What causes you to feel sluggish?
Unless one has been clinically diagnosed with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) disorder, feelings of sluggishness is typically temporary, characterised by feelings of anxiety, self-doubt, lack of clarity and lack of motivation. When this happens, more often than not, the tendency is to blame oneself as lazy, unproductive or incapable — which in turn causes more harm than help.
Having struggled with occasional sluggishness triggered by anxiety and trying to manage it, here are some tips from my experience on how to manage it:
1. Awareness 💡
Acknowledging the fact that all you are experiencing is a feeling of sluggishness and nothing is majorly wrong with you is the most important first step.
2. Association 🔗
The second step is understanding the trigger to feeling sluggish. This may differ individually but with time it becomes easy to recognise patterns or general themes of what triggers you into the feeling.
For ex. Two triggers associated with my sluggish periods are usually stress induced by high expectations of myself and being at the receiving end of behaviours not aligned with my values.
3. Classification 📥
The next step is to look at whether the outcomes or external factors that have triggered your sluggish feeling are in your control or not. Classify them into either fully controllable, partially controllable or completely uncontrollable.
4. Steerage 🚣♀️
Steer your focus to the parts that are in your control. This could be letting go of the outcomes and focusing on the efforts or understanding that you do not control the behaviour of others but yours.
5. Journaling 📒
Keep a journal of your sluggish days, your triggers and the steps you took to get over them and with time it will start becoming easier and more natural to manage.
If I can do it, you can do it too!
