Being depressed can make life hard and it can take away all of your desires to do things. Life can be overwhelming and hard and when you are dealing with depression, motivation might seem like an impossibility. There are things that you can do to help!
Motivation in Depression
Studies have shown that people that are depressed often have a lack of motivation. Depression can leave you with little energy, feeling sad or feeling hopeless. It can make it hard for you to make even simple decisions and to enjoy anything in your life.
If you are depressed, you might not feel motivated to do things that you once loved. There are things you can do to try to bring back some of that motivation!
- Prepare Your Day
Set a routine and get up and go to bed the same time each day. Get dressed even if you don’t have anywhere you need to go. By getting up and getting yourself ready, your brain will get your body into work mode. You will even need to do this on the weekends, and it can increase your motivations and help you to reach your goals.
- Use Self-Care
Having self-care is important, especially in depression. Try to do things like eating healthy meals, working out, grooming yourself and bathing. Make sure that you do this as a routine but that you also take time to relax during it.
Go for a walk or do something you love in nature like bike riding or taking your dog for a walk. Enjoy time with your pet or take a nap. Do things that make you feel good so that you can get your motivation back.
- Be Mindful
Be mindful of what you are saying and what you are doing. Don’t judge yourself poorly and make sure that you are focusing on what you are doing instead of focusing on negativity. Pay attention and be mindful of what is in front of you. If you’re outside for example, notice the sounds, the smells and what you hear. Make sure that you use all of your senses to engage in what you’re doing.
- Talk to Others
Spend time with people that you enjoy. This can help you to feel supported and help you to not feel so alone. Doing this can help you to feel more motivated and help you to be able to do tasks that you enjoy and ones that you might not enjoy so much.
Take time to socialize with your family and with your friends. Once you start doing this, you will see how much fun it can be, and you will work towards your socialization goals.
- Use Positive Talking
Negative self-talk can cause you to no longer feel motivated. If you feel that you aren’t able to do something, or if you feel that it isn’t even worth trying, tell yourself that you need to try it anyways. It doesn’t matter if you’re even able to do it but what matters is that you are being positive, and you are replacing negative thinking with positive behaviors.
Increase your motivation by telling yourself that you can do it instead of making yourself think that you will fail and shouldn’t even try. Use positive self-talk and improve your life and your feelings.
- Look At Your Goals
Motivation can be hard with depression but sometimes this happens because we set goals that are too hard to reach. Break down your goals into steps that are small and easy to accomplish. Make your goals manageable.
If you need to find a new line of work, don’t look at all of the things that you have to do to get a job but start making small goals such as making a new resume. Doing this can help you to do smaller tasks that you can reach, and this can make you feel more motivated. Always celebrate your accomplishments even if they are small.
- Do A Task for 5 Minutes
If you feel that you aren’t motivated to do something, spend 5 minutes on the task. You can set a timer for 5 minutes and you can allow yourself to work for that long and then quit or if you feel like it, you can keep working.
This is a way that you can concentrate on one thing at a time, and you can see if you feel like continuing on after the timer goes off. Your brain will not feel that it has to focus on a million things which can lead to making life feel too overwhelming.
- Celebrate You
Reward yourself for the things that you accomplish right after you get done. If you do a 5-minute task, take a break, and reward yourself. Don’t wait for you to complete the entire task but reward yourself in small steps.
By rewarding yourself, you are going to feel more motivated and positive, and it will make you want to continue to do more things. Rewarding yourself increase your dopamine which makes you feel happy feelings and decrease the symptoms of depression.
Final Thoughts
Feeling unmotivated happens when it comes to depression. Having a lack of motivation doesn’t stop you from reaching your goals but it can slow you down. Try the steps above to see if you can increase your motivation and get things done!