3 Ways to Get Your Mojo Back by Jill Gambaro

“I’m not feeling it,” Michael Jackson says from the stage in This Is It. He can’t hear through his mic, the tempo of the music's off and he just can’t move the way he wants. Never have I seen a clearer demonstration of when you attempt to tackle a difficult task and its just not working. Or when you face a long, daunting one. How do you go on?

There came a time, months after being placed on disability for carpal tunnel syndrome, that I realized my recovery could take years. Many times I’d experience a setback and feel like I just couldn’t go on anymore.  My experience as a writer gave me something to draw on. There are times when I just can’t come up with an idea when facing a deadline. I’ve certainly seen the same problem in my crew as a film producer. Filming gets tough and it seems we’re not going to pull through. What to do?

Change the scenery. Whether it’s stepping outside on your break, taking your work to the war room or going out for lunch. Change your approach. This is a trick I often use when writing, instead of waiting for that first sentence to magically appear, I outline, research, or edit copy I’ve already written. Simply switch to another task within the same job often refreshes the mind. Change your attitude. Ah, this is a hard one. You’ve been given an assignment from your boss you don’t want to do, your colleague is responsible for, or you’re simply not good at. There's a myriad of reasons why you’re in that place at that time. Stop, take a few breaths, remind yourself of the big picture, of what you are good at, and go back to the first one.