Does this sound familiar to you? You’re living a life that you know isn’t as good or happy or healthy as possible, and you maybe even know exactly what you need to do to improve your life. But you are depressed, unmotivated, and lacking the energy you need to put these changes into action. So how do you make positive changes when you’re depressed and unmotivated?
Depression has the ability to absolutely drain you physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Some days it’s hard to even get out of bed or do basic things like cook a meal, brush your teeth, get dressed. So if you can barely cover the basics, how can you take on new things like healthy habits or making changes?
In this post, I’ll outline 5 tips to help you make positive changes when you’re unmotivated, depressed, or lacking energy. I hope that some or all of these tips can help you like they’ve helped me!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally would use or do currently use. Please read full disclosure for more information.
Make positive changes by identifying your ‘why’
For most people, having a reminder of their reason for certain actions is enough to keep them motivated. Unfortunately, depression doesn’t always work like that.
We can have our ‘why’ in place and be reminded of it often, but that isn’t always enough to get our motivation to be stronger than the depression.
BUT there are times when having your why is just what you need to help you feel a little stronger or to help you push a little more.
For example, if you want to make the habit of working on your side business for at least an hour a day because your goal is to replace your 9-5 income with income from your side business, then having that reminder is important.
Next time you’re feeling unmotivated and don’t feel like sticking to that habit, remembering your long term goal might give you a little extra nudge. Especially if your 9-5 job is causing you to feel more depressed.
Make positive changes by taking it one step at a time
This one can be hard to do, especially for those of us struggling with depression. Why? Because sometimes depression makes us feel like we have this clock hanging over our heads, making us feel pressed for time. It might feel like we have to get certain things achieved or done quickly, we have to become better people, or meet our goals, or completely transform our lives in a short period of time. And if we don’t, then we’ve failed. Then if we fail, we get more depressed which makes us feel even more time pressure. It’s an awful cycle.
But let me tell you- this time pressure you might be feeling is not reality, it is just the depression talking. You do not need to take on all of the goals and all of the good habits and all of the life transformation at once. In fact, doing it that way is only going to set you up for failure.
Taking on too much at once will almost definitely cause you to feel depleted, overwhelmed, and eventually burnt out.
So there are two ways you can do it:
Option 1: Take on everything at once, try to balance it all, but likely get burnt out, quit them all and be back to square one. (This might sound harsh, but trust me- I’ve tried this option maaaaany times before, always with the same result.)
Option 2: Take on one or a few small habits, keep yourself going, build up your motivation and then add more in as you can. And give yourself lots of grace & patience along the way.
Spoiler: Option 2 is a much better recipe for success. If you’re unmotivated, adding a whole pile of expectations onto your plate will only worsen things.
So pick one or even a couple of small habits that you feel you could add into your daily routine without completely overwhelming yourself. Begin working on those, and as you achieve them, your confidence will build up, making it easier for you to keep adding in habits.
Slow and steady wins the race, as they say.
Make positive changes by learning to turn your brain off.
Umm, what do I mean here? Why on earth would I tell you to turn your brain off?
Well, to be honest, if you are anything like me, your brain probably isn’t always looking out for your best interests. A depressed brain is sometimes a misleading and misguided brain.
I have struggled with depression for many years now, and there are many habits that I am just now starting to get good at because for the past few years, I have let my depressed brain dictate how I take action.
My brain is saying it doesn’t feel like working on my side business, or drinking more water, or cooking at home instead of eating out again? Okay, you got it, brain!
It is just within the past several months that I’ve realized that there is a difference between listening to my body & mind and taking care of myself and letting my depression control my every move.
When we learn to somewhat ‘turn off our brains’ when we need to, we get back some of the control that we have lost.
Like right now, for example, I am writing this blog post. All day, despite me knowing that I needed (and wanted) to work on my blog, my depression has kept me in bed, feeling down.
But after allowing myself a little bit of time to rest, I realized that I was gaining nothing by lying there- my depression wasn’t going away, I wasn’t feeling any better, and my blog certainly wasn’t moving forward.
So I had to turn off my brain, ignore all the bad thoughts and doubt in my mind, and just sit down at my computer and go for it.
Now turning off your brain and ignoring the dark thoughts is much easier said than done- I know that and recognize that this isn’t always 100% possible.
But when you CAN find the strength to overcome those thoughts and do something positive, it’s an amazing way to make changes in your life.
Set yourself up for success by taking care of the basics
Before you make any lifestyle changes or add in any new habits, you need to first make sure that your most basic needs are met. Without setting up a good foundation, your entire stack of habits, no matter how good, will likely crumble.
Meeting your basic needs also sets you up for success. Each basic need is meant to help you be healthy and clear-minded, which can only help you in achieving your other goals.
So what are your basic needs?
- Are you well-hydrated?
- Is your diet giving you the nutrients you need and fueling your body & brain?
- Are you getting enough sleep?
- Is your space (home) comfortable and free from stressors?
- Do you feel safe in your life?
Make sure to meet these needs before taking on more things. Like I said, if these needs aren’t met, your depression is likely to be a little worse, causing things to be harder for you than they need to be.
Lack of sleep can worsen depression symptoms. A poor diet can cause our brains to function poorly, while a healthy diet can truly help us fight depression. A cluttered home can cause stress, which worsens depression.
There are so many things that can benefit from meeting your most basic needs.
Stay motivated by tracking your progress
Getting motivated is one thing, but staying motivated is another.
Have you ever had a moment of motivation, which seemed to disappear as quickly as it came? Yeah, me too.
One of the best ways to stay motivated is to track how well you’re making positive changes.
Seeing your progress makes a huge difference, and it can also set up another form of accountability. Keep a journal with your habits written out and every day or everytime you complete a goal or habit, make note of it. And celebrate it!
Reaching your goals, especially while battling depression, is no small feat.
And it is widely argued that keeping track of your achievements increases the likelihood that you’ll keep up with them.
So go get yourself a cute notebook, write down those habits, and celebrate your wins!
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When you struggle with depression, it can feel impossible to get anything accomplished, especially taking on new habits or goals. But I am confident that by using some of the tips above, and giving yourself lots of love, you can overcome depression and reach your goals.
If you’re looking for some ideas for healthy habits, you might like this blog post:
75 Healthy Habits for Mind & Body
If you want some more guidance on setting and actually achieving your goals, I highly recommend the book ‘Better than Before’ by Gretchen Rubin.
Are you ready to take the next step toward healing from depression? Join my free 7-day anti-depression email series! ↓
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