Get to Know What’s a Pain

Painful situations come in sorts of packages and combinations. Lately I’ve been hearing talk about three in particular — writer’s block, migraine, and trolls. When I think about about that set of pains, I realize that in some ways, they’re the same problem dressed up in different ways.

I know a couple of things about all three. I’ve been a writer since the last century. Been studying migraines since I got the first one when I was 12. And trolls . . . A cyber trolls once invited me to be CEO of his business.

Managing Painful Situations: Writer’s Block, Migraine, and Trolls

Writer’s block, migraine and trolls are a pain. Dealing with them is a management problem. I offer these suggestions that work for me.

• Study the problem. Get to know the pain.
  Understand when it happens and how it works. Take away all of the personal issues. It’s not “your” writer’s block, “your” migraine, “your” personal attack. Those things outside you are just doing what they do. If you study them, you’ll notice they do the same thing every time.
• Stop resources that support the situation.
  Your emotional buy in exacerbates the pain. Getting nervous about things, getting mad, insecure, or anxious only adds to the stress and undercuts your ability to move beyond what’s happening. Turn off the negative voices. Don’t feed the trolls.
• Leave the war zone.

Get space to gather resources, rest, and perspective. Take a walk. See the sky. Feel the ground beneath your feet again.

Anyone who’s gone past writer’s block knows that moving away from the computer often allows the answers to come more quickly. Anyone who’s had a debilitating migraine knows a dark cool room works far better than a blinding sunrise to quiet the awful physical pain. Anyone who’s argued with trolls — are they really a pain or just irritants? — knows their words are deflated when left without rebuttal.

On some days, we all give importance to things that get in our way. Keep an eye out for them. When you find one, just decide that you aren’t going there.

Have you got a strategy for managing painful and irritating situations?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!