuse to go somewhere in the middle of the day and to get a short walk and some movement in, even if it's just a few strengthy exercises or some stretching. Atm I don't care about what I do, just that I do something! It really does help a lot. The long break makes work a lot more tolerable, and even if I spend fewer hour in front of the laptop, the hours that I do work feel more productive as I have less time to get sad and bored. 

 

I AM however toying with the idea of doing a climbing training experiment. You know, seeing as the gym is in fact a climbing training gym. In the past I've shied away from it because 1) I've always been climbing with other people and it's more fun to climb whatever everyone else is climbing, and 2) it means taking a good hard look at my weight... But for now I just want to bring my base strength and flexibility up, get comfortable in the new gym and make my body feel more like mine again.

 

That's about it for quick news. Life crisis is still very much in full swing haha but my mood is slowly improving. 🙂

 

Oh and I'm going to switch to a battle log tomorrow, because clearly the challenge format doesn't work for me whatever the goals I set. 🤷‍♀️

[KB Girl]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Atm I don't care about what I do, just that I do something! It really does help a lot.

Yes! glad it helps and that it even makes the work day a bit less blah. 

 

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

I also had a bit of a health scare which threw me for a loop.

Yikes.. assuming the checkup comes back all clear we will call this a healthy possibly useful freakout? Sorry you had to deal with it though... does NOT sound fun. 

 

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

I just don't want to be negative on here. 😕

Oh man I feel you. I keep being reminded by all the lovely people here that it's ok to be negative on here, especially if it helps but even if it doesn't. 

[WhiteGhost]

Oh hi, I was wondering where you had disappeared to.  Nice to see you back again

 

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ok that's a gross understatement, it completely FREAKED me out as it made me acutely aware of my own mortality and that I'm aging.

How scary.  I hope it was not the 1% possibility

 

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Oh and I'm going to switch to a battle log tomorrow

Make sure you share the link so we can find you there

[Elastigirl]

Scary! Glad you are alright. The climbing gym sounds fun.

[@mu]

Were you alone when it happened?

 

Great to hear about the new gym routine and that it's working well! maybe that's the little space that you needed to create to get off your mind and counter-balance the work situation. Looking forward to the battle log!

[Scaly Freak]

9 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

But, as is typical for me, as soon as I tried to separate out my spaces I got annoyed because who am I to tell myself I can't have breakfast in bed, why should I not get to move wherever I want, and what if I don't want to sit at my desk to sketch? 😛

 

If not you, then who has the right to tell you that? Who else has more of a vested interest in your own well-being, than you?

 

For the record, I am happy to volunteer for the task of ordering you to take good care of yourself, but I highly recommend you stop and consider the possibility that you are the  one with the most right to tell yourself what to do in order to stay healthy.

 

8 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I also had a bit of a health scare which threw me for a loop.

 

I really hope this was nothing serious! Please let us know. I say "us" because I know I'm not the only one worried.  

 

8 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Oh and I'm going to switch to a battle log tomorrow, because clearly the challenge format doesn't work for me whatever the goals I set. 🤷‍♀️

 

We demand links. Link must happen.

[Harriet]

11 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I also had a bit of a health scare which threw me for a loop.

 

Eeep. It sounds like a scary experience, but it also sounds like it's almost certainly nothing to worry about. I hope waiting for the appointment/results doesn't stress you.

 

11 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I also took the plunge last week and signed up for the new climbing gym near my house! As predicted, it's all very hard, too hard really to be very productive yet and I don't know what I'm doing at all. BUT it has been great to have an excuse to go somewhere in the middle of the day and to get a short walk and some movement in, even if it's just a few strengthy exercises or some stretching. Atm I don't care about what I do, just that I do something! It really does help a lot. The long break makes work a lot more tolerable, and even if I spend fewer hour in front of the laptop, the hours that I do work feel more productive as I have less time to get sad and bored. 

Good, good. Movement is good. Prime the core. 

[RogueLibrarian]

On 9/6/2020 at 2:33 PM, Mad Hatter said:

ROGUE!!!! Awesome to see you! Not any later than I am 😄Does this mean we'll see more of you???

 

Hi babe! I'm going to post in the next challenge and try to bring a friend. ❤️

[Jittersthe.Clown]

On 9/6/2020 at 4:16 PM, KB Girl said:

Oh man I feel you. I keep being reminded by all the lovely people here that it's ok to be negative on here, especially if it helps but even if it doesn't. 

This right here. If it helps to type it out, please do. 

 

 

[raptron]

GLAD YOU ARE OK!!! ❤️❤️❤️

 

And hell yeah, just do the climbing stuff! I've noticed (mostly after a lot of trying to force it and failing) that the activity will shape the body more effectively than when you actively try to shape the body to match the activity. If that makes any sense. 

[Tobbe]

4 hours ago, raptron said:

And hell yeah, just do the climbing stuff! I've noticed (mostly after a lot of trying to force it and failing) that the activity will shape the body more effectively than when you actively try to shape the body to match the activity. If that makes any sense. 

 

💯

It makes a lot of sense, and I absolutely think that's the best way to do it. Our bodies will forever adapt to what we use them for. If we sit in front of the computer all day we'll get a body that's shaped to sit in front of a computer all day... It's an activity that doesn't require much muscle mass, and so the body will get rid of the muscle it doesn't need for that activity. And if you spend your time climbing you'll get a body that's good at climbing.

 

[Mad Hatter]

On 9/7/2020 at 12:16 AM, KB Girl said:

Yikes.. assuming the checkup comes back all clear we will call this a healthy possibly useful freakout? Sorry you had to deal with it though... does NOT sound fun. 

 

Oh man I feel you. I keep being reminded by all the lovely people here that it's ok to be negative on here, especially if it helps but even if it doesn't. 

I hope so!

 

I know that it is, it's just hard to motivate myself to post when all I want myself is to snap out of it and have actual things to report on. And not repeating the same old thing..

 

On 9/7/2020 at 2:43 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Oh hi, I was wondering where you had disappeared to.  Nice to see you back again

 

How scary.  I hope it was not the 1% possibility

 

Make sure you share the link so we can find you there

Thanks!

 

I hope so too, but the MRI is not until November.

 

Of course.  

 

On 9/7/2020 at 4:55 AM, Elastigirl said:

Scary! Glad you are alright. The climbing gym sounds fun.

Thanks. I'm sure it will be fun, once I get a little stronger and get used to making up my own problems. Atm it feels a little discouraging and overwhelming tbh. But baby steps! 

 

On 9/7/2020 at 6:58 AM, @mu said:

Were you alone when it happened?

 

Great to hear about the new gym routine and that it's working well! maybe that's the little space that you needed to create to get off your mind and counter-balance the work situation. Looking forward to the battle log!

Yeah. And I won't lie that thoughts like "how long would it take for people to find me if I got badly hurt?" and "I don't even have cats to eat me" popped into my head.  

 

Maybe. Either counter balance or procrastination.  

 

On 9/7/2020 at 7:19 AM, Scaly Freak said:

If not you, then who has the right to tell you that? Who else has more of a vested interest in your own well-being, than you?

 

For the record, I am happy to volunteer for the task of ordering you to take good care of yourself, but I highly recommend you stop and consider the possibility that you are the  one with the most right to tell yourself what to do in order to stay healthy.

 

 

I really hope this was nothing serious! Please let us know. I say "us" because I know I'm not the only one worried.  

 

 

We demand links. Link must happen.

You have no idea about the extent to which I'm capable of rebelling against myself. And other people. It's really, really annoying. It doesn't even matter if it's about bad things or good things. Case in point, a few weeks back I had a conversation with a friend and we talked about art and he was wondering whether it's become my new passion as I've been so excited about it. What do I then do, if not almost entirely stop... 🤦‍♀️

 

An external volunteer would also backfire terribly, but I do appreciate the offer.

 

Me too. I will. 

 

Soon!

 

On 9/7/2020 at 10:20 AM, Harriet said:

 

Eeep. It sounds like a scary experience, but it also sounds like it's almost certainly nothing to worry about. I hope waiting for the appointment/results doesn't stress you.

 

Good, good. Movement is good. Prime the core. 

I was going to say that it's not stressing me. Buuuuuut after I wrote that I started thinking more about it and that night I had the WORST nightmare, where I was dying in my sleep. Falling back asleep after that turned out to be quite challenging. But generally speaking I'm not worrying too much about it. The only thing is that I'm still a bit paranoid and I'm constantly on the lookout for signs that my body is betraying me. And completely irrationally I'm worried about going upside down. Which makes no sense whatsoever. 🤷‍♀️

 

Indeed!

 

On 9/8/2020 at 4:45 PM, RogueLibrarian said:

Hi babe! I'm going to post in the next challenge and try to bring a friend. ❤️

Can't wait!

 

On 9/8/2020 at 5:17 PM, Jittersthe.Clown said:

This right here. If it helps to type it out, please do. 

 

 

Honestly at this point I'm so stuck in a thought loop it's not really helping. But isolating myself is even less helpful!

 

On 9/8/2020 at 5:46 PM, raptron said:

GLAD YOU ARE OK!!! ❤️❤️❤️

 

And hell yeah, just do the climbing stuff! I've noticed (mostly after a lot of trying to force it and failing) that the activity will shape the body more effectively than when you actively try to shape the body to match the activity. If that makes any sense. 

THANKS!

 

Yes. That makes a lot of sense, thanks for the reminder!!! It's just that I worry about my joints. It's just so much more extra work to haul extra kilos around. It's really noticeable when climbing, much more so than in the other activities I do. But you're right. Climbing more and getting stronger and being able to recover is much more important, especially now when I'm rebuilding strength.

 

23 hours ago, Tobbe said:

 

💯

It makes a lot of sense, and I absolutely think that's the best way to do it. Our bodies will forever adapt to what we use them for. If we sit in front of the computer all day we'll get a body that's shaped to sit in front of a computer all day... It's an activity that doesn't require much muscle mass, and so the body will get rid of the muscle it doesn't need for that activity. And if you spend your time climbing you'll get a body that's good at climbing.

 

Thanks for reiterating that again, I needed to hear it.  

[KB Girl]

6 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

 

I know that it is, it's just hard to motivate myself to post when all I want myself is to snap out of it and have actual things to report on. And not repeating the same old thing.

I feel you.

I actually kinda would like my challenges to read like pure awesome prep work to look back on after I’ve reached all the goals. More of a rocky reel than a “look at all the existential hurdles I’ve overcome” thingy..

[Mad Hatter]

13 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

I feel you.

I actually kinda would like my challenges to read like pure awesome prep work to look back on after I’ve reached all the goals. More of a rocky reel than a “look at all the existential hurdles I’ve overcome” thingy..

Wouldn't that be great.  And it should automatically come with a dope soundtrack.

[Mad Hatter]

As promised.