It's hard to feel like doing anything when you're depressed. I've got 5
specific tips today for how to get motivated to clean when you're depressed.
The tips I'm going to share with you come with a disclaimer. When you're
depressed, almost everything that would improve your condition, you don't feel
inclined to do. You already know this, right? Like think positive. Okay, that can
be annoying depending on who's saying it. There's other videos here on the channel
that will help you with the actual way that you do that that you can easily
access right here on the channel. In fact, if you go to live on purpose TV, the home
page here on YouTube, the introductory video tells you how to be more positive
and notice that you don't feel very inclined to do that, that's okay. You can
push through and do it anyway. And you'll start to feel a little bit
better as a result a lot of the things that I'm going to share with you today
are kind of like that. You're not going to feel a lot like doing it. That's kind of
like the weather report. You know, when you get up and the weather is rainy or
snowy or windy. Well, that's just the weather report. You still go out and do
what's necessary even when the weather is not supportive necessarily. So, how you
feel... If you think of that more like the weather report,
then this depression doesn't have to take you out of the game. How do we get
motivated to clean for example when we're depressed? We'll just use that as
an example. But really it could be anything. How do I get motivated to (Fill
in the blanks) when I'm depressed. Let's start with a little mental exercise that
you can do. It's actually one that helps to hack into the physiology of your
brain. Because depression has also got a
chemical element which you probably already knew. We want to attack this both
from a psychological standpoint and from a neuro-physiological standpoint. So,
here's the exercise. I want you to take 3 to 5 deep breaths. And we're
going to do this in a very specific way. We're going to slow it down. You're going
to breathe in through your nose very slowly. And while you're breathing in, I
want you to imagine and picture yourself in an environment that is clean and
organized where you are surrounded by the things that you love and muse.
Picture that as you're breathing in. And then hold briefly. Just a few seconds is
all. And then you'll exhale through your mouth also very slowly. In fact, you want
to take about twice as long to exhale as you did to inhale. And while exhaling,
imagine the depression, the stress all of the negativity just flowing out with
that breath. This is a little psychological exercise that also hacks
into the neurophysiology that's driving your brain chemistry. So, give it a try.
3 to 5 of those. Inhale through the nose while envisioning all of the
the results of what you want to accomplish. Being in a clean environment.
Hold briefly and then out slowly through the mouth while you envision letting go
of or breathing out all of the negativity and the depression and the
stress. Just try that and let's see where that puts you. Here's tip number 2. Set
a time and effort goal rather than a task goal. So, for example, instead of
telling yourself "I'm going to clean off that messy countertop in the kitchen." You
know that horizontal space that collects everything is people come through the
door, that might be a little overwhelming. What if instead you set a time and
effort goal. "I'm going to put in 15 minutes on that countertop." Oh, well that
seems a lot more doable. You don't have to finish it. Put in 15 minutes or work
hard on it for a certain amount of time. Time and effort goals give you a way to
check something off your list before it's actually done. And some of the
things that you're asking yourself to do, you might not be able to do in 10 or 15
minutes. But if you set a goal to do it, you're that much closer to it and that
helps you to feel a little more accomplished as well. I did this recently
in my own home. And I'm not currently struggling with depression. But there's
still a resistance to take on some of those big tasks. I've been telling myself
I'm going to clean out my basement. Wow, that's a big job. I said a time and
effort goal for 20 minutes. I told myself, "I'm going to work hard on it
for 20 minutes and then I'll do something else." And it was amazing how
much I got done in that 20 minutes. So, give it a try.
Tip number 3 goes back to Grandma's rule.
Do you remember grandmas rule? Grandmas rule is work first, play later. That makes
a whole lot of sense from a logical point of view. When we're in a state of
depression, we kind of veg into a passivity that doesn't help us to get
things done. You know that there's work that needs to be done. But you'd rather
relax or play or whatever your depression is inviting you to do. So,
going back to Grandma's rule, we work first and play later.
Tell yourself, "Yes, I am going to lay down on the couch and take a nap. Or I'm going
to play this video game after I do the time and effort goal" that we talked
about in the previous step. That just puts it up in a chronological order
that's a little easier to manage. And I think you're going to have
better experience with that. Now, tip number 4 gets back to positivity and
how we train our mind to go a certain direction.
Look at the clock. Do you see what time it is? How certain are you that 8
o'clock is coming? Now, I don't know what time it is right now when you're
watching this video. But I'm pretty darn sure that 8 o'clock is still coming.
Even if it's a minute or 2 after eight. Because there's another one coming on the
other end of the day. You see where I'm going with this?
8 o'clock is coming. How sure are you that you will be around for 8
o'clock?
Almost as sure, right? I mean you've made it to every 8 o'clock so far your
whole life and there's 2 every day for those who don't get up early. Notice that
you've got 100% track record of showing up for eight o'clock.
Now, I think there's only 2 possibilities. I used to think there were
3. I've eliminated the third one because I don't think it's possible for
things to be exactly the same at 8 o'clock as they are right now. At the
very least, you're going to be a little older, aren't you? You might be more tired,
you might be more hungry, I don't know. Depends on what you did just before 8:00.
Things are not going to be the same. So, by your own evaluation, which you can't turn
off, things have to be either better or worse at 8 o'clock. Have to be. Here's the
brain hack. Better by 8. BB8 for short. Better by 8. Can you find
some way to make things a little better by 8:00? Yes, you can. It doesn't have to
be a total transformation. Just a little better. Can you do that? How does that
feel? Better by 8:00. I've got one more tip for you. Something that takes into
account the other strategies that we've already talked about. Commit to a half
hour. Okay, so that's the time and effort goal.
Commit to just a half hour. You're not going to clean your house,
you're not even going to clean your closet or your the countertop. You're simply
going to commit to working on it for a half hour. Now, before you start, go on a
brisk walk. Take the first 10 minutes of that half hour to go on a brisk walk. Get
your blood flowing. Get out, move around, go outside. This is essential to your
brain functioning. And what you'll find is you will accomplish more in the
20 minutes after your walk than you would have accomplished in a half hour
without it. And you'll feel a little better.
Remember, depression taps the energy. It sucks the energy out of you for the
things that will actually help you to do this. Hopefully these tips will give you
some place to start. I've mentioned several times in this and other videos
principles of positivity. Which you might be new to. And if you are, even if you've
got some experience, the Positivity Power-Up is here to help you out with
that. I've put together a 6 module course. When you complete this course, you
will feel more positive. You will have more energy. You'll know how to approach
relationships and stress and anxiety and fear. This is a powerful course intended
to put you in position to succeed. If you're ready for your Positivity Power-
Up, please visit positivitypowerup.com.