5 Things I’ve Been Doing To Get Out Of A Self-Loathing Rut Lately

As a teenager, I was a voracious newspaper reader. Every day, I looked forward to dad bringing home a copy of Saudi Gazette and Arab News. One of the sections I was especially drawn to was the comic strip page.

I sometimes looked up the artists who drew for those publications and tried to produce my own comic strip as well.

I was disappointed to see that all of those artists were ‘old’ and that none of them was a teenager like me. I thought: does it take that long to come up with an idea and have your drawings published?

It’s been over a decade since I first started following those comics. And I’d like to politely ask my teenaged self to not talk about that which she does not understand.

Age is a sneaky little bastard, and it’ll catch up on her too.

I still hadn’t come up with a comic strip idea (or style) that I can work on for the foreseeable future.

I hadn’t even launched any of the new classes or online shops that I’d been working on in the past year either. And frankly, I’d been in an anxious flurry to get my act together and just put work out already.

Now, I’m in the privileged position to say that though I have to dedicate some hours to our family business, my time isn’t currently monopolized by any institution. And since this might not be the case with most folks, feel free to skip the steps that won’t be applicable to you.

1. Use a Pomodoro app

It’s been at least a couple of years since I first heard of the Pomodoro technique. But it sounded too — er — basic to be effective. Well, it is basic. But the older I get, the more I find that the techniques I found to be most helpful sounded boring at first.

So, I downloaded an app from Google’s Playstore and started following the simple instructions: twenty minutes of work, followed by five minutes of rest. Rinse and repeat.

In fact, I’m on a timer while writing this article.

2. Keep a cup of water on the floor by your bedside

One of my biggest problems since graduating from architecture school had been oversleeping.

So, I started taking a large cup of water with me to bed. My city, Addis Ababa, usually has cold nights. So, by the morning, any liquid that’s been placed on the floor gets pretty cold.

Then, my main struggle becomes summoning the will to sit down and chug some of that cold water down. But everything changes after I do that. Immediately, I feel like my insides had been electrified, and my eyelids feel less heavy.

Again, there’s nothing revolutionary about this, but it’s the single most effective morning activity I’d tried so far.

3. Sleep as much as you need to

This may sound contradictory to what I’d just written. But if you drink your water, move around your house a little, try to start some work, and still feel tired, I recommend that you go back to bed for a short nap.

I know that as a new ‘solopreneur’, I can’t just power through my tasks. I’ve been trying to solve problems and building something of value every day.

I’m the only asset I own in my new business — isn’t it wise for a business to keep its one asset in its best shape? I know I have to do everything I do to the best of my ability. And I cannot record an online course, work on my book or make an illustration well when I can barely keep my eyes wide open and my thoughts are everywhere. Some people are better at coming up with great content even when they’re feeling drained.

But I’m not sure I’m one of those people.

4. Keep Your ‘Habit Trigger’ Close

This was one of my main takeaways from James Clear ’s Atomic Habits.

So, lately, I keep my guitar by my bedside. I should’ve always done this. But sometimes, I keep it a few steps away from my bed because I think it looks better by my window. Now, it’s more difficult to sleep without a little practice when the guitar is inches away from my face.

This simple step also makes it easier for me to pick back up my habit and get over any guilt for not having practiced on other days.

5. Prayer

Now, this is a more personal step. But I believe everyone should have something outside of their work that defines who they are.

For me, my identity rests in Christ, and verses like Ephesians 3:18 make me feel loved despite all measures.

I tend to get lost in a spiral of shame and self-loathing when I start attaching my value as a human to the success of whatever side-hustle I start or project I put out. I’m glad to be able to remind myself of my value regardless of how my ventures go though.

So, find something that doesn’t fluctuate, in a world where everything is subject to change — and let your sense of self rest there.

Now, we live in a world where any one of us could have something we make ‘go viral’ overnight, plucking us out of our normal routines and plunging us into a new normal. But most of us will probably have to stick to what we’re doing and tweaking our habits for quite some time before we see any results.

So, I hope you can focus on what’s next without guilt about the past: this chronic procrastinator is rooting for you.