It happens to many of us, even to the best and the brightest.
Sometimes we are at a loss for what to think, say, write or do. This week has been one of those occasions. Often referred to as mental or writer’s block, I’m sure many of you know the feeling.
For someone who has been in government for quite some time, one can get used to a daily routine that approximates the humdrum: Waking up at 5 a.m., readying a cup of coffee for my morning caffeine fix (with cream, no sugar), then, in what has become a habit, sitting down with my cuppa and staring into nothingness.
I let my mind go blank for a couple of minutes, then end with a simple prayer to the Almighty to keep me, my family, and my colleagues safe, capped with a plea to guide me in the decisions I will have to make today. I try to think positive thoughts, for I am a man inclined to see the positive in everyone and, therefore, should exude a positive attitude as well.
Such mundane or monotonous tasks can sometimes shut down the brain’s creative side and force it to go on autopilot.
The alarm has been set at 5:30 a.m. daily for me to shower, an activity that I considered a luxury even back when I was in training at the Drug Enforcement Officers Basic Course of PDEA Academy. We were subjected to regimented schedules that everything was done in a hurry, and taking a shower was a must but had to be over within a rush.
But these days, when I have a little more time to dilly-dally, I am derailed from doing my daily ablutions, caught as I am in the attractions offered by seeing the latest video clips on YouTube or films on Netflix.
Since I believe in the benefits of intermittent fasting, I skip eating a hearty breakfast, supposedly the most important meal of the day, and reserve my first full meal at noon when I have lunch. I stand by my experiences with the intermittent fasting regime, for it has helped me control my weight and lowered my blood sugar level.
Throughout my stint in government service, my work ethic has always been not to be content with how things work but to do even better, and there is no time to be comfortable or sit on your laurels no matter how much you have achieved. It has always been a constant and conscious effort to be a much better person than you were yesterday.
This overriding desire for perfection may have caused the slips made along the way, partly leading to mental blocks every now and then.
Experts attribute this momentary detour or inability to move forward to several factors: decision fatigue, inadequate nutrition, lack of sleep and either too much multi-tasking or it’s opposite — procrastination.
I need to improve at meeting newspaper deadlines. My last recollection of the pressure of deadlines was during my stint in high school as a campus journalist, joining national secondary school press contests. Back then, it was easier to wrack my brain and find a creative spark as memories of an adolescent boy were less cluttered.
Today, I wonder if my writing inspires and motivates people to act and uphold what is right and just. Feeling stuck in emptiness due to bad experiences or convoluted thinking, writing a compelling piece — choosing the right words, the perfect beginning, a striking ending — overwhelms my creativity. To free myself of doubt, I free-write by pouring random thoughts into the notepad of my mobile phone every hour or every day. It is much easier to collect my thoughts this way before I decide on a draft.
Like all problems, there are solutions to loosen mental blocks. Take a breather or time off, even for just a few minutes. Practice meditation if you have yet to try it. It can clear your mind and make you focus on the important, not the clutter. I recommend listening to music — soothing classical masterpieces or dancing to a more vibrant beat. Change your sleeping or eating habits.
Best of all, and the simplest suggestion to get that block out of the way: face your fears, act on them, and set things in motion, maybe not as fast as you want them to be to obtain the best results, but do it.
Then alas, the 7 a.m. alarm sounds yelling at me that it is now time to go fight the smugglers, but that was then. Now, I slowly roll back to bed smiling contently that I would have a full eight-hour sleep and remind myself to remove all alarms in my mobile phone. What a bliss!