Okay, so I understand that you don’t want to do the dishes. Who really does?
But, what about that book you were reading last week? You know, the one that’s
earmarked on page 152? Or what about that movie you were going to see – the one
about the girl who meets this older man and they disappear to a remote island
paradise? And, I thought it was always fun to get your toenails done,
regardless of the weather forecast. Whatever happened to all those activities
that seemed like so much fun the moment you conceived of them?
This is where a tool known as Benchmarking can come in handy, a tool to help
keep your mind from falling asleep. What you do is get out a piece of paper and
write down all of the activities that you used to enjoy – anything that comes
to mind, from getting showered and dressed to watching Seinfeld re-runs. It’s
better to start with small, easy activities – nothing mentally challenging or
overwhelming. Keep that list on your refrigerator, and whenever an activity
comes to mind, add it to the list.
On any given day, pick one of these activities and do it. If you have to
organize a plan of action in order to brush your teeth, then do it. Write down
every silly little step, and do one step at a time. In a notebook or journal
that you keep near your bed or in an easily accessible location, write down the
activity that you just did. There’s one accomplishment for the day. Kudos to
you.
Your goal is to do as many of those activities everyday as you can. It’s not
so much to have a proven track record of what an upstanding individual you are,
as it is to stimulate your already weakened mental state and keep you from
falling into that abysmal pit of self-loathing. After a while, you will have a
benchmark of activity that you can try to maintain. Sometimes these fun
activities will feel like chores, but remember, you are trying to combat the
depression, not give into it.