Daily self-help task checklist for productivity and escaping depressed/ hopeless rut

[KoreyS]

Hey guys. I hope everyone is enjoying their day.

I was just talking to my good pal Laika about my idea to create a week-long, self-help checklist of tasks for each day of the week and print it out and use it. Anyone who suffers from depression here knows how difficult it is to maintain balance and control day to day and find discipline in life. It can often seem impossible to climb out of that depressed rut to gain a handle on what needs to be done to improve the quality of our lives. Mental illness can lend itself to a tremendous lack of ambition, motivation or energy, and it's important to strategize and find coping mechanisms to stay productive. So I plan to construct a checklist of requirements for myself to do on a daily basis and I plan to be strict with myself about it. I hope I can stick with it and be able to check off every square each day.

One thing I have to achieve to go along with all this is getting a more disciplined, balanced sleep cycle. I'd like to shoot for about 6-7 hours a night, with a specific bed time every night. It's not rare for me to sleep >12 hours each day, so just slicing that in half will provide all sorts of time to accomplish these important tasks. Also, over-sleeping/ hypersomnia has been the cause of years of sluggishness and lack of physical energy for me and I want to gain healthier, ideal sleep patterns/ habits to combat this. In case anyone is wondering, I am looking for work currently and have been unemployed for a bit over a month. I am currently seeking full-time employment and also work small oddjobs from time to time. If I shorten my sleep down to normal levels, I should have no real problem getting most of this stuff in even on top of 8 hours of work. Plus, carrying print-outs of the list with a pen will just help with motivation and reinforce the importance of these tasks, even if I do happen to miss a workout session or something here and there.

Here's the ideas I have come up with so far for each day: shower; groom/ trim beard; shave scalp; brush teeth (AM); 21 prostrations before sitting zazen; 30 minutes of zazen (AM); help, compliment or say something positive to another person; work out/ exercise; complete important commitments or priorities specific to that day; listen to one new hip hop album or watch one new battle; do dishes; tidy/ clean room and house; read for one hour; brush teeth (PM); do 30<min of zazen (PM). This is all I could briefly come up with in the last little bit, but I'm sure there are plenty of others that may apply as well. Still gotta do it all up on the computer 100%.

Does anyone else suffer from severe and abnormal lack of overall drive as a result of a chemical imbalance and can relate to this? Has anyone here tried one of these before and had success? I know sometimes people who just got out of residential treatment, who are in the maintenance stages of sobriety or who are deeply involved with AA or NA keep these as reminders to stay on track. Does anybody else have any specific tasks they'd like to recommend for my list?

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

You may find that daily exercise, meditation, eating right, and not drinking may help. YMMV. Also you are right that getting on a better sleep cycle is a good thing.

Good luck.

 

[KoreyS]

You may find that daily exercise, meditation, eating right, and not drinking may help. YMMV. Also you are right that getting on a better sleep cycle is a good thing.

Good luck.

Hey, thanks for the response. If you're unfamiliar, zazen is a Zen Buddhist meditation. I've been practicing daily for years and can attest to the benfits you mentioned. There is also a much deeper, spiritual side to the practice. It is a very important practice. My eating is decent but I want to improve it. I'm on a predominantly raw, vegan diet a lot of the time. I also work out most days. I'm heavy into bodybuilding.

 

[RedLeader]

6-7 hours seems a bit on the short end. I would try and aim for 8 if you can, especially if you're like me and you can sleep 12+ hours at once. I feel best if I get between 7 and 9 hours consistently. Also, if you're heavily into lifting, I'd suggest trying to lift in the morning. I'm stubborn and I've lifted at night for a long time now at the detriment of my sleep. I might get done lifting at midnight, but by the time I've finished my post-workout shake, a small meal, have finished using the toilet from all of the water (and post-workout shake) I've drank, it can get close to 3 in the morning. Which is bad if I don't have the luxury to sleep until noon. I also find that my depression and dark thoughts are worst at the dead of night, so if I can wake up early (and in turn sleep earlier), the depression is not as bad.

With regard to making a checklist, I've tried it many times and it's always backfired when I'd bite of more than I could chew. It would go great for a few days, but then days would start to blend together, I'd forget to write something down and put it off until later (and get all backed up) and it would just feel like too much pressure. Try taking just one thing and keeping track of it on paper for a week. If it goes smoothly, add a second thing next to the first thing for the second week. Keep going until you are no longer comfortable adding more stuff.

 

[KoreyS]

6-7 hours seems a bit on the short end. I would try and aim for 8 if you can, especially if you're like me and you can sleep 12+ hours at once. I feel best if I get between 7 and 9 hours consistently. Also, if you're heavily into lifting, I'd suggest trying to lift in the morning. I'm stubborn and I've lifted at night for a long time now at the detriment of my sleep. I might get done lifting at midnight, but by the time I've finished my post-workout shake, a small meal, have finished using the toilet from all of the water (and post-workout shake) I've drank, it can get close to 3 in the morning. Which is bad if I don't have the luxury to sleep until noon. I also find that my depression and dark thoughts are worst at the dead of night, so if I can wake up early (and in turn sleep earlier), the depression is not as bad.

With regard to making a checklist, I've tried it many times and it's always backfired when I'd bite of more than I could chew. It would go great for a few days, but then days would start to blend together, I'd forget to write something down and put it off until later (and get all backed up) and it would just feel like too much pressure. Try taking just one thing and keeping track of it on paper for a week. If it goes smoothly, add a second thing next to the first thing for the second week. Keep going until you are no longer comfortable adding more stuff.

7 inches isn't too short. 9 is excessive in my opinion. I won't be shooting for any more than 7 even though I'll probably fail at that and oversleep ahlf the day lmao. You're right that 6 may be cutting it a tad short but still not nearly enough to worry much at all. I mentioned doing zazen... I've been doing Zen for a while now and part of doing zazen meditation everyday is developing a balanced lifestyle in terms of sex, eating sleeping. In terms of a Zen lifestyle, I think 5 or 6 hours is usually recommended, and defnitely no more than 7. 6 hours is pretty damn ideal if you ask me man.

You may be right about the lifting. I honestly do more at night. The water consumption and having to piss is a bitch before bed, but the endorphine release is quite enjoyable for coming home and hopping into bed and dosing off. It doesn't postpone my sleep much. I just switched over from a 3 day split to a 4 day split and also JUST started implementing an hour of cardio on the 3 off days. I do anywhere from 5-20 min of cardio after lifting but I'm not in the mood for it after lifting. I'm gonna upload new album to my Ipod and play them on cardio days. What is your routine like and how is your cardio? How's your build and progress, I'm curious?

As for the second paragraph, yeah, I feel you. I feel I may be overloading myself too. This was already a concern. It'll be tough going from a lazy bum who's breath stinks and can barely pull himself out of bed and who wears the same socks for weeks cause he's too depressed to wash his clothes to do all this. But... we'll see how it goes. I actually may make thread sort of a log for my progress to further keep me motivated. We'll see how shit goes. Thanks again for the comments.

 

[KoreyS]

LMFAO. I can't edit on my shitty computer. I menat to say 7 hours. Can you see what's on my mind? no homo

 

[herbavore]

I like that you included saying something complimentary or positive to someone else. I'm like RL--I suck at sticking with lists like that but I think they are very useful for getting you out of a rut.

P.S. inches! I was lmao!

 

[kaywholed]

Eat yummy, healthy food.
Drink lots of water.
Exercise to make the body feel good.
Take care of your body and put an effort into your appearance.
Do something that makes you happy.
Spend time with someone(s) that make you happy.
Smile.
Sleep well.

 

[Selggurkim]

Regulating sleep and beginning a regular sleep cycle are going to have enormous positive benefits for you. Once a bit of positive energy starts flowing in your mind and body it will be contagious and (hopefully) start you onto a more fulfilling and happy path.

The list is a great idea in my opinion because the action of crossing things off it everyday wil fell good in itself. This may not be the complete solution to your "rut" or depression and some people absolutely do need to see a doctor of some kind.

The list is a wonderful place to start. Happy / positive music is also very uplifting and has often helped me turn moods around. Switching from a negative soundtrack (ex. eminem, metal, etc) to something more peaceful (bonobo, pogo, etc) may help very much. Of course the actual artists you choose will depend on your taste I was merely trying to give some examples of styles.

Best of luck! If you do print up a formal checklist please share it here and let us know how it is working for you

 

[KoreyS]

Happy / positive music is also very uplifting and has often helped me turn moods around. Switching from a negative soundtrack (ex. eminem, metal, etc) to something more peaceful (bonobo, pogo, etc) may help very much.

My favourite genre of music is hip hop. I listen to a wide variety of hip hop, many of which are alternative subgenres of rap. I enjoy gansgta rap and hardcore rap, which can often have brutal subject matter. I also enjoy some horrorcore hip hop when it's not too corny, and this is even worse than the latter. Think of dark production with death metal-esque lyrics being rapped. I also like a bit of death metal and black metal. I like a lot of music that contains dark imagery and seemingly negative themes. This actually makes me feel better as it helps to remind me there are people out there that don't view the world through rose-tinted glasses and are different from the norm. They don't put me in depressed moods. Infact, it's really cheery type shit like indie music or whatnot that rubs me the wrong way and comes off as slightly depressing to me.

 

[footscrazy]

Have you heard of SMART goals Korey? It stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timed

I find making sure goals meet those criteria is really useful. Some of yours are like that, like 30 minutes of zazen (AM), but things like 'workout/exercise' or 'clean/tidy house' aren't and you might find those are the ones that fall by the wayside. It's because saying your goal is to 'tidy the house' isn't very meaningful, compared to say, 'spend 20 minutes tidying my computer desk after dinner, between 6-8pm.' That way, you actually know that you've achieved it, whereas, what does 'tidy house' actually entail? When will you know you've achieved that goal? I think it's unrealistic to expect yourself to clean and tidy the whole house each day, so setting smaller, achievable goals like spending 15 mins cleaning the toilet, or whatever, I think will help maintain your motivation and also give you a clear idea of what exactly you're setting yourself to do. Making them achievable is really important too, because otherwise it can be demoralising if you don't achieve them, and that can led to giving the whole idea up.

Anyway, I've recently set myself a little checklist, which I found recently, some of my points are;
Every morning, write down 5 things you are grateful for
Think about a random act of kindness you can do for someone that day
Meditate for 10 mins
Exercise hard for 20 mins
Get out in the sun.

Good luck though, I hope it all works out for you.

 

[KoreyS]

Have you heard of SMART goals Korey? It stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timed

I find making sure goals meet those criteria is really useful. Some of yours are like that, like 30 minutes of zazen (AM), but things like 'workout/exercise' or 'clean/tidy house' aren't and you might find those are the ones that fall by the wayside. It's because saying your goal is to 'tidy the house' isn't very meaningful, compared to say, 'spend 20 minutes tidying my computer desk after dinner, between 6-8pm.' That way, you actually know that you've achieved it, whereas, what does 'tidy house' actually entail? When will you know you've achieved that goal? I think it's unrealistic to expect yourself to clean and tidy the whole house each day, so setting smaller, achievable goals like spending 15 mins cleaning the toilet, or whatever, I think will help maintain your motivation and also give you a clear idea of what exactly you're setting yourself to do. Making them achievable is really important too, because otherwise it can be demoralising if you don't achieve them, and that can led to giving the whole idea up.

Anyway, I've recently set myself a little checklist, which I found recently, some of my points are;
Every morning, write down 5 things you are grateful for
Think about a random act of kindness you can do for someone that day
Meditate for 10 mins
Exercise hard for 20 mins
Get out in the sun.

Good luck though, I hope it all works out for you.

Thanks for the comments. I have a weekly bodybuilding regimen so I basically know what gets done so and so day, and I'll check it off if it's done. I didn't necessarily mean to clean the entire house. My goals would be similar to the ones you mentioned, doing small tasks that differ each day. it's just that there will be columns for each day of the week and the checklist will basically stay the same so it's up to me to personalize it for that specific day based on what needs to be done. The checklist will already be there for each day. I can't really personalize specifics for each day.

Glad to hear your own list is doing good too. Hope it continues to.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Exercise is a must IMO, just like Priest said.

But I think you've already acknowledged that.

Do you have a lot of hobbies you like to pursue?