Getting going again

When your mood is low, it can be hard to get going.

This is about why that happens, and one way to start changing it.

Low mood can drain your energy and motivation.

So you do less. You stay in, put things off, or stop doing things you used to enjoy.

Doing less means fewer good moments and more things piling up, and that can lower your mood further.

It becomes a cycle that keeps going round.

It's natural to wait until you feel like doing something. But with low mood, the feeling often comes after the doing, not before.

Think of a car with a flat battery. Waiting won't start it.

A jump-start gets the engine turning. The longer it keeps running, the more the battery charges.

Small steps work like that jump-start. You get going first, and energy and motivation often follow.

Before you choose your first steps, it can help to notice what you do each day, and how your mood goes with it.

One way to break the cycle is with small, planned steps.

Choose activities that matter to you, that you enjoy, or that give you a sense of achievement. Start small.

Plan when you'll do each one, as you would an appointment.

Before each one, predict how much you'll enjoy it, from nought to ten.

Afterwards, rate how much you actually enjoyed it.

Often it goes a little better than low mood predicted. And if it doesn't, that's useful to know too.

Step by step, you can start to build back what matters to you, at a pace that works for you.

Plan your first small step in My week.

Then look back at your predictions with your therapist.