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coffeemusicmusings · 5 years

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Tackling depression and a lack of productivity

Working from home has been both a blessing and a curse. I now have the freedom to spend my days as I wish, as long as I meet my obligations to my clients. This can be an issue for my level of productivity. As a person that suffers intermittently with depression (and pretty consistently with anxiety), I can often find myself hiding from responsibility. It doesn’t do great things for my budget.

Finding work-arounds and ways to bypass these issues has been difficult, but I’ve managed to stumble across a few ways to beat mental blocks and continue to make great content.

1.) Making My Bed- I know this sounds played-out but stay with me. It actually works for me. When I’m having a hard time getting started for the day, I talk myself into doing at least one thing that’s productive, and that’s usually making my bed. I choose this activity for two reasons: it’s simple enough to do, and it makes my wife happy. Even if that’s all I do for the day, at least I’ve done something that will make her smile.

Usually, once I’ve finished making the bed, my mindset has begun to come around. I now have this attitude that since I’ve already started doing stuff, I might as well continue and get some more stuff done. Maybe Newton was onto something.

2.) Remind Myself of My Purpose- As a married man, it’s not all about me anymore. While my wife and I do not have any children, we do have pets, and a house, and responsibilities. When I fail to meet my obligations, I’m not only letting myself down, I’m letting down my family. I’m very passionate about caring for my family and taking care of my responsibilities in my marriage, and I know that I can’t do that if I don’t get my paid work done. My wife deserves a partner that pulls his own weight and brings assets to the table of our marriage. I need to be that husband to her.

This approach may not work for everyone, as it may feel like undue pressure is being placed. This is simply how I deal with motivation issues. It’s not that my wife demands greatness from me, or that I’m afraid of what she’ll think if I don’t get everything done. It’s that I love and respect her on a level that says I want to do things so she’s proud of me, and so that she can have the life she deserves. It gives me joy to take care of her, even though she does not need me to take care of her. Reminding myself that spoiling her and being her support system is important to me, helps me to keep life in perspective.

3.) Taking Breaks- If getting overwhelmed and stressed out was an Olympic event, I’d be a gold medalist. I often feel crushed under the weight of my responsibilities and can choose to avoid everything to make myself feel better. This is neither helpful for my work, nor a healthy coping mechanism. 0/10, do not recommend.

Instead, I give myself structured breaks. I can take them at any time of day, but I only get a certain amount of minutes. Without this structure, I’m liable to not get back to work at all. Ever. I’d lay on the couch and avoid the world.

Giving myself breaks allows me to take a step back and compose my thoughts, or, to forget about work completely for a few minutes and just breathe.

4.) Diversify- Being a freelancer is great for freedom but terrible for security. Breaking into this line of work takes courage, perseverance, and planning. It can be a slow start, but, if it works out, can be a very rewarding way of life.

The main problem with freelancing is that work is never guaranteed. Clients can dry up with little-to-no notice, and if you don’t have other jobs lined up, you can quickly find yourself with no source of income. It’s scary.

For a long time, I was a registered ride share driver. That way, on weeks when the work wasn’t flowing as freely as I would like, I could go drive passengers around and still have money coming in. Right now, I live in an area where that’s not exactly practical, but we are planning a move shortly that will put me back in a place where I can have that, as well.

Because I don’t have that backup, I have to look for other things to keep on the back burner to allow me to make money. Currently, I have one main client from which I make most of my money. It’s very good money for what I’m doing, but they aren’t super reliable. It’s a very informal arrangement, and it often results in me not getting paid on time. Because I do not have anything that says when I’m supposed to get paid, I have no real course of action (totally not recommended, I didn’t realize when I started doing work for them that it was going to get so big. I started doing $15 worth of work for them a week, so I wasn’t super concerned about establishing harsh guidelines). Not getting paid on time can cause issues within my family’s budget, so I try to also find other things to do for money, albeit not as much, but just to ensure I have something coming in, in case that client flakes.

In addition to my main client, I have 3-5 others at any given time for whom I can complete small projects. It may not be enough to pay the bills long term, but it at least buys time while I find something else to generate livable work.

5.) Be Grateful- There are very few people in the world who have a working environment like I do. For instance, I am currently sitting on my couch, with my dog lying next to me, in sweatpants with the TV on in the background. While I’m not getting paid for this specific piece of writing, I do get paid for most of the time I spend in this very position. I’m extremely lucky.

When I first entered this line of work, I really thought that most of my stresses would go away. I was working full-time (with mandatory overtime) at a job that I hated and where I was underappreciated. I wanted out. Now, I make the same, if not more money per week, and I don’t have to leave the house or deal with an overbearing boss. While the scenery and conditions have changed, it does not mean there’s no stress.

I have a lot of stress. It’s different from anything I was experiencing previously, but it’s not less. Just different.

When I worked outside of the home, I got paid just for showing up. Depending on the season, or even just the day, I could get paid for a full work day, but having actually only done a total of 5 hours of work. My hourly wage was paid even if no customers came in and my checks generally looked similar. Now, the amount I get paid is directly related to the amount of effort I put in. If I’m not working, I’m not making money. Doesn’t matter if my computer is open and my hands are on the keyboard. If I am not putting words on paper, I’m not making money.

It’s freeing to know that, on a great day when I’m super motivated and clear-headed, I can make full-time money in a very part-time hours, but days like that are elusive. At least for me. Others may be able to bang out everything they need to for the week by Wednesday afternoon, but I’m sometimes staying up until 5:00 AM the night before a deadline to ensure I’ve got everything turned in and will get paid for what I need to get paid.

Even with all that stress, I still would not trade this life for going back to full-time work outside of the home. I maintain that this was the best decision for my mental health that I ever made.

Finding the motivation to fight through depression, or even just laziness can be incredibly difficult, but it’s something we must each do. I hope that sharing my process with you all will help you to be the best, most productive versions of yourself you can be. Even if my tips don’t work, I hope they inspire you to find your own process. Responsibilities are not often fun, but when they have been tackled, it can instill a sense of pride and renewed energy in us.

Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out for more content coming on a more regular basis, and my YouTube channel will be launching soon, where I’ll let you guys in on what’s going on in my life, how I handle my work, my transition, and home. I’ll let you know as soon as it goes live.

Until next time, keep the coffee on.

#motivation #depression #productivity #freelance #self employed #strategies & tips #tips #writing tips #purpose #fighting depression #overcome #empowerment #work from home

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