Get It Done When You're Depressed (8 page)

I now know that wanting to distract myself means I need to get back to the project. I also know that distractions feel good when I’m depressed because they get me out of the routine. But in reality, they disrupt the routine and I get even more behind than usual.

What are your main distractions? The following table lists some; are they in your control or out of your control? Some distractions may only sometimes be in your control. If this is so, check both boxes.

Look over these distractions and decide what you can do about them. For example, you can turn off the TV and make a rule that you don’t watch TV on your depressed days. Think of all the distractions you can remove now and make tomorrow a more productive day.

The human brain’s frontal lobes perform a number of important tasks, including helping you maintain concentration and attention. Due to changes in the brain when you’re depressed, the frontal lobes can fail to help you keep your attention adequately focused. That might make it difficult for you to pay attention and may also cause you to become easily distracted.

And when you’re suffering from serious depression, your inner thoughts can be dominated by constant worries. You become so preoccupied with negative self-talk that it detracts from your ability to stay tuned in to what’s happening moment to moment. So when you’re presented with something that offers more positive feelings, your brain tells you to go for it.

When you’re depressed, it’s easier to focus on anything
but
what you have to do. The more distractions you get out of the way and the more you remind yourself that you need to work, not play with gadgets or call your friends, the better chance you have of completing what you have to do.

Here are some other thoughts to consider:

Remember:
When you remove distractions and get work done, you’ll feel a lot better than if you spent all day on worthless pursuits.

On many days, it’s a probability that athletes just don’t want to train or compete. They might not feel their best, they might be having personal problems, or they might be struggling with a coach or a teammate. And yet great athletes find a way to get past all that. One of their main skills is the ability to separate physical activity from negative mental thoughts.

You may be faced with the same situations an athlete faces when they must train and compete no matter how they feel. This is especially true if you have a physical task you need to complete. But take heart: you can use the tools athletes use to finish your project, even when your mind is screaming that it’s impossible. The mind and body work as a unit, but when the brain isn’t functioning the way it should, making a mind-body split can be a good thing.

“Just do it!” How many times have you heard Nike’s popular slogan bandied about by a good-intentioned friend or co-worker when you feel that you just don’t have the skills or energy to do something physical? People with depression face this situation all the time. When you’re depressed, hearing “Just do it” may seem ridiculous. If you could just do it, you would!

But you
can
do it. You just have to turn off your mind and turn on your body. You might not feel like you have the ability to do what needs to be done, but you can’t know this until you try. This is why you need to just do it … anyway.

Beware of these barriers to completing physical tasks:

On the really tough days, close your eyes and picture what your favorite athlete would do. This can help you focus on the task instead of staying in bed all day!

I play minor league baseball for a living and find that I get especially depressed on the road. I don’t have a real support system and often feel the urge to just quit and go home, but I know that would depress me even more than staying on the team. I hide my depression a lot, but I’ve told a few people. My coach, who I’ve told, has similar problems. He was honest with me, and it really helped.

I don’t know how I do it, but I really am able to get on the field and play no matter how I’m feeling. I can feel down before a game and think there’s no way I can play. But when I’m on the field, I focus on the ball and the sounds and the happiness I feel to be doing something I love. Sometimes the depression is back as soon as I’m back on the bus, but I live for the physical stuff. I know I’m a lot less depressed when I’m active.

I can think of many instances when I have to do something physical even when my brain is not at its best. I used to let this get in the way of exercise. It all just seemed so overwhelming. It was the same with cleaning the house—I once let my yard grow until it looked like a wheat field. If a professional football player acted this way, he would be out of a job pretty quickly.

I always ask myself,
How do these guys do this? How does a tennis player go to Wimbledon and play even when she’s not at her best mentally? How does a baseball player play so many games in a season without taking a break? He must have some kind of magic potion!
I think it’s their ability to just do the physical and keep all mental thoughts on the physical game. They have to push aside doubt, pain, and fear and just keep going. I try to do this when I’m faced with a physical task I have to get done. It’s better than having a lawn that looks like a wheat field!

The tasks an athlete undertakes for athletic events are pretty clearly defined. And the more a depressed person has concrete plans, the easier it is for him or her to know what to do. So many problems facing depressed people are vague, abstract, or very complex (for example,
How do I improve the quality of my marriage
or
What can I do to deal with my grief over the loss of a loved one?
). The Nike slogan “Just do it” is more defined for athletes. So when people are depressed, the more they can define their tasks and think like an athlete, the more manageable their tasks seem.

Professional athletes rarely miss games; they perform because they have to. You can do the same. Set rules for yourself. If you have to be somewhere at a certain time, go no matter how you feel. If you have a job that requires physical stamina, remind yourself that you will find the energy once you’re on the job. As harsh as this sounds, depression is not a reason to miss a physical activity. You are your own coach. Be hard on yourself if appropriate, and show up when you have to.

On the days when you feel like a motionless blob, think of the following:

Work with a team.
Physical projects often go better when you have a teammate. If your yard needs cleaning, you have to move, or you need to change the breaks on your car, ask for help. Even if someone is there just to hand you a tool and talk with you, that company can help you stay focused on the physical task. It can also take your mind off your depression.

Visualize exercise success.
Exercise is one of the best ways to deal with depression, yet you can feel so completely against doing the exercise that it often feels better to just sit around and stay depressed. The next time you feel this way, imagine you’re training for a big event and then visualize your success. Maybe it’s a 10K run or a softball game. You may even see yourself winning a gold medal at the Olympics. You can decide what works for you. Visualization may feel silly at first, but it’s a proven technique, and many successful athletes do it regularly.

Deal with the mental after you’re done with the physical.
It’s a good idea to focus your energy on the project at hand instead of stopping to listen to what your brain is saying. When negative thoughts come up, say to yourself,
I will finish this project and then I will think about the depression.
Physical activity can give you a break from the constant chatter depression can cause. (What a relief!) You may also find that the physical activity helps the depression and that the project was not nearly as bad as you thought it would be.

Focus on the goal, not the individual work.
If you stress over all the small steps a project will take, it can very likely keep you from getting started at all. Thinking about a project like that would be like breaking a workout session into each individual repetition. No one wants to think of how many sit-ups, stair-climber steps, and leg lifts they’ll have to do to complete one hour of exercise. It’s easier and more effective to focus on your overall goal. Feeling better physically, sitting in a new apartment with all your stuff around you, or driving a clean car focuses on what you accomplish instead of how hard it was to get there.

Remember:
Athletes have to get things done no matter how they feel. They perform with broken bones, aching backs, and lack of sleep. And considering the number of people with depression in the United States, there’s a good chance that quite a few athletes get things done when they’re depressed. You can do it, too.

Depression can often create a running commentary in your brain when you try to get something done—it’s like being followed by a nasty critic who won’t shut up! Sometimes the chatter is so effective you may stop a project just to get it to shut up.

It can feel very uncomfortable and stressful to actually hear your thoughts in a rapid fashion. This brain chatter can often make you feel as if there’s an auctioneer in your head. It’s distracting and sometimes even scary.

Physical depression takes two main forms: lethargy and agitation. (The thoughts of worthlessness and hopelessness are the same with both types; the delivery of the thoughts is simply different.) With lethargic depression, the brain slows down almost to a stop, and the person feels constantly tired and worn out. Agitated depression is the opposite. Sleep is very difficult and strong anxiety is the norm.