It’s Time to Get Out of Survival Mode and Into Success Mode - Here’s How

It’s been a rough two years. It seems like it has dragged on for so long and the me who was productive and quick to get work done prior to the pandemic is lost. I remember her and can still see her sitting at her desk and typing out 12,000 words a day without a problem. As the first lockdown hit, so did the need to switch into survival mode. Even though things have gone back to normal in many ways, that sense that I need to fight for survival is still there and it’s not a good thing.

Symptoms of Survival Mode in Your Writing

It’s quite possible that you might not even be aware that you’ve shifted into survival mode or that you’re still there. You could quite possibly be attributing your lack of concentration or focus on being lazy. Thinking you’re not good enough or that you’re lazy is only going to lead you to be more stressed. And, if you’re anything like me, when there’s too much stress, I shut down and avoid it. 

Here are some symptoms in your writing that could mean you’re still in survival mode

• You have no focus. You’re motivated and driven, yet when you sit down to write, your mind gets foggy and you find it hard to concentrate. 

• You get anxious and your heart beats faster when you’re trying to concentrate. It can be scary to feel anxiety when before you were so level-headed and calm. This feeling of anxiety is the survival mode kicking in telling you you’re in danger and to “run!”. 

• Your memory isn’t like it was. You find yourself forgetting simple things you had memorized before the pandemic. 

• You’re tired more often than not. You can feel the fatigue in both your body and your mind. 

• You no longer want to take part in the social events and activities you loved. You would define yourself as extroverted before and now you prefer to be isolated.

• You react emotionally to things differently than you used to. You might get angry at small triggers, sad over things that shouldn’t make you sad, and more. 

• You’re distracting yourself by overindulging in other areas of your life. Instead of writing and the anxious feeling and fog that comes with it, I spend more money on things I don’t need, overeat, and even overindulge in Netflix and other streaming services.

As noted above, if you’ve started to give a negative connotation to the feeling you get when writing, you’re going to instinctively try to avoid it. And, the more you avoid it, the more it piles up and the more stress it’s going to add when you do sit down to write. 

What can you do to get yourself out of survival mode as a writer?

The phrase “this is the new normal” has been used excessively over the past several months. It’s important to remember that being in survival mode is not the new normal. This isn’t the new you and you can get back to the person you were before the pandemic happened. 

• Be kind to yourself.
  Thinking that you’re doing something wrong or allowing others to tell you to work harder is going to put more stress onto you. As long as you’re being kind to yourself and telling yourself that this is going to go away, it will. Acceptance of this “new normal” is going to allow it to drag on mentally.

• Get up and move.
  You might not be able to sit and write for extended periods of time like you used to. Try writing in spurts. Sit down for 15 minutes and focus on one thing at a time. Once the time is up, get up and go for a walk. Come back in 15 minutes and try again. Once this becomes too easy for you, you’ll notice that half an hour and then an hour has gone by and you didn’t think about getting up.

• Get out of the house.
  We’ve gotten used to being cooped up inside. If you’re a freelance writer or working from home, having so many distractions and memories of the time you weren’t allowed to leave will keep you from getting back to your usual self. Try renting an office space or taking part in a coworking community (I do!). It’s legit night and day for me.

• Surround yourself with a support network.
  This is where the coworking space comes in handy. Everyone is in the same boat as you. Being able to speak with people about your experiences is a huge asset. People will give you their own tips for bouncing back and you’ll have someone or a group of people who have your back.

• Meditate and ground yourself.
  This was something I liked to do for fun before the pandemic but really embraced over the last year. Taking even 5 minutes out of your day to breathe and reflect can have a huge positive impact on your life. If you’re sitting at your desk and can’t shake that anxious feeling from bubbling up inside, try the following grounding technique:
  Close your eyes and take deep breaths for a minute. Breathe in through your nose until you can’t anymore (don’t force it). Let your belly expand as you breathe in. Hold it for 5 seconds and then breathe out, allowing your belly to fall back into place. Every time an anxious thought tries to creep in while you’re breathing, imagine you are pushing it away with a clear, white light. If it comes back, just push it away again.
  Open your eyes and take a look around.
  Point out three things you’re sure of. It can be your window, your bookshelf, or the picture of your partner on the wall.
  Now point out two things you can hear. For me, one of those things is always my racing thoughts, so I take the opportunity to listen outside myself to the squirrel digging in the tree outside my window or the cars passing outside.
  Use your senses to ground yourself and take as long as you need until you find your mind has cleared and that anxious feeling is gone.

• Stick to a schedule that might be different than before.
  There is an end in sight and it’s closer than you think. If you keep thinking that the end is far off or will never happen, your mindset will drag you down and that anxious feeling will continue to bubble up. I used to work into the night writing but now I have given myself my evenings to recuperate. I focus on another activity that I love, like reading or painting. I will even pretend that the pandemic is done and gone and that I’m the same person with an abundance of ambition. I let myself go to bed like this so that when I wake up, that calm feeling is still there (usually).
  
  I keep myself set on a schedule. I wake up at the same time every day, I give myself a good breakfast, always go to the office, and give myself time to spend with the people I love.