How to perform well enough when you don’t have your ‘best stuff’

Athletes and teams in sports sometimes give great performances when they feel ‘on’. The PGA golfer who shoots a 7 under par round, the pitcher who throws a shutout, no hitter or a perfect game, and the basketball player who scores 50 points in a game are examples from the individual side of sports. When teams are on, they romp to easy victories over their opponents as they execute plays as a group effectively and easily.

As impressed as I am by individual athletes and teams when they are ‘clicking on all cylinders’, I think I am even more impressed when I watch them find ways to get the job done when they don’t have their best stuff. Individual examples include a golfer who scrambles to shoot even par to remain in contention in a tournament, a pitcher who manages to win the game despite his go-to pitch not working for him that day, and the basketball player who contributes with good defense when his ability to shoot is not there that day. Good teams manage to eke out victories over their opponents when they don’t have their best stuff.

It’s not just in sports that individuals and teams have or do not have their best stuff. Getting through the day at work, school or in relationships sometimes comes easy but at other times it feels like a grind when you’re not feeling ‘on’ that day. In the following sections, I will focus on strategies you can use when you don’t have your best stuff so that you can get the job done like athletes and teams in such circumstances.

Behavioural strategies you can use when you don’t have your best stuff

Behavioural strategies you can use when you don’t have your best stuff include:

(1) Use the five-minute rule – When you don’t have your best stuff, your motivation and energy to perform tasks or engage in activities is low. According to the five-minute rule, you commit to performing an activity for the brief time of five minutes. After five minutes, you can choose whether to continue or stop. Many people find that performing the activity for five minutes boosts their motivation and energy to the point that they choose to continue.

(2) Lower the activation energy — Activation energy refers to the amount of time and effort required to get started on the activity. Lowering this energy makes it easier to begin the activity and can be used in tandem with the five-minute rule to help you get tasks done when you don’t have your best stuff. For example, lowering the activation energy to exercise would entail having your workout gear already packed in your gym bag rather than having to pack your workout gear prior to heading to the gym.

(3) Have activities scheduled for particular times – You are much more likely to engage in an activity if you have it scheduled for a particular day and time than if it is not scheduled. Having the activity scheduled combined with lowering the activation energy and using the five-minute rule increases the likelihood that you will engage in the activity even when you don’t’ have your best stuff. Once you get into the activities you have scheduled, you are more likely to feel better even on days when you don’t have your best stuff.

(4) Start with easier tasks and activities first – On days when you don’t have your best stuff, it is easier to get started with smaller tasks and activities. Doing so will increase your energy and motivation to the point that it is ‘doable’ to engage in larger tasks and activities.

(5) Break bigger tasks and activities into smaller components – If you find it too daunting to engage in a task or activity all at once because you don’t have your best stuff, breaking up the task or activity into smaller components will make it easier for you to gradually get into it.

Cognitive strategies you can use when you don’t have your best stuff

How you manage your thinking when you don’t have your best stuff can make it easier to get through the day. This is best done by using the cognitive strategy known as the ‘Three C’s’ in which you catch, check and change ‘hot thoughts’. Hot thoughts are negatively distorted beliefs which you are more likely to have when you don’t have your best stuff and which make you feel even worse emotionally.

For example, when you don’t have your best stuff you are more likely to focus on the negatives in a situation rather than seeing the whole picture. You are also more likely to jump to negative conclusions including ‘mind-reading’ – assuming someone has negative thoughts about you without your having conclusive evidence to this effect.

When you don’t have your best stuff, you are especially vulnerable to the cognitive distortion known as ‘emotional reasoning’ in which you use how you are feeling emotionally to guide your thoughts. This can lead you to make overly negative inferences such as, “I’m feeling lousy today so my life must suck’. When you don’t have your best stuff, be aware that you are more prone to viewing your life and the people you encounter in an overly negative light.

Using skills like thought records will allow you to let evidence, rather than your emotions, determine the accuracy of the negative thoughts you have when you don’t have your best stuff. This will facilitate your changing hot thoughts to more accurate and less negative ‘balanced thoughts’ which involve viewing yourself and others in a proper perspective.

An example of a balanced thought which would be helpful for you in managing things on a day when you don’t have your best stuff is, “The evidence indicates that my life and the people in it are actually pretty good and that not having my best stuff is leading me to incorrectly assume that they are not good. It will be easier for me to view things accurately and more positively once I get through this day.”

May you use skills to manage those days when you don’t have your best stuff,

-Dr. Pat