While it is common to blame inability to plan on depression,
I would like you to consider the possible costs of not planning your day in advance:
- You may believe there are no reasons to get out of bed and follow your morning routine.
- You may see no point and/or feel no urgency in doing anything during the day.
- You may engage yourself in negative self-talk and feeling sorry for yourself as soon as you are awake, as your mind is free of tasks, responsibilities and any excitement.
- You may feel pessimistic and lethargic during the day, as you follow no purpose and no passion. Nothing energises you!
- You may feel that your life does not belong to you and you are not in control of your decisions and lifestyle.
- You may feel drained and drowned by routine and boredom.
- You may feel stuck, trapped and powerless.
- You may feel overwhelmed by the amount of things to be done.
- You may feel unimportant and insignificant.
- You may deprive yourself of fun, hobbies and relaxation as you feel you don’t deserve them.
- You may feel stressed by things that should have been done yesterday or things that require your immediate attention.
- You may regret wasting another day away and go to bed disappointed and defeated.
As you can see failing to plan your day ahead of time is surely a plan to fail. This strategy will erode your self-esteem and will continue to drive you deeper into the darkness of feeling helpless, hopeless and inadequate.
When depressed, you cannot afford to enter another day without planning ahead of time!
Next time, I will illustrate this core message with some examples. Until then…
Stay strong, remain hopeful and seek inspiration!
Read the illustration here (Click on the title): To Plan or Not to Plan: A story of two approaches…
Photo by: 123RF Stock Photos
Hello
When I had a guy i liked I got up and did things and without it being a chore. Why cant i do it when I am not interested any more. Why do I only care when someone else is involved? I dont have a boyfriend and am different from most people. They used to call me weird and that got to me but after a while I liked how different I was. I listen to the beat of another drummer. I am creative and love decorating and landscaping and would like to have some fun sumtimes. I wake up and crawl outabed and then plop doun on the sofa and cruz the web. I need to get out and get some coffee and wake up and enjoy my life. How do I do the things that I want to do without looking at it as a chore?
nancy
When I had depression last spring, I never wanted to get out of bed on my days off. These tips would have been so helpful. Thank you for posting them.
You are welcome, Kim!
Happy to hear that your depression in over.
Thank you for stopping by. By the way, your kids are so gorgeous!
Kat
i have had the worst depressive episode and am still living it. i don’t know what happened to me but for the first time in my whole life i have had to be signed off work. it’s been 4 months and every day i try so hard. i exercise every day, meditate and force myself to voluntary work. i just never feel my mood lifting and am dragging myself through the day. i would really like some positive stories that i am going to recover and feel happy again. i haven’t had a trauma but there is mental health problems in my family.
from a very low and desperate anne