32. Pep Talk: Low-Energy Days
Tired of the midday slump? Struggling with finding the motivation to kick-start your mornings or push through low-energy moments?
This week, I’m giving a pep talk designed to equip you with the strategies you need to sail through these challenging periods of low energy. Many of us, especially those in high-demand professions like design, often unrealistically expect to sustain high energy levels all day, every day. However, it's crucial to remember that it's okay to have low-energy days; they're a normal part of life.
Acknowledging these moments of low energy isn't about resigning to fatigue or complaining about it. Instead, it's about learning how to navigate these periods with grace, ease, and effectiveness.
So, whether you're coming off an intense creative session and need some rest or simply experiencing an unexplained dip in energy, tune in to discover effective strategies to manage low-energy days without sacrificing productivity or peace of mind.
If you never want to miss an episode of the podcast, make sure to follow the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you haven’t already, I would appreciate it if you left me a rating and review. As a thank you, I’ll send you a midweek pick-me-up in the mail. Simply screenshot your review and send me a message on Instagram here!
What You’ll Discover from this Episode:
Why it’s impossible to have a consistently high level of energy at all times.
My favorite strategies for navigating low-energy days.
How to tune into the low-energy signs you experience.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
Hey designer, you're listening to episode 32. This is the one where I’m sharing how to navigate those low-energy days.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you're ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you're in the right place. I'm Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let's go.
Hello designer, welcome back to the podcast. As you're listening to this, we're headed into the end of May. I can hardly believe it. My kids have one more full day of school before summer break. And it's really hard to believe, it feels like May has just flown by. And we've got summer break coming up.
The Nanny we hired can't help right away, so it's camp mommy for the next week and a half. And I had a momentary freak out about my schedule adjustments, but reset myself quickly and we have some fun adventures planned along with getting the essentials in my business done. So I'm looking forward to that.
Today I felt inspired to do another pep talk style episode with a focus on when you have those low-energy days. You could also apply what I'm sharing to those afternoon energy slumps, or if you just have a hard time getting going in the morning or another particular time of day that tends to be lower energy.
The first thing I want to talk about with this is just noticing when you're having a low-energy day or moment, or even a week of low energy. Paying attention to yourself goes a long way. And I don't mean wallowing in how tired you are and complaining about it a bunch, but just simply acknowledging your experience. Saying to yourself, hey, I see you're feeling kind of tired, it's okay. That's what happens. Sometimes my energy is just not what I want it to be.
So many of my designer clients I work with expect themselves to have this robotic type of energy where it's just go, go, go, always at a very consistent, high-level pace. And it's just not possible. There's going to be ebbs and flows in our energy.
For me, when I'm feeling low energy, my body feels a little heavier than normal, maybe a little foggy or sleepy. Sometimes this happens because we've had a lot of activities with our family, or I didn't sleep well, or I've been in a really intense creation mode and expecting a high level of output from my brain for an extended period of time and my brain just needs a rest.
And sometimes I have no reason that I'm feeling low energy that I can really identify, I'm just having kind of an off day. I want you to think about what it is for you. What are the signs that you experience? And how can you start to tune into those so that you can support yourself?
I'm going to offer some suggestions as to how to navigate these low-energy days. Use what I'm going to share as a variety platter that you keep in your back pocket and test them out, see what works for you. You might even find that depending on the day, some strategies will be more supportive than others. And this is something you can totally play with.
But know that your energy will ebb and flow. It's not a problem. You can recognize when it happens and also not make it a problem and know that it's not going to stay that way. There's always going to be the ups and downs. So here are some of my best strategies for those low-energy days.
The first one is to just get to work anyway. It's always nice when motivation and inspiration feel readily available to us, but they definitely aren't required. Sometimes we're going to choose to continue to take action even when we're having that low energy.
When you want to make that conscious decision, I like to think about what other energy states could you tap into that would fuel some effective action during your day? This might be something like determination or commitment, perseverance. You don't have to have super high buzzy energy to get work done.
The second strategy I have for you is to let energy rub off on you. This could be listening to your favorite podcast or reading a book for inspiration. I love to get my body moving and do a workout class and then you can just have the instructor tell you how great you're doing. You could call or text a family member, friend or design colleague who always lights you up. Turning on some pump up music or a favorite song and dancing it out is another fun one.
Start to know what your go-tos are when you want to call on that energy rub off. What is going to do it for you? And start to create a little menu for yourself of ways that you can bring up your energy level.
Another strategy is to set your bare minimum. You might not conquer the world today, but that doesn't mean you can't still move the needle. This is where you're going to adjust your expectations and ask yourself what really needs to happen today. Not that mile long list you hoped would get done, or all of those things you think you should do. But what is actually essential for the day? Pick one to two, maybe three things and call it a success for the day.
The last one I want to share is that sometimes it's helpful to just stop the forcing and take a break. Sometimes you just need a break on these low-energy days. And it definitely doesn't even have to be a full day if that feels like, “Whoa, what are you talking about, Desi?” It might be a 10 minute walk around the block that you need to reset, or going and reading a book for a little bit.
A break can look like a lot of different things. And I used to tell myself that I don't have time to take a break, but what I've found consistently, and so have my clients, is that slogging through something will take the same amount of time, probably even longer than if I just gave myself a break and then hopped back in refreshed and ready to go.
You can always remind yourself that these low-energy days are temporary, your energy will always return and sometimes it even returns within the day. You might start out feeling low energy and then you cycle back up. It doesn't have to be an absolute, the whole day doesn't need to be a wash.
This goes back to paying attention to yourself, honoring what those rhythms are, and supporting yourself through them. What I really want you to know is that when you work with your energy, whether it's that high optimal state you want to be at or it's at a slower, lower energy pace, you are going to be more effective and efficient in your work. And I know it feels counterintuitive and you might think you don't have time, just like I did, but I encourage you to try one or more of these strategies and possibly prove yourself wrong.
That's what I have for you today. I'd love to know what you think of this pep talk format. The easiest way to do this is to leave me a rating and review with what you're enjoying about the pep talks and if there's a topic you want to see covered. I read them all and it delights me when I hear from you. As always, next week I'll have a brand new episode for you. And until then, I'm wishing you a beautiful week.
I’m going to make the bold assumption that you enjoyed today’s topic. Let’s make sure you never miss an episode; follow the show now wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you haven’t already, I would really appreciate it if you’d make the time to leave me a rating and review. This is how I know what you’re loving so I can share more of it.
And it’s also how you can help others find The Interior Design Business CEO. As a thank you for leaving a rating and review, I want to send you a little midweek pick-me-up in the mail. Simply screenshot your review and send me a message on Instagram, @DesiCreswell. I’ll talk to you next week. Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you're ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you're in the right place. I'm Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let's go.
Hello designer, welcome back to the podcast. As you're listening to this, we're headed into the end of May. I can hardly believe it. My kids have one more full day of school before summer break. And it's really hard to believe, it feels like May has just flown by. And we've got summer break coming up.
The Nanny we hired can't help right away, so it's camp mommy for the next week and a half. And I had a momentary freak out about my schedule adjustments, but reset myself quickly and we have some fun adventures planned along with getting the essentials in my business done. So I'm looking forward to that.
Today I felt inspired to do another pep talk style episode with a focus on when you have those low-energy days. You could also apply what I'm sharing to those afternoon energy slumps, or if you just have a hard time getting going in the morning or another particular time of day that tends to be lower energy.
The first thing I want to talk about with this is just noticing when you're having a low-energy day or moment, or even a week of low energy. Paying attention to yourself goes a long way. And I don't mean wallowing in how tired you are and complaining about it a bunch, but just simply acknowledging your experience. Saying to yourself, hey, I see you're feeling kind of tired, it's okay. That's what happens. Sometimes my energy is just not what I want it to be.
So many of my designer clients I work with expect themselves to have this robotic type of energy where it's just go, go, go, always at a very consistent, high-level pace. And it's just not possible. There's going to be ebbs and flows in our energy.
For me, when I'm feeling low energy, my body feels a little heavier than normal, maybe a little foggy or sleepy. Sometimes this happens because we've had a lot of activities with our family, or I didn't sleep well, or I've been in a really intense creation mode and expecting a high level of output from my brain for an extended period of time and my brain just needs a rest.
And sometimes I have no reason that I'm feeling low energy that I can really identify, I'm just having kind of an off day. I want you to think about what it is for you. What are the signs that you experience? And how can you start to tune into those so that you can support yourself?
I'm going to offer some suggestions as to how to navigate these low-energy days. Use what I'm going to share as a variety platter that you keep in your back pocket and test them out, see what works for you. You might even find that depending on the day, some strategies will be more supportive than others. And this is something you can totally play with.
But know that your energy will ebb and flow. It's not a problem. You can recognize when it happens and also not make it a problem and know that it's not going to stay that way. There's always going to be the ups and downs. So here are some of my best strategies for those low-energy days.
The first one is to just get to work anyway. It's always nice when motivation and inspiration feel readily available to us, but they definitely aren't required. Sometimes we're going to choose to continue to take action even when we're having that low energy.
When you want to make that conscious decision, I like to think about what other energy states could you tap into that would fuel some effective action during your day? This might be something like determination or commitment, perseverance. You don't have to have super high buzzy energy to get work done.
The second strategy I have for you is to let energy rub off on you. This could be listening to your favorite podcast or reading a book for inspiration. I love to get my body moving and do a workout class and then you can just have the instructor tell you how great you're doing. You could call or text a family member, friend or design colleague who always lights you up. Turning on some pump up music or a favorite song and dancing it out is another fun one.
Start to know what your go-tos are when you want to call on that energy rub off. What is going to do it for you? And start to create a little menu for yourself of ways that you can bring up your energy level.
Another strategy is to set your bare minimum. You might not conquer the world today, but that doesn't mean you can't still move the needle. This is where you're going to adjust your expectations and ask yourself what really needs to happen today. Not that mile long list you hoped would get done, or all of those things you think you should do. But what is actually essential for the day? Pick one to two, maybe three things and call it a success for the day.
The last one I want to share is that sometimes it's helpful to just stop the forcing and take a break. Sometimes you just need a break on these low-energy days. And it definitely doesn't even have to be a full day if that feels like, “Whoa, what are you talking about, Desi?” It might be a 10 minute walk around the block that you need to reset, or going and reading a book for a little bit.
A break can look like a lot of different things. And I used to tell myself that I don't have time to take a break, but what I've found consistently, and so have my clients, is that slogging through something will take the same amount of time, probably even longer than if I just gave myself a break and then hopped back in refreshed and ready to go.
You can always remind yourself that these low-energy days are temporary, your energy will always return and sometimes it even returns within the day. You might start out feeling low energy and then you cycle back up. It doesn't have to be an absolute, the whole day doesn't need to be a wash.
This goes back to paying attention to yourself, honoring what those rhythms are, and supporting yourself through them. What I really want you to know is that when you work with your energy, whether it's that high optimal state you want to be at or it's at a slower, lower energy pace, you are going to be more effective and efficient in your work. And I know it feels counterintuitive and you might think you don't have time, just like I did, but I encourage you to try one or more of these strategies and possibly prove yourself wrong.
That's what I have for you today. I'd love to know what you think of this pep talk format. The easiest way to do this is to leave me a rating and review with what you're enjoying about the pep talks and if there's a topic you want to see covered. I read them all and it delights me when I hear from you. As always, next week I'll have a brand new episode for you. And until then, I'm wishing you a beautiful week.
I’m going to make the bold assumption that you enjoyed today’s topic. Let’s make sure you never miss an episode; follow the show now wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you haven’t already, I would really appreciate it if you’d make the time to leave me a rating and review. This is how I know what you’re loving so I can share more of it.
And it’s also how you can help others find The Interior Design Business CEO. As a thank you for leaving a rating and review, I want to send you a little midweek pick-me-up in the mail. Simply screenshot your review and send me a message on Instagram, @DesiCreswell. I’ll talk to you next week. Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
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