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Seasonal Depression Has Kicked In, But I'm Still Kickin

Seasonal depression has a way of sneaking up on you. Looking back, I can see that my depression snuck in  about two and a half/three weeks ago.  It super hard this week.  I fell into my "exhausted for no reason" pattern and that's when I realized I'd slipped in.

Tbis week, having realized I was mid-depressive episode I leaned into it to a certain extent. I had a couple days were I took un-necessary naps.  I didn't beat myself up for the days I slept in.  In the mean time I've also taken measures to combat my symptoms. I've made a point of spending time outside when the sun is out. I've made sure to eat healthy foods. I've snuggled with JackJack (my dog), and just allowed myself to be lazy and unmotivated.

Today was my first day off by myself in over a week so I allowed myself a bit of chill and a bit of pampering.  I gave myself a facial, did an undereye treatment, and made my favorite meal.  I'm mixing it with some productive tasks as well- grocery shopping, vacuuming, and putting away the clean laundry that's been on drying racks for over a week.

Something else I've done is read weeks three of four in "Organize Now."

Week three is all about the first steps of true organization: centralize your schedule in one place, prioritize your to-dos, and pre-scheduling appointments.  Most of the steps were easy to do, but pre-scheduling appointments for the year is a non-starter for me.  Working retail with a non-regular schedule makes it practically impossible.  So, instead of getting everything book I made a list of needed appointments and their timeframe. JackJack needs to go to the vet in April and I need to go to the eye doctor in February.  This way when I have my work schedule I can make the appointments accordingly.

Week four is about cleaning schedule. It encourages chore charts, assigning tasks to family members, and cleaning every day. One thing you will never get me to do is make my bed every day. Not happening. It's an unnecessary thing to add to the list in my opinion. I can get into the idea of doing a quick sweep every night to get things into the room they belong in. Also- steam cleaning my carpet and upholstery only once a year is laughable.  I have a dog.  I need to that at least every two to three months!
I'm finidng some parts of Jennifer Ford Berry's advice a bit presumumptious. She assumes you have a traditional family and schedule.  It's just me and my husband, we don't need a chore chart. And neither one of us works on a traditional schedule so a full year of pre-planning is not something we can really do.  While my husband works a set schedule we only know his on-call schedule about three months in advance and those are two weeks a month we have to stay within a 30 minute drive of his work.  I don't have a set schedule.  Heck, if things go according to plan I'm going to be at a completely different location in six months.

What I'm doing is taking the bits of her advice that are relevant to me and using them and ignoring the rest. She has sections in every week for what to do every weekly, every three to six months and once a  year.  It's not universal.  But it's helpful.





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