People who are depressed experience a decrease in energy, activity, mood, and mood. The more you don't do, the lower your energy levels. This cycle will continue. It is possible to stop this negative spiral by being productive. The author suggests five ways to break this cycle and move on. 2) Find the right balance between working too hard and not expecting too much. You can alternate between medium and difficult tasks. To reduce self-control, cultivate a deep-work routine. 5) Consider getting treatment for your mental health.
I have tried many unsuccessful fertility treatments over the past two years to try and have another child. It would be an understatement to say that the stress and grief caused by this has affected my moods and anxiety levels. I've felt depressed for a while and it was hard to not fall into deep depression. But I have managed to remain functional and productive. How do I do it? Use the tips I've shared here from my psychology training.
Your number one job if you are depressed is to take care of yourself. Your mental health is more important than your productivity. Depression recovery can be made easier by learning how to be productive even when you feel down. If you feel like there is more pressure to talk about this topic, I will explain how and why it can help with depression.
Every emotion has an evolved purpose. Sad, depressed and apathetic emotions can cause us to take a deep breath, reflect, and withdraw. This is self-protective. Sometimes it is wise to hide from danger. Sometimes it is wise to reevaluate what we find meaning in, and to stop going forward with the same activities. Depression is a time when this low-energy, self-protective, withdrawing mode becomes ineffective. Depressed feelings are not a sign that we need to question the meaning of our lives. Emotions can be used as a signaling system. Emotions can help you tell when you are safe or in danger, or if you are heading in the right direction or in the wrong direction. They lose their effectiveness when they are too long.
People who are depressed experience a decrease in energy, activity, mood, and mood. The more you don't do, the lower your energy levels. This cycle will continue. It is possible to stop this negative spiral by being productive. Here's how to get started.
1. Plan daily activities that will bring you joy and accomplishment.
Two types of activities are needed for mood health: ones that give us a sense accomplishment and those that bring us pleasure. This principle is the basis of Behavioral Activation, a well-researched treatment for depression.
You should aim to find one source for accomplishment and one source for pleasure in every morning, afternoon, and evening. These sources of pleasure can be quite simple. One example of a source for pleasure is sitting outside in the sun to enjoy your morning coffee. You could feel accomplished by completing a workout, vacuuming under the bed, or working on a project.
People find it useful to plan activities ahead of time so that they can easily reach the recommended one mastery activity per day, morning, and evening. You would have six activities per day, three for pleasure and three to feel accomplished.
Depressed people will experience less pleasure from activities than normal. It may be more difficult to find activities that you enjoy. Another reason to plan ahead is this. Begin by listing the activities that give you pleasure, mastery, or achievement. If you are stuck, ask someone you know to help.
This tip can increase productivity in both direct and indirect ways. This approach is beneficial for your biological rhythms as well as your mood.
2. Reduce your usual workload.
It is not a good idea to try and work at 100% if you are struggling with your mood or high stress levels. It is also not a good idea to stop working. Why?
Your day will be more organized if you do regular work. Regular activities help regulate your biological rhythms. Having a structure for regular activities, such as work and socializing, will help to regulate your biological rhythms, which can lead to depression.
50 percent of your normal activity is a good compromise between working too hard and not expecting too much. This approach may not cause a decrease in productivity. This will force you prioritize deep work and other important tasks. You can reduce the amount of work you do to 50% and let go of tasks that are only moderately productive. It is not a strict rule that you should stick to at fifty percent. Although you can choose to use a different number, the principle should be followed.
3. Alternate between medium, hard, and easy tasks.
Good mood hygiene also includes the rule that you should not do difficult tasks or work for too long. This recommendation comes from where? It is partly based on observations of how children learn best and the experiences of people with developmental disabilities. These people often experience behavioral outbursts as a result of negative emotions. Our research shows that happiness and behavior improve when people don't feel constantly under or over-challenged.
This is not a recommendation. You can observe how you feel if your capabilities are continually challenged. Or if you alternate this with activities that you enjoy, such as mowing your lawn, or writing your monthly newsletter.
You should aim to schedule three activities each day that give you a sense of achievement.
4. To reduce self-control, cultivate a deep-work routine.
You should not rely on your self-control if you are depressed. It makes it more difficult to do anything when you're feeling low. Strong habits are the best way to increase self-control and productivity. This means a daily routine that involves deep work for just a few hours each day.
It is possible to create a deep working habit by starting it every day at the same place and time each day. It will be easier to maintain a habit that you do every day than one that you do on different days. For example, you can do deep work at 10 am every morning, instead of at 10 AM on Mondays or at 3 PM on Wednesdays. This helps to reduce decision fatigue.
If you have a consistent habit, it is enough to trigger the habit without you having to be as disciplined. Research has shown that this effect can be overcome with a consistent routine. However, it may take several months before it no longer requires as much self-control.
It will be easier to get started and stick with it through deep work sessions if you are consistent. You will eventually be able start deep work on your own without feeling overwhelmed. I mix an electrolyte beverage, set timers on Google Home for 60, 90 and 120 minutes, and then start deep work sessions. This routine was something I found accidentally, but I started to use it regularly. The timers were originally created to train me to focus for two hours blocks and to better understand the fluctuations in my focus throughout my work period. I can also use the timers to help me manage my time, prevent unproductive overworking, and avoid boom-bust cycles of activity. The timers are also useful because I find it difficult to focus in the second hour. My concentration needs to be protected during the second hour of deep working. I am reminded by the timers to do this.
It will be much easier to keep your habit established once it is established.
5. Consider getting treatment for your mental health.
Although it may sound obvious, this is a great way to make yourself more productive when you are depressed. People wait too long to seek treatment for their mental health. This is almost universal. As a therapist, I used to ask my clients when they first noticed the problem. The answer was often years ago and not weeks or months.
You have a number of options, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment therapy. A broad-based multivitamin/mineral supplement can help you to be more resilient to stress. This is especially useful if your eating habits are getting worse due to depression. If you are self-critical, learning self-compassion skills can be very beneficial in managing depression, stress, anxiety, and other mental disorders. It is important to learn how to identify and interrupt rumination. Rumination can affect mood, productivity, and problem solving.
The treatment can help you to understand how depression affects your functioning. Depressed feelings can lead to people being more alert for signs of rejection from others. It is part of their evolutionary purpose. In an evolutionary sense, it is dangerous to be excluded. This isn't always helpful. This can lead to you judging others at work as not being supportive, liking you less, or not acknowledging your abilities and talents, even though this isn't always the case. This can cause misplaced hostility and irritability towards your bosses, coworkers, clients, or other employees.
You won't be able be as productive if you are depressed, experiencing grief, or feeling anxious. This is a good thing to do. If you feel the need, you can do a 5-minute meditation on self-compassion. You can be patient with yourself, but you should also try the suggested advice. People often feel depressed and have negative expectations. This can lead to unrealistic expectations about what advice will work for them. This can be avoided by using the strategies that are provided.
