How do you motivate yourself to get out of bed in the morning?
I've been severely depressed for months now, and since I don't have set hours at work (I come and go whenever I want) I'm finding it really hard to get out of bed unless I have an early morning meeting. Does anyone have any tips or advice? They would be greatly appreciated.
For me I'd have to say it's the same reason I'm still alive: The fear of missing out. If I stay in bed because of my depression and I miss out on something incredible that happened out in the world that's just going to make me even more depressed. Just like how I don't know my future and if I were to end my life I might it right before something were to happen that would make life worth living and I would never know so I dont want to risk it. So the same reason I'm still alive is the same reason I get out of bed every morning, fear of missing out on something incredible. I don't want to take any chances.
For me that is the one thing that hurts me. I try to be social but because i am awkward and insecure, people stay away from me. @Needtovent
@Gotenks2029 I am extremely beyond insecure and decently awkward but I am still a social butterfly. I'm one of those people that you'd see and think "everything is good in her life" but it actually is all an act and it makes it exhausting to keep up the bubbly image. So normally I go through my day and, when I get home after school, I end up crying alone in my room thinking about all the ways I messed up throughout the day and worrying about how my makeup wasnt good enough and my outfit wasnt nice enough (My family can't afford much so a lot of my clothes are thrifted so i try to make due but I feel like everyone can tell). I will cry for hours about how I'm not good enough but the next day I get up, go to school, try to be as social as my anxiety allows me then when I get home I do it all over again. I'm so scared of missing out because I'm waiting for something to happen that probably wont ever happen... I guess what I'm saying is the grass isn's always greener on the other side. One time someone said to me "Sonnet you're life must really be perfect" I just smiled and tried not to cry because little did they know that that night I was going home to be beaten black and blue and there was no one I could tell and the reason I was wearing long sleaves was because I was covering the bruises that lined my arms from the abuse I'd already dealt with and the lines that covered the bruises from the abuse I'd inflicted upon myself. Sometimes the social butterflies have just as hard of a time getting out of the bed in the morning.
@Needtovent you are a wonderful person.
@Resiliant thank you for calling me a wonderful person lol its what I need to hear sometimes. I'm sure you are as well. And ya its the whole reason I'm still alive but aye if its keeping you going than it can't be a bad thing right? we all need a form of strength and thats just what ours is for now.
That ia tough. I know what you mean my mom is not supportive of my decisions to be soicial. She once got so upset with me because i had my friend from school call me so we could talk and she freaked out. Im not sure why. Something about sharing our house number go get into the wrong hands whatever but i was 7. With many more moments in my life, she was always abusive emotionally, me tally, and physically for for her insecurities which now affect the way i come across to new people. Im 25, in college, and people wonder why i lash out or say mean things or act jealous. It is because i am envious that i dont have to skills to mingle and others dont understand that my upbring really damaged my ability to connect with others. @Needtovent
@Gotenks2029
@Gotenks2029 I'm pretty awkward and insecure too! These days I'm trying to balance that thought: I can't be perfect, I can't have all the qualities! I have pretty poor social skills but I'm very smart and that's allowing me to have a different kind of productive and fulfilling life. So what's your trade-off? Are you particularly caring? Are you particularly creative or skilled at an art/trade? Are you great with animals or children? Would you exchange that quality *just* to be popular or cool?
@Needtovent I feel the same way my fear is really curiosity of what unexpected thing could happen. There have been days it hasn't mattered and I stayed in bed all day but it is why I don't kill myself
What motivates me to get out of bed is to remind myself today is a new day. Who knows what amazing things could happen.
@BeautifulSwan thank you for reminding me an amazing thing can happen
I wake up and I remember that so many people have helped me get to where I am today.
i know my daughter needs me to get up. So I do. And I reward that effort by savouring my first cup of hazelnut coffee. I may retreat to bed again later, but not until my girl is at school. I try my best to be "happy" around her.
@ThirteenCheerios
I know what you mean, I have two little girls (2 & 3 in May) so getting out of bed is something I have to do. I try to be happy for them but sometimes I just need to "durrr" out after I get them breakfast. I spend most of the day wishing I was in bed. But on the other hand I want to be a great mom and do all the fun things even though I don't have much energy
@Cheshire94 That's exactly it. You want to be the best mum possible, but how is that possible when all you can think about is hiding in bed. It's like moving a mountain sized effort.
Ive got to believe though that I/we will get through this somehow.
One day at a time...
Until recently, I didn't motivate myself to get out of bed in the morning. I laid in bed all day failing my classes and going weeks without showering and eating nothing but junk food. With the support from my family, my school, and multiple medical professionals, I finally move and accomplish things again. I motivate myself to get out of bed in the morning by thinking about all the things I've yet to experience and the impact I could possibly make on my environment and the people around me.
@Ispyhannah I think about all the people that matter to me because that's what gives me a reason to live, to have someone to care for and be concerned about and not overlook them, that's how I gather the strength to wake up and face the day.
@QuietMuse That sounds great! I'll try that!
@Ispyhannah I actually have lost everyone in my life that mattered to me, they have all passed. My wife was the most perfect person I have ever known, and she passed 9 years ago this month. At heart I am a caretaker, so now it is actually more than a struggle to find a reason to get up because I have no one to care for and my place of employment closed. So without finding a new job since July 2016, things feel pretty bleak and I turn toward apathy. So I cannot tell you how you need to accomplish your goal, but I can tell you that I accomplish mine by will power, and that slim glimmer of hope that always seems to be there if you look hard enough. I like myself, and that may be the master key to all the locks in your life. I have always done everything I could in any situation. Sometimes I failed, sometimes my decisions were wrong, but my effort was there, and I find I have no regrets because of that. If anything had been different in my life I may be different and not like who I am, so how do I regret anything thinking this? I also can consider myself the luckiest person I know, because I was married to the most perfect person I ever met, albeit shorter than we both wished, it was a light that burned bright. The thing I can tell you is for most everyone that has ever lived, there is an expiration date for them. Do not be afraid of this, but realize it will come at some point and think of all the challenges you wish to think you have tried to accomplish, which will be none if you never get up. I have two experiences that are hard to beat for just having gotten up that day, and without details, one of the days I actually died, and the other day I saved a life. No one knows what will happen in any day. Find out, you definately will never know if you do not get up. Just don't get down about a day you do not quite make it, sometimes things take time. I know just listening to music again without my wife was very hard, it actually hurt it seems, but I found a way to do it again by talking to people while listening. Sort of a trick of the mind to accept music without pain. There are many keys to things but so many of each of us have a unique way of dealing with things best. You are your own best advocate.Just remember "Curiosity WILLED the cat".
These spring & summer months I take an advantage of the sunlight - I placed the bed the way that it is unavoidable to be waken up by the bright, harsh light. Every morning I have to get up to pull the curtains and... that way I trick myself to stand up and slowly start the day. So far it works for me ^^;
Im glad you found a way to move forward in your life. There was also some period in my life I had experienced the same. Nowday usually I want to start my day with good meditation which give me energy :)
It's hard.... But I try to remind mysel of the reasons I am here. I point my focus towards the very few things that I care about and try to build goals for myself that actually mean something. Even tasks such as getting out of bed or remembering to do something can be quite an achievement. I try to set tasks, goals and take little steps forward. I help myself though... the best... by helping others.
@ShanChan09
Same here
This is still something I am trying to rediscover. I have been celebrating small victories, I showered today, yet I still end up back in bed. With this intense need for more sleep, I desire human contact. It is difficult to get that contact since the mere idea of the work it will take to get ready and out the dore gives me overwhelming anxiety in turn making me wallow in self pjty due to my inability to pick a fucking shirt and brush my hair.
To me the single best moivation is this quote my friend once showed me. It goes like "life is like a heartbeat, it will go up, it will go down. But as long as is moving you know you are alive" this just means that, no matter what bad things happen, it will become good again. And vice versa. You just have to be prepared and ready to facd any problem that comes your way! :)
