[at-l] Hiker in planning slump... What would or have you done in this situation?

[Tenacious Tanasi]

Hey everyone,

A thruhiker for the 09 season posted the following message.  Please read it and share what you would or have done in this situation.

~~~~~
I seem to be going through a few days of feeling unmotivated to do
anything about my AT hike, now coming up in 9.5 weeks. I don't want to
dry food, I don't want to plan my town stops, I don't want to go out
and train (last week I put in four 7+ mile hikes up and down the New Orleans levees with a 15-pound pack.)

I just feel tired. Maybe I've been doing so much towards it and
thinking about it so much and talking about it so much, I feel like
I've already done it or something and just want to rest.

Maybe it's because I've run out of foods to dehydrate until I go
shopping again. Maybe it's because I only have 2 months to get my food
all done and finalize everything and I feel overwhelmed. ....
withdrawing is my common response to overwhelmed- ness.

I do have brown rice cooking on the stove. Cooked and dehydrated, it rehydrates nice and fluffy in 5 minutes in hot water.

Yesterday I spent all day reading a novel. I think I'll just chill one more day today, making a grocery list for tomorrow, and then start with the food again.
~~~~~~~



This was my response to them....

Yeah, it sounds like you are over-stressing. Go ahead and take that
extra day. Relax as you plan. If you don't enjoy your prep, then it may
bleed over to your hike. Don't do that to yourself. Just take it a day
at a time. 

Make a list of everything left to do just so that you have a mental and
hard copy. Prioritize things....then, set it aside today. Tomorrow go
back to the list and break it down in bite size chunks. Tackle those
things that can be accomplished quickly as I do think this will help
you have a feeling of accomplishment and help make you feel like you
are getting somewhere. Boost yourself this way. It may be a silly thing
to some, but you are in a place where you feel like you are not getting
somewhere and need this psychological jumpstart to refresh yourself.

I will not be starting out until spring 2010. When I began looking at
everything I have to get accomplished by that time, I really just
wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for a while. But, hey, that isn't
going to get me anywhere fast. So, I followed the same advice that I
just passed on to you.

It's like I have always told my daughter Jerrica when she was doing
homework and would get stuck. She was battling her own mind in getting
it done or understanding it. This was time to step away for a moment
and go to something else to regain her perspective. 

Regain that perspective. Lay your plan for finalizing items to be
accomplished and then follow it in bite-size chunks so that you are not
overwhelmed.

I wish you the best of thruhikes, and plan on following your journey. :)

Tenacious Tanasi 


      
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