5 Ways to Progress in Life and Eliminate the Feeling of Helplessness

We all go through times when we feel like we are not progressing at all and we are not succeeding for some reason, leading to our feeling very frustrated, but fortunately, there are many ways to get rid of this problem.

Note: This article is adapted from Erin Falconer's blog, where she shares 5 ways to move forward in life and get rid of feelings of helplessness.

Five ways to eliminate disability and progress in life

1. Take a break when needed

Before my father passed away, I had a conversation with him in which he gave me a simple solution. He said: "When you stumble and make no progress, it means that you have lost your efficiency, so stop what you are doing and take a break, have a cup of coffee, walk around a little on foot, or buy some flowers or read a book. This simple act will free your mind, and when you return to work, you will have a different perspective," and I think he was right many times.

2. Write down your problem and find the most appropriate solution

Unfortunately, sometimes, that first explanation does not work. I found that I would not stop thinking about the problem. I found another solution in the American writer Dale Carnegie's book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, which is to write down the idea that bothers you first, then write down the origin of the problem, and then write down ways to solve the problem, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Finding the best solution requires analyzing what you wrote as the final step.

3. Take a short nap

Sometimes, moving forward requires a lot of effort, even if it is simple, such as calling the emergency number when you are in severe pain. I was exposed to this problem once, and I felt very pain and could not move, to the extent that I could not press the call button, even though my phone was in my hand; after a while, I took a short nap, which was the only thing I could do, and when I woke up, I felt much better and was able to make the call.

So, never underestimate the power of short naps. Late American inventor Thomas Edison famously took a “short nap” throughout the day; sometimes, that is all you need to step up and feel refreshed.

Note: Set the alarm on your phone to your wake-up time, and make sure it lasts no longer than 15-20 minutes. If you sleep longer than that, you may wake up feeling dizzy, and it may take several hours to get rid of it.

4. Divide your tasks and time into a schedule

You will experience extreme fatigue in life due to the tasks you must complete. One way to deal with this problem is to write down all the tasks you have, and once you finish, take some time to think about how long it will take you to complete each mission separately.

Once you do this, you can create a table. Each box in the table represents a specific time for each task, such as (45 minutes of work and 15 minutes of rest), over seven working hours per day. Using this table, you can calculate each task's time and allocate time for each of them.

So, if a task takes three hours to complete, perhaps you should use three consecutive boxes in one day or distribute them over a few days; it's up to you, and so you'll have divided the task into manageable parts, and you'll feel like you can control your time and life, and you won't feel overwhelmed anymore.

5. Discipline

One way to progress is to develop a habit of discipline. That can be very challenging, especially initially, although it will eventually pay off. You can create a daily schedule and stick to it with discipline. An example is deciding to go to the gym at 6 am every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. One of the challenges you will face is waking up and not wanting to exercise and go back to sleep, which is very normal, although it will destroy your efforts.

One of the critical things about discipline is doing what you must do even when you don't feel like it. That is when you want to do something else and to encourage yourself to be disciplined, reward yourself when you complete a task, such as going to your favorite café after working out at the gym, reading your favorite newspaper for half an hour, or doing anything else you like to do.