Needed motivation

@gonerlair

I understand exactly how hard it is to motivated yourself when you are feeling so very low. Depression and stress really saps your energy.

I use a couple of tricks. One is to have a couple of lists of jobs or activities. I find that when I'm down, I can't think what to do, so it's useful to have a list made when I was feeling a bit more up, so I havecan easy reference. I have a couple of lists for different contexts. So chores and jobs for when I'm energised, and mind fillers for when I'm tired. It helps keep me off soul destroying stuff like social media and tv.

Another trick is to make sure I set myself small short jobs. If I attempt something too big, it becomes impossible. For example if I tried to clean a room I'd fail and feel depressed. But if I try to clean a window or a desk, there's a much better chance of success and then I feel better about myself  and eventually the room does get done. 

And my third trick is to talk to someone. I have a selection of understanding people I can ring when feeling rough. It can take a bit of persistence to find them. There's plenty of unhelpful people out there. But talking to someone really helps. We don't even need to talk about anythjng in particular, it can just be random stuff, but it nearly always helps me. For example, last night I had no motivation to cook dinner, so i rang a friend who chatted while I did it. They didn't persuade me to cook, just kept me company.

So that's a few tricks that have helped me. I hope they might give you inspiration. Of course, they might be no help to you. You will likely find your own tricks with time.