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My executive dysfunction is making me depressed

User Profile: Marian09
Marian09 January 20th

Hey everyone.

I hope your days are going easy. I also hope you can help me a bit.

I'm unsure if this is a depression issue. I don't have a diagnosis, but a lot of my symptoms do look like depression: I have zero energy to do anything. I wake up, play with my cat, have breakfast...and immediately feel sleepy again. As if I hadn't eaten and drank coffee.

Now, I have quite a lot of debt on me. I'm a freelancer, and while I have some secure gigs here and there, it's not enough. I recently bought some equipment to make crafts, and I had a ton of orders in December. Now I'm getting ready for Valentine's but...idk, I feel completely unmotivated.

I'm already anticipating failure, that I will get no orders and no profit. I get very downlifted when browsing craft FB groups, due to people getting tons of orders, but also due to those who sell really, really cheap.

I know I need to move my stuff around in social media. Build a portfolio, make posts, talk to schools and small stores. The thing is, I just can't find the energy 😭. I don't know if this is executive dysfunction, but I try to set up a plan to do samples, take pics and post, but then I remember I need to do some other important thing, and then something else pops up during the day that needs to be taken care of, and I just can't go back to the first task as easily. Like, I leave a just finished box, ready to take photos of it, but then I start doing other things and when I return to the box, hours have passed.

It's a bad cycle of me not being able to accomplish simple tasks, getting anxious about it, wasting time worrying, not accomplishing more tasks, and so on and so forth.

I really need some input into how to break this cycle. The usual tips of "Make a plan, get rid of distractions, use pomodoro" don't seem to work. I just feel the time slipping away between my fingers and don't know how to stop it 😥.

Thank you in advance.

2
User Profile: Amanda84
Amanda84 January 20th

@Marian09

I'm sorry you are struggling so much and your work is stressing you out.

What works for me, is daily, consistent habits, making tasks, that are small and manageable and when I tick one off, my confidence builds.

And I see progress, and it helps me to continue going.

One day at a time 🤗💚

You've got this!

i-love-you-love-you.gif

Hello. I think your problem is having low confidence about what you are doing or maybe specifically low self-confidence. Having low energy or motivation and expecting bad consequences can be symptoms of depression, but having low self-esteem is one of the symptoms of depression, as well. I don't know if you feel that way (low self-esteem), but if this is the case, I think working on having better self-esteem and self-confidence can help. Building a strong relationship between you and the activities you do for work and enhancing the expectations: for example write down the pros and cons of doing the tasks and compare them. Also ask yourself if your doubts that make you anxious are real or just caused by uncertainty within yourself.

Wishing you the best