Shutting Down??

Its a coping thing.
Not that it is productive coping or not.
But shutting down will not make things go away.

Don't keep coming to this site?

Go to the bathroom and tenderly and thoroughly wash your hands, with lots of foamy soap. Pat them dry. Look yourself in they eye and say what your are feeling. Like, "How terribly sad that all those people, 63 to be precise, just lost their jobs due to the economy....or whatever...but acknowledge how devastating that is going to be in their lives. Then smile at yourself, and say..Now, go do your best. You are still here. You still have a job for now. You made it through this cut back, for some wonderful reason....You must be doing something right.

Then like Dawn recommended...start with something small. Pick it up, analyze, make a decision on what needs to happen with that piece... then move on to the next. Maybe rather than using an internal mail system, you could drop something off by hand, in person, to some one you trust and tell them that it's been a rough day...how about them?

And coffee, honestly, can't say enough about that.

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put a picture of your kids right in front of you...that's all the oooomph you'll need: the thought of "what" could happen if you lost your job!

Get organized if you're not. Make a list of what needs to be done in specifics vs "finish work". Then set goals of how much you will do today, tomorrow etc. I find it helps to have a plan and get to check things off. Set a timeframe of working on task #1 for x amount of time or until it's done before you take a break.

Are you at home or on a company computer? You better be careful because they can easily monitor what you're doing on your computer at work.

look at your work. pick the one thing that you think you can get done fastest. move the other stuff to the side and work on just that one thing till its done.

Shutting down is normal. It's one way to cope with overwhelming feelings. At home, after work, it might help to journal or write down what you're not feeling. Start with a simple statement such as they just let 63 people go. Pause and write down whatever comes to your mind. Write for as long as you have something to write or give yourself a time limit such as 15-30 minutes.

This will get you feeling again. Stick with the feelings. Feel them; don't push them away. It may take you several days to get back to feeling less numb.

I agree with others who've said get organized with a list of what you have to do and then get started on one of the things on your list. You don't feel like doing any of it but force yourself to get started. This is another situation in which I use "fake it until I make it" philosophy.

I've felt like not doing anything at work and found that if I just started cleaning off the top of my desk, I look busy and eventually I stumble across something that catches my attention and I work on that.

You say you're far behind. The making a list of everything you need to do and then prioritizing the list will help you feel less overwhelmed.

Unsure of your marital status and I only say this because my wife of 2 yrs is still working thru this same type of reaction. She was married to a non-participating man for 13 yrs. He never helped with anything. And for the longest when we met, she felt EVERYTHING was up to her to get done. Now she realizes that I can help with things it lightens her load, but I have to remind her of this from time to time or she gets overwhelmed reverting back to how it used to be.
Soooo.... ask for help. . Good luck

I do this and I have raging ADHD. My husband calls it the ostrich technique. I basically bury my head in the sand and hope it all goes away. It never does. It drives him crazy lol. I just have to talk myself into dealing with it.. like if I don't do it RIGHT now it's going to grow to this huge monster that I REALLY won't want to deal with. Good luck.. I know exactly how you feel.

focus on doing the next best thing (only you know what that is)...then move on to the next best thing...I've been there too, only I didn't survive the cuts. Sometimes small steps are the only ones we can take, but they still move us forward.

Eat the elephant one bite at a time.

Starbucks! LOL
hope this helps:)

Shutting down is a coping method. The best thing I have found to help to "restart" is:
1) get a coffee (or whatever your favorite drink is)
2) make a to-do list while eating my favorite snack (chocolate, popcorn, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberries & cream, or whatever you like or something you like and can get your hands on)
3) then have a little pep talk with yourself about what your goals are today and that you can do it!

Starting with small easy to get done tasks which are a great way to start your refocusing you and boost your mind energy/focus to get more complex things done. At least this way you will look like you are doing something... also lastly if you find your mind wondering tell your mind to focus, and find some task that is the easiest to focus on at that moment.