The amount of things I have to get done today is making me want to cry.

[threeamclub]

Had a hard week with starting back at college as an adult student on an access course and trying to manage keeping our home clean & in order. I'm diagnosed with depression & ocd so that's extra helpful.

Today's list:
Get out of bed (hasn't happened yet)
Eat something & take meds
Brush teeth (sounds ridiculous but it's hard to do when you're in a depressive state)
Put wash on
Hoover
Clean surfaces & kitchen
Put laundry away
Shower
Muster up some energy to study and go out tonight with my partner.
Oh and go food shopping.

I just want to crawl into a hole and die right now.

Little steps lass.

Even if it's just a leg out of bed, it'll be followed by the rest of you and so on.

I function on tick lists and self rewards (I'll do this job and once I've ticked it off I can have a cuppa / watch some TV / go on MN for a specific time) - I could easily waste so much time otherwise!
Hope your day improves once you get started, it's the starting that's tricky though!

If I have a bad day I stay away from lists as I find they are never ending and stressful - I always end up adding to them.

NemoIsLost's idea is great, I might organise myself this way at the weekend.

Eat, meds, shower and do your PIP claim OP, then you can think about the rest later. Hope you're feeling more positive soon

Oh I know these days OP, have a hug for a start. Great advice from PP's already but don't put off your appeal any longer than you have to. If you're anything like me having it hanging over you is probably a big part of the reason why today is a bad day. I don't know whether it's just that I find paperwork/forms etc hard and stressful or whether it's the fact that this stuff is so important and I feel the weight of that but I really struggle with that stuff and tend to bury my head in the sand and avoid it. Don't do that, get it over with if that's what's really bothering you

I'm out of bed, wash is on & I'm about to hoover! Easiest ones first :)

Thank you guys

When I was in counselling, my therapist said to accept the low days. Accept the days of wanting to wallow. Accept that they are what they are. Tomorrow is a new day. The washing can wait... things can wait. Just look after you. Do something that makes you feel a bit better (the shower and brushing teeth always helps me feel a bit more ready to face things)...

Do something that cheers you up a bit first

It's so difficult, isn't it. Some days I feel proud of myself for just getting up and doing the bare minimum - but yet others I power through load after load of laundry and just get everything done. The problem is, I never know that the low days are coming.

I do hope that you at the very least get what needs to be done, done, and don't be too harsh on yourself with the things that don't get done :).

Putting your device down and making a start would be a good idea. You could have done half those jobs in the time you’re spending posting and reading replies.

You're doing great!

Amazed at how unsympathetic some posters are!?
Think yourselves lucky that you have never experienced this!

I'm selling house on my own post divorce and moving to a new county hundreds of miles away with my ancient cat and I can tell you prioritise! Anything that is not a priority like getting dressed can wait.
Drink coffee then stay in bed and do your PIP claim.
Nothing else on the list is a priority except this one.
Cancel the rest of your day until this is done.

There's some lucky bastards out there that haven't got a clue about mental health! I wish I was (and of course so many other Mumsnetters) were one of them.
Hugs to you op.

Isitnearlyweekend while your reply is factually correct, if it was as easy as that, the op wouldn't presumably have been posting in the first place!

Op, I second Madcatlady's approach. Once you get the claim out of the way, that will probably free up some head space and energy for other things

Also, for the future, I reckon Flylady would be a great housekeeping long term system for you, as it was devised by someone who was depressed herself and who found it hard to get going in the morning. It's all about taking very small steps on a regular basis so you build up a routine that gradually becomes second nature. Come and join us on the Fly thread (there is a new one every month) under the housekeeping topic. We follow the system very imperfectly and no one judges. It's a really friendly thread. Btw, the Flylady website is a bit old fashioned and clunky and her language is barftastically twee, but the underlying system is sound!

Good luck op and to Madcatlady too!

I'm in the same boat as you. I got up an hour ago. Still need to get dressed, eat something/make a coffee, answer emails, pack, design a logo, make a flyer, confirm with friends logo and flyer is ok, book a train, get the train, get a bus, get to a shop, get home, unpack, tidy, eat, shower set alarms. Tomorrow get up stupidly early, gather supplies, get to the library, print flyers, meet friend, set up table and stand around for hours talking to strangers. Rinse and repeat on Sunday.

Hi everyone, just checking in (I'm finding it quite helpful that you guys are holding me accountable so updating you is helping me get things done!)

So far:
Laundry is on
Hoovered
Cleaned surfaces & kitchen
Eaten breakfast & taken meds

Next up is to brush my teeth & have a shower after I've cleaned my desk.

Replying to comments quickly...

@PlinkPlink That's great advice! I've listened to some music and watched some motivating YouTube videos whilst getting things done so I'm kind of combining good things with hard things which is working! Feeling more positive now :)

@SunshineAngel totally get what you're saying, I have days where I'm almost like a machine just getting things done then I seem to exhaust myself mentally and the next few days or even weeks are low ones.

I'm sorry you're familiar with the situation.

@wildthingsinthenight Thank you!

Amazed at how unsympathetic some posters are!?
Think yourselves lucky that you have never experienced this!

^THIS
Not just unsympathetic, ignorant to MH issues as well!

Thank you so much to the lovely, helpful posters & hugs and support to those that are struggling today too, we can do this.

Always put 'write a list' at the top of your to-do list. When you get to the bottom you can immediately tick one off, so already one thing has been achieved.

Also, brush teeth in the shower, two for one there.

Stick a wash on as soon as you get downstairs and you've done four things in no time at all.

Then a cuppa with something easy to eat, maybe open any post whilst drinking it.

Take cup back and sort kitchen surfaces.

Quick hoover round so it's presentable then straight to the shops for shopping.

Get back, shopping away and another cuppa, look at any studying you have to do then and do half an hour in you can manage it.

Feet up for a while, then out this evening if you fancy.

You can do it! You'll feel loads better if you can crack on a bit. Good luck!

I see you've already started, brilliant. (And apologies for my slow posting!).

I've got an app I like to use when I've got a long to-do list that's getting me down. It's called "Now Do This". You type in your to do list, then press 'ready'. The first task then pings up on the screen, you go and do it, then come back and press 'done'. Repeat for the next task.

It's ludicrously simple (no settings or options) and sounds pointless but for some reason it helps me. I think it's because only one task is visible at a time (just one item in the middle of a blank white screen), and each time I complete one and a new one pops up, it somehow sends me bustling off to do the new one!

Awesome, you're doing great.
I have days like these, it's hard and some sympathy goes a long way. Sounds like you getting through stuff which is great, maybe start thinking about a reward at the end of the day, even a little chocolate makes me feel good.

@threeamclub

I totally get you. I've had days where just showering or brushing my teeth feels absolutely impossible, and I still can't explain the feeling but it's real.

Something that helped me was splitting time into songs that I'd play on my phone.

So one song = brushing my teeth, two songs= shower, three songs = quick tidy up.

It gave some structure to what I was doing and I just said to myself I will try one song at a time to get through the day.

I hope that makes sense and it's worth a go. Poor you, I know how you feel and it's as if just getting up is physically overwhelming.