I hear people in business talking about slumps frequently. Sales slumps, marketing slumps, production slumps and innovation slumps. Everybody takes a ride to Slumpville once in a while.

You recognize Slumpville upon your arrival. The inhabitants are yawning, looking at clocks and watches and checking to-do lists. The talk is negative and filled with expressions like, “If it weren’t for bad luck, we wouldn’t have any at all.” Heads hang low and the sigh is the official greeting. Getting out of Slumpville is always a challenge for people in business. How do you get out of a slump?

Experts agree that the first thing to do is break step. Slumps are patterns, both physical and mental, and routines encourage the slump to survive. If possible, change the environment. Work from a different office, redecorate your office or organize your office. Arrive at work earlier or later, leave the office earlier or later, change lunch and break times.

Writer Bob Bly, a successful copywriter, wrote some simple steps he and others have used to break slumps:

Here is the formula for getting out of a slump:

1. Do something.
2. Do more.
3. Keep doing it.

1. Bly wrote that slumpers spend most of their time ruminating, worrying or planning. He suggests doing just about anything other than the above will help defeat slumpism.

2. Bly advises slumpers to decide how much activity you think you really need to get fully out of your slump. Then do at least twice that amount.

3. The reason most people fail is that they give up too easily. Keep working at it.

My experience as a slumper and a slumpee (one who suffers from another’s slump) is that slumps don’t end until the slumper declares he or she has had enough of life in Slumpville and begins the process to leave.

If you’re in Slumpville, reread steps 1, 2 and 3 above. If that doesn’t help, wince and repeat.

I help business owners battle the Slumps to create more profit in less time. Step 1, Do something, could be a call to me about a plan for ending your business slump. (716) 434- 5371

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"If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion." -- George Bernard Shaw

"In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield." -- Warren Buffett

"Curious things, habits. People themselves never knew they had them." -- Agatha Christie

I often hear of slumps in professional sports in print and on radio and TV. Road series slumps, month long slumps, and even seasonal slumps. I never hear of one day slumps or two day slumps. This makes me wonder if there is a necessary waiting period before a notice of slumpness can be proclaimed. How many days must go by before it is officially a slump? I have been thinking about this waiting period for more than three days now and suspect that I may have lapsed into a slump because I can’t decide on the answer.

Any answers from you readers?

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