Framing and reframing

Vacation has been great for clearing my mind and feeling better. Sometime just before we went out of town I saw some metric that asked about energy level and mood level, and it felt like kind of a revelation that those were separate dimensions -- oh, just because I feel tired does not mean I can't feel happy, and just because I'm in a bad mood does not have to mean I can't get work done. I had been tying together mood, energy level and productivity together in a death spiral where all three were rock bottom.

So, since I've been back, I've been able to keep these metrics separate in my mind, and that has actually helped them all improve. I might be tired, but that does not mean I have to feel sad. I can poke at some work, or not, until I feel more lively, which happens inevitably, particularly if I don't get discouraged or anxious. I've also been using the end of the day more productively (and generally staying until 6), because I realized I actually do tend to perk up in late afternoon (circadian rhythms), and if I don't give up when I feel crummy in the earlier afternoon, I can actually make use of that time.