Stick it to Your Next Blah Day
(read time: 2.5 min)
You know that feeling? When nothing seems important? When you just plain have no motivation. It’s not exactly a bad day, because nothing ”bad” has happened. And it’s not some full-on depressive episode. It just feels… blah, like nothing sounds good, even binge-ing your favorite show doesn't snap you out of it.
YOUR BOOST
Make a Blah List today.
Brainstorm 5-10 things that boost your feel-good brain chemical, dopamine. If you aren’t sure what I mean, think about it like this: what are the *little* things that make you feel smiley inside?
Could it be you love walking through a favorite store, saying hi to a neighbor, the feel of a warm beverage in your hand, watching your kid giggle (or watching videos of kids giggling)? Little smiley things that don’t cost money and aren’t based on hedonistic consumption.
THEN, the next time you are feeling blah, do this:
Give yourself time to sit in the slump, but no more than 2-4 hours (if it lasts more than a few days, talk to a doc)
Look the blah in the face and say, “Yes, and.”
Go to your list, pick one item.
Take that teeny action.
And now, read below if you want to know why this works.
THE SCIENCE
Motivation is defined as the energizing boost needed to activate a behavior. Your brain has this split second, but complex, dialogue as it measures whether the action is even worth it: the cost and risk and ultimately, the reward.
And who is in charge here? Dopamine. Otherwise known as the key chemical player in your reward system.
The origin of the dopamine reward system is in an older part of the brain, called the midbrain. Of the many things this area does that is important for motivation is the ability to MAGNIFY rewards. Blah days are what scientists call a motivational deficit. I think of it as the reward system running out of gas. (Note, if you’re like me and have a mood disorder like clinical depression, your reward system runs out of gas more frequently, so you can expect more blah days... that’s just our life!)
So, how to put gas in the tank, when you don’t even want to move off the couch? You need to kickstart your reward system again… do this by taking one action from your Blah List, and then let the midbrain do what it does, magnify the reward! This snowball effect might be all you need for the blah to dissipate so that you can get back to living.
TAKE HOME
You can’t avoid the blah completely, because the brain chemicals that regulate your moods naturally go up and down. So make your Blah List today. With these ideas on hand, your next blah day doesn’t stand a chance against your midbrain reward magnification.
No shame, no guilt, just more good days,
-Nicole