Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is about what
Speaker 1: to do when you hit the wall and feel you
Speaker 1: can't press on. Except that this is normal, pace yourself
Speaker 1: and visualize the accomplishment ahead. You may have heard about
Speaker 1: the so called wall that marathoners hit around mile to eighteen.
Speaker 1: Your body is exhausted, your mind is fuzzy, and your
Speaker 1: determination to finish the race is flagging. You've run for
Speaker 1: a long time, but you still have a long ways
Speaker 1: to go. You have to find a way to keep
Speaker 1: putting one foot in front of the other. Six months
Speaker 1: into life during a pandemic, a lot of people are
Speaker 1: hitting the wall. We are exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally.
Speaker 1: Seems hard, and so much is uncertain with no obvious
Speaker 1: end in sight. Still, we have to keep going day
Speaker 1: after day, and so on those days when you hit
Speaker 1: the wall. Except that it's normal, what we are experiencing
Speaker 1: right now is hard. The demands on us have increased simultaneously.
Speaker 1: Many of our usual restorative practices are less available, whether
Speaker 1: that's exercising at the gym, socializing with friends, or going
Speaker 1: to church or temple. Of course we're worn out. It's natural, inevitable.
Speaker 1: Accept that. No need to feel guilty or embarrassed. It's
Speaker 1: just where we are, and no one expects perkiness at
Speaker 1: mile eighteen. So what can we do? For one thing,
Speaker 1: we can pace ourselves. Don't set unrealistically high goals. Instead
Speaker 1: set attainable ones. In a race, you might just get
Speaker 1: through to the next water station or even the next
Speaker 1: light post. And when you reach your goals, give yourself
Speaker 1: permission to rest for a bit if you want to.
Speaker 1: And the one marathon I ran I spent a lot
Speaker 1: of time walking after mile eighteen. Slow is good Over
Speaker 1: the long term, steady work at a sustainable pace is
Speaker 1: better than a sprint followed by utter depletion. Another thing
Speaker 1: we can do is visualize our victories to come. No,
Speaker 1: not necessarily the end of the pandemic, though we do
Speaker 1: all hope that will come soon. Rather visualize these small
Speaker 1: accomplishments you'll achieve in the meantime. That project you'll complete,
Speaker 1: the article you'll write, the pitch you'll prepare when you
Speaker 1: feel you can't work another moment, imagine the work done,
Speaker 1: and find the motivation to intuate just a little bit
Speaker 1: closer to completion. At the beginning of the pandemic and
Speaker 1: remote work, you may have decided that you are going
Speaker 1: to be the employee of the year master French pastries,
Speaker 1: become fluent and Spanish and so forth. If you did
Speaker 1: any of those things, that's awesome, But if you didn't,
Speaker 1: that's okay too. It's worth considering that every marathon finisher
Speaker 1: gets a metal. You don't have to finish in first place.
Speaker 1: You don't even have to get a personal best. Getting
Speaker 1: it done is accomplishment enough. So on those days when
Speaker 1: you hit the wall, remember that marathon finisher metal. It's
Speaker 1: normal if you feel worn out, but things will get better.
Speaker 1: This will be over at some point. For now, just
Speaker 1: keep putting one foot in front of the other. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New Corner
Speaker 1: Office is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, visit
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Speaker 1: favorite shows.