According to the assessment of HealthUnlocked, Anxiety and Depression group, 92% of members expressed an inability to complete daily tasks.
As I am fairly new to this group, what tools, techniques and/or therapies have you found to be effective in completing daily tasks?
Please share all that you can.
The biggest thing that helps me is taking baby steps and not overwhelming myself with things to do. Just one thing at a time. Just a little bit. Recognizing and appreciating each accomplishment no matter how big or how small. Also sharing with others here what I intend to do and then sharing when I have done it. Support helps so much.
Thanks gajh,
I took your advice and overcame the anxiety of replying to your post. Sometimes I have anxiety with replies as I am not sure if they are good enough or anyone will reply. lol, I am 68, but I can empathize with teens who worry about the same things on social media.
Thank you so much for your reply. I never know if people will reply either. Give yourself credit for doing it. That was a great step you took.
Thanks gajh,
I find that support from someone who understands the problem is very helpful and makes me feel better and heard, with all the implications of the situation. You know what I am going through so your thoughts are more valuable.
That is exactly how I feel. It makes all the difference in the world to talk to someone who gets it. Have you taken any more baby steps?
Yes I have, I try to eat better one meal at a time. The sertraline I am taking has reduced my appetite, but I have been eating healthier every time I do eat.
How about you, any “happy” steps?
That is excellent that you have been taking it one meal at a time. I have agoraphobia. The most recent step I took was to attend meditation classes. There weren't any classes held in December. Hopefully I will go back on the 13th or 14th. It is so much harder when I get out of the routine of going out and just stay in. It takes it out of being routine and is back into a thing. The first class will be the hardest.
Way to go on getting out. I love that you chose a meditation class to do two accomplishments at once, getting out and calming your mind. Great choice.
I am using the Insight Timer app. I am on day 91 of consecutive days of meditating. Do you meditate? It sounds like you do. What do you do for meditation? Do you want to talk about it? I would love to share it with you.
I have been reading about meditation but I haven’t really tried it. Does it cost to use the Insight Timer app?
I don’t feel like talking now (due to social anxiety), maybe later. But thanks for asking and sharing.
By the way, how do you pronounce gajh?
Insight Timer has both a free version and a paid subscription. I only use the free version. It is a little hard to navigate in the beginning until you get used to it. You have to look and see if the meditation has "Plus" next to it. If it does, you can't listen to that one for free. gajh is just initials nothing to pronounce. If you would like to chat in Private Message with me, let me know. I wonder if that would make it easier for you with the social anxiety knowing that only one person can see it or if that would make you even more uncomfortable. Either way, private or here, I am happy to talk to you whenever you are ready.
My advice is pretty much like gajh except in one word.
PACE yourself. (told by a physical therapist last year)
I totally agree with gajh. Appreciating the accomplishment
of whatever we can do for the day gives us enough of a high
to see a results in our stamina. 
xx
Thanks Agora1,
As you can see, I replied to gajh’s advice, and I replied to your PACE advice, by doing 2 posts/replies today.
I do feel better on both PACEDed counts.
That's interesting. I complete all my tasks and then some. And I suffer at the same time. Other times tasks that are challenging (for me that's studying chemistry, an online class) can be centering and offer some relief. It depends. However, if "tasks" means leaving the house to do fun stuff, I find that very difficult--a big wall of resistance. I think the biggest reason people cannot complete activities is depression which can make one lethargic, very difficult to engage in activities. Is that what your are talking about? Or something different? I think that for most people here the way to go, and really the only way to go, is a combination of medication and/or psychotherapy. There are also many strategies that can help such as mindfulness, grounding exercises, diagphragmatic breathing, etc. Also, it's important to have a network of close friends or family members that you can speak to when you are suffering very badly. In other words, besides investigating both therapy and medication, keep building your toolbox . . .
Yes, linuxusr, I am talking about the procrastination due to anxiety and depression. I am working on a third math paper (the one two were rejected) and the anxiety and depression surrounding the third publication attempt is overwhelming.
You’re right, and I am building my toolbox, so I really appreciate your excellent advice and feedback. I will definitely look into each technique.
Thanks again and have a great year(s) ahead.
Math paper? I am intrigued! Tell me more! I have only basic math: grades 1-8; arithmetic; pre-algebra; Algebra I; 70% Algebra II; 70% trig.; geometry; single-variable calculus only through limits, continuity and the beginning of differentiation. Since almost all were trigonometric functions, I discovered that I would have to do a repeat of trig; plus simplification of some of the solutions was a bear; plus often I could get the "correct" answer but if I could not visualize the result on the coordinate plane, then I couldn't conceptualize its meaning, and that was just an added step . . .
The paper has to do with an old proof by another source re set theory.
Care to be specific? I can input to 4omnicron and maybe get a VERY rudimentary understanding. The following is a long shot, so don't get nervous. I was a teacher of secondary school English for 30 years; I do some technical editing. IF you need editing--you may not--I would be happy to do at least some of this for you, free of charge. But that's a consideration for the future . . .
Further, any tecniques that don't seem to work well, get back to me, and I'll see if I can think of any tweaks.
I have a family so I push myself to doing daily tasks
Thanks for the reply RS1974 and I hope your family appreciates and loves your daily expressions of love. You deserve it.
I am on my own but I try to convince myself that doing things for me is also a task done with love.
I learnt about putting a timer on for tasks that I wasn't excited about doing. I would set it for 10 mins and keep going until the alarm went. By that time I was usually happy to keep on for longer. Reward yourself with a break or stretch and drink and then start the process again.
Hi, I try to make a list of the things I would like to tackle for the day. If I don't get it all done, I just praise myself for the things I managed to complete. Please tell yourself that you are important, and that you deserve to be proud of everyday accomplishments. 😋😋😋😋
I have a Habit Tracking app that I use which is extremely helpful.
I found one that's totally free and not only can I add my own things to it but I can do it in different colors for the letters so I can be creative and it's not boring.
It turns out that checking things off a to-do list sort of like having an 'I did' list makes dopamine and of course dopamine is both something that helps us feel rewarded and motivated.
So getting one thing done helps get more things done.
I utilize a technique I call Habit Stacking.
Anytime I get up to do one thing I do one to three steps of another project.
I also break projects down into tiny little pieces.
Sometimes I'll just do one piece and sometimes I'll do more than one piece at a time.
I have Pathological Demand Avoidance from being an autistic person with mixed ADHD.
Hope that you find this helpful or somebody does.
Thank you for asking.
Thanks MorningDanceTrece,
Your reply is extremely helpful. I already started on the habit of posting/replying at least once every few days/weeks to keep in touch with people here.
I am really interested in the Habit Tracker app you mentioned. If you don’t mind sharing the name of the app please know that either way I appreciate your support.
play.google.com/store/apps/...
I'm grateful that the ideas to consider that I shared were helpful 😌
I'm hoping that this link will take you to the correct habit tracking app as there are a few with the exact same name 🤦🏻♀️
That doesn't appear to be working let me try something else
Try tapping the screen to see
I have an iPhone, I don’t know if you can check, but is it the same as ihabit-habit tracker in the iPhone App Store?
It's confusing because I went to the Google Play store and couldn't find it.
When I went to the thing on the app itself that says what it is it does say "ihabit" however when I looked that up on Google Play and installed it on my phone to check it's something else entirely.
I have an Android not an iPhone.
I did notice in the process of trying to find it for you that there are a plethora of habit tracking apps and some of them are free and many of them look like they might be helpful and cool.
I'm sorry that I myself cannot be more helpful but hopefully you can find something that will meet your needs and help your life be less difficult 👍🏻😺
Thanks so much for all your help. You already helped me make my life easier just by suggesting the app. I’m going to try the iHabit-habit tracker iPhone app. Thanks again, take care and have a great year(s).
I'm ever so glad to hear that I was able to be helpful in some capacity after all 😺👍🏻I sincerely hope that your year is full of Health ❣️ Happiness 😺 and Harmony 🎶
From MorningDance
MorningDanceTrece,
I hope you don’t mind that I checked your bio, and I noticed you were interested in quitting smoking.
To return the favor of your helping with the habit app, I have a suggestion that helped me. I used nicotine patches to quit a 30 year smoking habit. They only take a few months of daily patches to slowly wean you off cigarette’s nicotine . This was 25 years ago and then they cost about $200 for the full treatment. They may seem expensive but considering the cost of cigarettes now and the lifelong benefits of quitting they’re worth every penny.
Well that’s my 2 cents worth and I hope it helps. Also they are (or were) over the counter so you shouldn’t need a prescription.
Anyway good luck and may your life be filled with Health, Happiness and Harmony too.
Thank you very much for your ideas to consider about quitting smoking tobacco. 😉
I actually, by the grace of G-d, have over 8 years without one puff.🙏🏻😺👍🏻
Nicotine replacement AIDS were actually extremely helpful including patches and gum which thankfully I was able to get with prescriptions and my medical insurance for free.
My medical insurance waived the copay because it was so important to them that people stop smoking that they waive the copay for the patches and the gum.
I also strongly recommend to anyone who's attempting to quit or thinking about it to reach out and try to find free smoking cessation support groups which are all over the place.
I learned dozens of helpful tools, coping mechanisms, and skills that made it possible for me to become a non-smoker after 39 years of smoking.
And I want to emphasize that I am a non-smoker not an ex-smoker.
I don't miss it.
It's a non issue.
It's cat food.
Meaning that it would be the same thing for me to get down on my hands and knees stick my face in my cats' bowl of Tiny Tiger pâté and munch away as smoke.🙀🤦🏻♀️🤪
You’re funny.
Thank you. It's funny but it's also true and I'm so grateful for that blessing.
I couldn't go 4 hours without smoking a cigarette.
It would wake me up at night.
I wasn't even smoking cigarettes the last 5 years to be honest.
I was smoking these little cigar things because in Massachusetts there's a significantly higher tax on cigarettes than cigars so they were like seven or eight dollars less per pack.
I downloaded an app called Finch. You get a little bird to take care of. You can help that bird by completing goals. You can make up your own goals to or add some premade ones. That has helped me to take care of myself with self care. And reminders for things like clean the bathroom every Wednesday.
I had an overwhelming list of things to do before my vacation, so I typed a list out on my phone so I wouldn't forget anything. I added to it as things came up last minute (which they did). I would put a checkmark by each one as I completed them. I could just as well have deleted each completed task, but I chose to put a checkmark by it instead so that I could see what I completed. It felt good to get to my final task, which was "pack suitcase" (don't with the aide of a packing list so I knew what to pack).
Just letting it out
panic attacks, health anxiety, and being alone
Work
Can’t stand it 
Can’t take it 
