When the COVID Excuse Hits the Wall.
Depression and zero motivation.
What to do when watching TV every night doesn’t quite cut it?
Through much of the pandemic, TV was great, catch up on all the shows you missed until you realize, is my goal in life to say I actually watched every single episode of _ fill in the blanks. But you don’t have any motivation to do anything else. What then? You might ask yourself, when I am on my death bed, what will I regret not doing? You could make a list of those things instead of watching TV.
First make a list, any list, it’s better than TV.
It will need to be something that takes very little effort. You don’t want to set your goals too high.
Really think about what you want to leave behind.
Do you really want someone to go through all your stuff and decide what is trash and what is worth sending to the Good Will?
Set a goal to get rid of one small box of stuff each week, hey maybe you will get rid of two things.
Brain Storm; make a list of things that would be easy to do, little more effort than watching TV and then, oh my goodness, actually get up and do something.
Make micro changes
The safest way to change is to do it with as little effort as possible. If you set a goal of completely cleaning your entire house in one weekend, when you haven’t been doing that on the regular, perhaps set a goal of doing slightly more this week than you did last week. My goal this week is to put away the sewing machine that I got out at Christmas. Hey that table looks almost cleared off now. Maybe I’ll go through all the bills and stacks of paper on that table while I’m over there. Before you know it, that side of the room is actually presentable.
Think of the easiest way you can of beginning to move a little bit more than you did yesterday. So, instead of deciding to get up an hour early and walk in the dark for 30 minutes before work, maybe, walk for 5 minutes during your lunch break. Come on, you need to push away from your desk a few minutes each day. Or if you already are walking more days than not, why are your reading this blog?
If you have a thought act on it immediately
There are whole books and podcasts about this idea. If you have a great idea, get up and do one thing to move yourself towards doing the thing. If you procrastinate and think, yeah, that’s a good idea, I might try that one day. You will never do it. If you have the idea of just accepting life the way it is, and deciding to be more happy with circumstances, then again, why are you reading this. Where are you right now while reading this? Is it your lunch break, or something you are reading before going to sleep? Whenever you are reading this or wherever you are, get up and take a 30 second dance break. [I’ll be right back]
Talk to someone
If you are indeed feeling stuck with no motivation, but you think you might want to change something, call a therapist, friend, or sibling and let them know you are contemplating making a change, but aren’t really sure if you have enough motivation to actually do anything. Find an accountability partner. Take one small step in changing things up. If you are in Boone NC, call me, set up an appointment with Amoret at Surf Ridge Counseling.
For More Information see Depression Treatment
