Day Job Depression – Four Cures For Writers

Sometimes making it to work is like trudging down a long, dark tunnel. It’s cold, windy and there’s a disturbing howling noise coming from the far end. That’d be the Day Job Monster, desperately waiting for some company.
There’s little comfort to be found once you step into the fluorescent glare of the office world.
Walking in the door, you bump straight into Simon, who’s eager to discuss his disgusting indigestion problems in lurid detail. Whatever you do, don’t suggest that his daily breakfast burrito could be relevant. Or perhaps your boss will have called an urgent, two-hour meeting to plan the annual office party. And just take a wild guess at who’s going to end up organizing the catering…
How do you react? Do you:
Put your head down on your desk, and start sobbing in helpless defeat
Laugh maniacally and declare you’re taking stress leave, effective immediately, or
Slump down in your chair, and begin an all-day chant of “I’ve got to get out of here?”
All three are valid options. But none will help you feel better, or get through the endless day. Clearly, some emergency survival strategies are in order.
The worst way to deal with Day Job Monster depression is to do nothing, and hope it’ll pass. It might, of course, for a little while. But it tends to come roaring right back.
It’s far better to deal with this destructive emotion before it takes permanent hold. Here are four practical ways to treat depression at the day job.
1. Take comfort from role models.
Search the internet for background information on your favorite authors. Draw inspiration from their stories, and the fact that they inevitably went through some pretty dire times too. They triumphed; and so can you.
Realizing you’re not the first person to suffer for a dream can make you feel stronger, and restore a healthy sense of hope to your workday.
2. Use props from your real life.
How do you create a writer-friendly environment in your home office? Whatever helps lift your mood in your real life may also be useful at work.
The color green, for example, may make you feel more energetic, or a certain smell may be comforting. Play some calming music, buy a plant for your desk (something bursting with life is a refreshing change of pace in most offices). Personalize the space with an inspiring writing-related quote, and photos of positive events and people in your life.
Props from your real life will make you feel connected to your true identity, and remind you that your time with the Monster won’t last forever.
3. Control your focus.
Keep a written list of your current writing goals handy, where you can refer to them often during the day. Thoughts of your manuscript can be your constant companions – and they’re probably better company than Beryl from Accounts.
Consciously, deliberately remind yourself that you’re a writer who is temporarily working for the money. The petty intrigues of the office world are not worth dwelling on. Why would you brood about the rudeness of your manager, when you could be mentally working on a marketing plan for your brilliant manuscript?
4. Write!
Get some words on paper every single workday. Make it the day’s priority; the one activity you’re not prepared to give up.
When you use your imagination, there are plenty of ways to carve out time to write at work. (Eat lunch at your desk, and then escape the building to write, for example.) It’s much harder to be depressed when you’re playing an active part in realizing your dream every single day.
Spending so much of your time working instead of writing is naturally going to get you down from time to time. There’s nothing wrong with you if it does.
But making progress on your real career is the most effective way to treat work-related depression. The Day Job Monster may be loud and exhausting, but he doesn’t have the power to stamp all over your writing dream. Never let him convince you that he does.
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Is a Writing Monster eating you alive?