Are you feeling bored and depressed?
You, like many other people, might be feeling a bit bored and depressed right now, like a ship without a rudder or sail, with nowhere to go and no purpose. In addition to feeling fear and being stressed about the coronavirus, you might also feel some depression or boredom. That’s normal and it’s okay, and you can change it.
Right now, because many people are not working and staying at home, or have to do their work from home, they are not getting their normal doses of positive neuro-chemicals. For most of us, during our ordinary day, we have lots of things to do. In fact, just a few months ago you might have been complaining about all the stuff you “had” to get done. The truth is that whenever we accomplish a task we get a shot of that feel good neuro-chemical “dopamine.” And when we get dopamine in our system, we feel good and we are motivated to do more. For many of us, we have had most of our daily chores taken away. Even if we are still working but working at home, we don’t have to get dressed and drive in to the office, get the kids to school, attend the staff meeting or do a host of other things we normally do, and once the task is gone, the dopamine is gone.
There are a few other neuro-chemicals such as oxytocin and endorphins that are also involved which I will discuss in future articles, but for now let’s focus on dopamine, depression and achievement.
There is a very important reason that in the military they require soldiers to make their beds in the morning. The act of accomplishing that simple task gives them an immediate dose of that feel good, motivating chemical. Then, after morning exercise, they receive several more doses which have them feeling good and motivated all day long.
So, if you want to fight off that bored, depressed, purposeless feeling, give yourself a variety of tasks to achieve. First, fight off that temptation to stay in your bathrobe all day long. Get up, make your bed, take a shower and get dressed. Make sure you are getting some exercise each day, whether it’s a walk outside, or an exercise routine in your living room. Find something new you want to learn, or a skill to develop, or something you want to create or build, so you have something purposeful to work on and create. Select something around your house you want to fix, organize or clean, so you can enjoy the progress you are making.
One of the most powerful ways to fight off depression or boredom is to give yourself a purpose, something you are motivated to accomplish or achieve. So do yourself the favor of dosing up that dopamine and getting rid of depression by writing out that daily routine and those goals you want to accomplish today.
