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Small daily wins help to battle depression
Are you battling depression? Small daily wins are often more effective than large lifestyle changes.
Depression isn’t something you can turn off like a switch. It doesn’t go away simply because you had a moment of laughter during the day or received a bonus at work. As if!
When you live with depression, you understand it’s not about life’s big moments. More often than not, it’s all those little quiet moments of the day or night no one else sees.
When these moments feel like an eternity, there are ways you can loosen depressions grip on your daily life.
A simple tool to help tackle depression for the long term is to create and complete daily ‘to do’ lists.
A good to do list helps foster a sense of accomplishment, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being.
Beating depression and coping with depression aren’t the same. While there are many daily tips to cope with depression, “beating” depression implies a long-term resolution of symptoms.
Based on research behind depression causes, and my own personal lived experience of depression, daily goals can have a massive positive impact. The goals should:
- promote a sense of meaning or accomplishment
- increase the frequency of positive emotions
- help you identify self-defeating and unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors
Keep these pointers in mind for when you start to develop some daily routines to help you beat depression.
Create rewarding goals
The weight of an obligation is something that can make a task feel impossible when you live with depression. When you must do something, the pressure can make you feel like you’re stuck in concrete.
Depression often stalls you from doing things that can make a difference to your mindset in the long term, like visiting supportive friends and family.
Simple reminders on your phone, computer, or tablet, can help refocus your attention on activities you might otherwise pass by. Writing these reminders in goal-form can also remind you it’s something that can help you feel a sense of accomplishment. Reminders don’t have to be held on technology. Post it notes on the fridge or notice board works just as well. Remember to keep it simple.
Research suggests a sense of accomplishment is one of five effective positive-psychology interventions for depression, along with:
- pleasure
- engagement
- meaning
- positive relationships
An example of a goal-oriented reminder may be setting an alarm to call a supportive friend. Not only might you gain a sense of accomplishment after completing the task, you may also tick the boxes for pleasure, engagement, meaning, and positive relationships.
Other rewarding goals could include a spring clean of a room at home, 15 minutes in nature listening to birdsong or sending an old friend a handwritten post card or letter.
Don’t stress if you aren’t able to keep up with your tasks every day. Remind yourself that you’re taking steps to feel better, and that tomorrow is a new day.