Checklist yo self before you wreck yo self

by Leon Stafford

Sep 20, 2020

Having been in a depressive funk for several months now, it’s time to publish the checklist I need in these times to help acknowledge and climb out of it.

When I’m feeling depressed or unproductive (the two are closely related for me), I’m mildly aware of the things I’m not doing, yet weirdly refuse to take action and get myself out of the rut.

By publishing this list, I hope to make it harder to avoid pulling myself out of similar funks in the future. To think that I won’t fall into the funk again is naive, having had more regressions in past years, even with arguably ideal lifestyles and environments.

My anti-depressive checklist

Are you doing at least a few of these today? Force yourself and you’ll likely pull yourself up!

music: it becomes extremely difficult to be depressed while listening to some banging disco funk (ironically named genre for music therapy). This can help silence your ruminations enough to start the other items.
clean your physical/digital world: looking around at a messy environment is never a feelgood moment. Dishes, laundry, computer’s Downloads directory all need a scrub. Too much stuff? De-clutter all non-essentials for your ideal life and give to the charity shop.
exercise: Lift heavy things. Go for a long walk or cycle with your headphones in. Say “f#^k you!” to the cortisol being spiked into your subconscious cocktail by the depression demon.
read a book: no, not a blog post, not the movie version. Focusing the mind on something should quieten the negative inner dialogue from snowballing. It should also help to read before sleeping vs exposing yourself to the light of electronic devices.
study: something that helps your profession/artistry or some titilating fiction.
create: even if only for yourself, let the juices flow and write, draw, code, cook, dig or hammer some change into your world.
fasting: give your body some time to heal itself, whilst reducing the amount of meal prep and kitchen cleanup you need to do.
sex: what’s not to enjoy? Being so depressed that it’s of no interest to you is sad, but if you can convince yourself to get started, either by the joy you know it will bring your partner or simply as a good exercise and endorphin release, you’ll soon be immersed in the experience and enjoying it. Relieving stress of your partner usually makes your own life easier, too!
following your path: if you’re making great money at a job/industry you hate or are not working towards living the life you want, there’s likely to be an underlying sense of unfulfilment. Overcome the challenges, like less money or less support from those around you and feel better living your life, not someone else’s projections of how you should live.

A negative watchlist

By repeating things I know aren’t beneficial to me, it leads me downwards.

These are probably done for the quick endorphin releases, but are known signs I’m procrastinating and/or becoming depressed:

browsing social media: I don’t need to know world headlines or see someone holding their Cosmo. Subscribing to RSS feeds or email gives me news relevant to my profession/artistry or personal interests.
watching entertainment: in moderation, this can be great. When you are using it as an escape from living your life, it’s just time that’s been sucked away from your pursuit of fulfilment. Looking back at the last year, would you prefer to have spent all those hours watching entertaining shows/movies than to have done even mild exercise, study or create something? At least an audiobook while walking or cleaning is giving you some benefits at the same time.
eating terribly: chocolate or booze everyday are good danger signs that something needs to change. If you’re not in a good place to be moderate, just throw out/give away that which you need to avoid. Not buying something is a lot easier than not grabbing it out of your cupboard.

Find what makes sense to you

This is really just for my own benefit and something I can refer to when I’m in a depressive funk. If some of it works for you, great, but this is my soulful chicken soup recipe, find your own!

Related categories:

personal

Related tags:

Site menu