don’t fight the ebb

Every month I experience a few days that I would qualify as ‘ebbs’ — less-productive-than-usual days where I can’t seem to focus on anything for more than a minute.

My response is usually judgement and defiance.

Judgement that I can’t seem to get the pistons firing in my brain when I need them to. And then there’s the coinciding sense of overwhelm as I reflect on all the things I feel I like I need or should be doing.

And so I try, to no avail, to power through.

I have no idea why my body is like this, all I know is that these ‘ebbs’ invariably occur despite every attempt to avoid them.

Here’s what I’ve learned that I wish I knew long ago:

If you fight the ‘ebb’ by questioning it and trying to power through it, you end up prolonging it — sometimes significantly.

The same thing happens when you’re sleep deprived and you deny the body sleep. Deny it one night, you’ll probably be fine. Deny it any longer than that, and it becomes significantly harder to bounce back.

If you really want to get back on the Progress Horse, learn to surrender to the situation. Accept that your brain isn’t up to the task at that moment and give yourself permission to take a break. Critically, until you learn to accept the situation as a perfectly normal part of your human condition, some underlying part of you is going to feel needlessly guilty about it.

Trying to burn fuel that isn’t there while judging the tank for being empty is as silly and as futile as it sounds.

If the fuel is clearly out, focus on refilling it.