Maintaining Momentum (Or Not)

Six weeks in, and most of us are having a lot of trouble with what one of our listeners called this "very strange limbo."

That listener asked in our Facebook group what she might do to make herself get off the couch, stop looking at her phone, maintain momentum.

Because that is the usual goal: we all know that once we stop running and rest, we won't be able to run as far when we try again. A body at rest tends to stay at rest.

But here's the thing: when you run a marathon, and mile 19 gets really hard, you know what mile you're in. You know how much farther you have to go. And the people on the sidelines aren't small children yelling at you.

Do the usual ideas we have about productivity and energy and momentum even apply in this moment?

And if not, what are the new strategies we can put in place to help us make it to the next lamppost?

Here are links to research and other things we discuss in this episode:

our own Episode 142: Letting People Into Our Mess

Brené Brown's podcast Unlocking Us

The Lancet: The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence

Paul Ollinger for Forge: Your Only Goal Is To Arrive

Judson Brewer for Harvard Business Review: Anxiety Is Contagious. Here’s How to Contain It.

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