Do Lists Help You When You're Depressed?
Monday June 8, 2009
When I'm not depressed, I sit down, go over my priorities for the day, and make a list for the day. I got so good at list-making that I could generally get most or even all of it done. But now I am depressed and it's hard even to make a list. Where I used to make them around 9 a.m., now it's often noon before I start. If I get derailed by circumstances, I often abandon it; if I have an appointment that day, usually there's no list at all. Yet I persevere, because without lists I will do nothing.I made a master list, and that enabled me to do some essential things last week: put oil in my car, pay my property taxes (just before the due date), get my emissions test done, renew my license plates. There's a hell of a lot more on the master list that is hot priority, but I know I can only do so much in a day.
If I don't prune the weeping pea tree for another month, it won't die. If I don't call the plumber for my plugged up bathtub, well, I have another tub and shower. But if I don't pay bills - then I'm in deep dog doo. I meant to do that today. I will do it tomorrow.
Do you use lists? Do they help you keep functioning during a depressive episode? Leave a comment.
~Marcia
Comments
I find they can help depending on the severity of my depressed mood. If I’m in one where I feel like all I see is black, I turn into a sulky baby and refuse to do the list. It’s not like I WANT to be like this… Sometimes part of what contributes to my depression and anger issues are obligations. Thus, when I see that I have something to do, I will get even more depressed or angry about it and most likely avoid it out of “spite”…
So I guess it’s safe to say that lists don’t help me when I’m down because I don’t let them… but occasionally it does help!!
When I have a lot on my mind, maybe five or six things. It could take a half hour to get out the door. Yesterday, I had to go the post office, the bank and the store; not a huge feat, just common every day errands. I was back and forth from my car to the house five times. forgot my keys, I forgot my cell phone, my money, I forgot the thing I was mailing, my sunglasses. AND, I have a list for everything I have to do! They help me run my errands but now I need a list to get out of the house.
When I am really depressed I find that making lists overwhelms me. I try to do the things that I have to do like laundry or grocery shopping. I let go a lot of things that I usually do, that can be neglected for a time, like making the bed or really any kind of cleaning.
U make lists all the time and never more so than when I am depressed or manic. Even if the lists remain undone for weeks at a time, every time I look at them I am reminded that these are things that MUST get done. I put time dates on those that must be done by a certain date. It is less about the illness than that thoughts do not stay anchored in my mind and quickly flit away to my unconscious to remain to burble up from the muck after they were supposed to be done.
I feel the best when I make “Ta-Da!” lists:
I write down every teeny tiny thing I did, from opening the blinds in the morning to feeding the cats & birds. I find to-do lists extremely overwhelming, & then I feel inadequate & lazy–so I avoid them until I’m feeling better.
I can get extreamly overwhelmed by lists. I can write things down and I cna get some things done but then I feel I don’t get enough done. I am single and there is only so much trill in doing laundry, yard work, cleaning etc. I alot of the time I juat say to myself, who cares…it’s just me.
I try to do lists, but I forget to do them. I get stuck in thinking about what i have to do, then I get over whelmed with all I have to do, that makes me feel worthless. Sometimes it will take me 3 or 4 days to get the bills done. That stresses me out more.
I have a standard list that includes things I have gradually worked into my daily routine over the years. I post it online to a group a friends and give myself a smiley face for everything thing I get done. I need the accountability and the acknowledgment.
When I am depressed I can’t do as much, so I try and focus on the important and urgent things. Sometimes I need help figuring out what they are. Making decisions is one of the cognitive skills that goes out the window with depression.
It’s hard to accept that I can’t be as productive, but that’s just the nature of the illness.
I find lists are a double edged sword. Often we over commit then fail to get things on the list done. For me that adds up to feelings of self loathing and worthlessness. Often, It’s the things that are not on the list that demand our time and the lists just pile up day after day. My point is to be realistic, imagine what one of your days is like before you take on the world.
I have to make lists. i don’t always do all of it but it helps me focus. i don’t do it when i am depressed. then i just make sure i do one thing a day besides taking my meds.
I just came back from a lovely 3 week road trip to the east coast. while there i bought a notebook. I am keeping my to do list in it and doing travel recollections, like pets and people i met along with websites they andnd book suggestions they gave me
I usually try to do lists, but they are usually too late to do any good, and incorrect.
I need to put my list on the calendar or something.