How to get shit done when you're depressed

Or overwhelmed. Or distracted. Any and all of the above.

Don't take it one day at a time. Or even one hour at a time. Take it one task at a time. Tomorrow can feel like an eternity away if you can't even get out of bed today. So laser-focus on the tasks themselves. When you brush your teeth, really clean the shit out of them! That second molar on the bottom hasn't received enough attention lately, so you should probably be liberal with the brushing and flossing back there.

Objectify it. It's hard to make decisions and get shit done when it's all so personal. If you're perceiving some crappy busywork from your boss as an insult, you're going to get angry and work slower. It's much easier to think of it as simply a task that needs to be done without getting your emotions involved. Not only will you avoid getting upset, you'll become ruthlessly efficient.

Throw out your huge to-do list. Plan instead on accomplishing 5 things each day. They don't have to be great feats either. Writing them down creates opportunities to feel successful when you cross them off. Here's my to-do list for today:

1. Apply for 5 jobs online.
2. Get the mail at 4:45pm.
3. Call my cousins in Tennessee and see if their house is still standing.
4. Drop the netflix in the mailbox around the corner.
   
5. Write a blog post.
   

Each task has a reason. #1 is obvious because I'm not a millionaire. #2 helps me maintain a routine and gives me something to look forward to. #3 will give me a chance to talk to people I love and exercise my vocal chords. #4 is especially important, because it gets me out of the house and requires me to change out of my jim jams.

This is #5. Check! But the reason is because I like to blog. And it's important to do things you like. I've been told that depression can cause you to lose interest in activities you once enjoyed. So if you still enjoy something, do it.

Answer the phone. I have a nasty habit of letting everyone go to voicemail. It's partly because I love dancing around to my ringtone and partly because I don't want to expend the effort required to have a conversation. But lately I've been actively trying to answer more often and I haven't regretted it. I set up some interviews and found that chatting with my friends actually makes me happy. Imagine!

Remember to eat. (Disregard if you're one of those people that eats your feelings.) It doesn't really matter what it is, but healthier is better for obvious reasons. I've been subsisting almost exclusively on toast for about 3 weeks now. Good thing I take a multi-vitamin! Eating something, anything really, will help combat fatigue and lethargy. Those are the devils that tell you to just watch another Law & Order episode on TNT instead of tackling your super-easy and totally doable to-do list.

Ask for help. Most people don't even know you need it unless you ask.