Little Things you can do to Avoid Depression

Depression need not necessarily be due to one BIG problem that’s affecting your life. It can be a series of small imperfections that can add up. A ship can sink because of one huge gaping hole or because of many smaller holes. Analyze what these small problems in your life are. You can make tiny changes in your life, adopt little good habits that will go a long way in making you a happier person. Some of these points may seem trivial and silly – but they all add up…

Did you make your bed? Do it soon as you wake up in the morning. It may seem like a small thing, but you begin your day by doing one thing right. It’s a psychological tactic employed by the military; you start your day on a positive note. See the link here.

Keep your surroundings clean and well organized. Sweep/swab your floors, wash the dishes in your sink, make sure your laundry is all done and ironed and hanging neatly, remove the clutter – do this before you do anything else. Your house should be perfectly clean – only then are you allowed to watch your favorite Netflix show or go out and meet your friends. You will be a lot happier and productive operating in a clean and organized environment. Otherwise, the nagging thought of “I need to clean my house” will constantly be there at the back of your head and you won’t be able to enjoy your show or chill with your friends. And the mess will only get bigger if you don’t clean it up now, slay the monster while it’s still small! The Japanese call it the 5S theory.

Extension of the above point – buy necessities in bulk, buy the biggest packs (cost efficient), and have an ample supply – toothpaste, soap, contact lens cleaner, shaving blades, deodorant, fuel for your vehicle – that way you minimize your chance of running out of stuff at critical times and this will make your life less chaotic. Haven’t we all faced the frustrating situation of running out of toothpaste on a really busy morning? Small things matter.

Invest in quality stuff. I could have bought a cheaper computer, but no – I went for the best and fastest one, and two years later, it is nowhere close to outdated/obsolete and will serve me well for a lot many more years. It is fast and reliable and helps me so much in my work! Same is the case with my phone. It’s called “future-proofing.”
Kaizen – the Japanese philosophy of “constant improvement.” Constantly be on the lookout for areas where you can make improvements, make things better. You can apply it to, your appearance for example. Analyze yourself from top to bottom. Does that haircut suit me? My skin looks a little damaged, and maybe I should wear a hat or use sunscreen. My eyes… maybe I’ll look better if I ditch the glasses and use contact lenses. That shirt color doesn’t suit me. I need to get in shape…

Make your surroundings beautiful. Seven years ago – my roommate and I moved into a small cheap apartment in Bangalore. The walls were blue. We wanted them white. We were young, just started working, a paint job at this point seemed like a needless extravagance,  like madness, but we had a gut feeling, and we went ahead with it. We painted the walls white and lit up the place with off-white lighting, and guess what – it completely changed the vibe of the place. The place looked so bright and cheery and welcoming as opposed to the dark, depressing blue dungeon it used to be before. It just made us happier. I mean come on, “blue” is used as a metaphor for depression! Decorate your house/apartment – hang a beautiful painting, ditch that dusty old sofa and buy a better looking more comfy one, tear out that ugly tube light and replace it with a decorative light fixture, get rid of those garish curtains, and most importantly… keep it all clean! I went ahead with the paint job of something called the “Broken Windows Theory” which I heard about in a movie.

For true happiness, you cannot do the things you want to do – you gotta do the things you HAVE to do. You had a tough day at work. You so badly want to eat a chocolate cake and drink a beer… No, you don’t! Head to the gym, run on the treadmill, lift weights, sweat buckets, feel the pain, punish yourself. Then come back and have a nice relaxing warm shower, scrub off the sweat, change into some fresh clothes, then have a nice high-protein dinner to nourish your sore muscles. Trust me, that feeling, that high you get knowing that you have done something productive… no amount of beer or chocolate in the world can match that!

Your body carries you through your entire life. Can’t you spend a few hours a week for its maintenance?
Indulge in good food!  What will make you happier and healthier? A ten rupee pack of Maggi or a juicy steak with pepper sauce and buttered vegetables? Sometimes I think I’m spending too much on food. But then I remember how much I am NOT spending on hospital bills. Treat yourself to a royal meal at least once a week. Go out alone if you have to!

Too much “positive talk” can also make you depressed. Parents, teachers, and friends often make the mistake of saying things like – “you are beautiful” “you are special” “you can do whatever you want” – no you’re not and you can’t! Maybe you are ugly. Maybe you are not as smart as you think. And for Darwin’s sake, no, your fat body is NOT beautiful! You will realize that once you step out of your small circle-jerk of friends and enablers and into the big bad world – you are not special, you are not beautiful, you’re just another face in the crowd and nobody wants to date your fat ass. This isn’t Tumblr, welcome to the real world. Sometimes, you need some brutal honesty. I was a small thin weak kid in school and got bullied a lot. Nobody told me I was special or beautiful, and the bullies just hit me harder. Thank you. You guys motivated me to workout and lift weights and become stronger. You NEED tough times to become tough. This and the many negative experiences in my life gave me a thick skin and helped me deal with the many many many failures and disappointments I would face in life.

Meet people. Force yourself to go out on the weekends – even if alone. You might just meet someone at your regular bar or lounge. Talk to people, listen to their stories…. you will see that you are not the only unhappy person. No one’s life is perfect. Like Zakir Khan says in his comedy act – even people like Salman Khan and Greek Gods like Hrithik Roshan have suffered failures in love.

How are you with the people around you? Try not to piss people off. Be a likable person. Nobody agrees with you 100%, if you hold a magnifying lens and look for differences, you will DEFINITELY find them. When talking to a person, you can either focus on your differences and have arguments – or you can focus on the things that bind you together. It is considered bad manners to raise controversial and divisive topics on the dinner table – like politics, religion, feminism, etc. Most people seem to be unaware of this. Keep those things on your Facebook or Twitter.

Bill sees something on the internet. Bill doesn’t like it. Bill ignores. Bill moves on; Bill has a life. Be like Bill. Online and offline. Bill doesn’t like stuff; Bill clicks the UNFOLLOW option. You may be a famous standup comedian, but once you step off-stage… what are you? You are just a fat ugly loser incapable of holding anyone in interesting conversation. No one wants to talk to you, go back to your hotel room, jack off and go to sleep. Reminds me of this dialogue from Iron-man.

Steve Rogers: Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?
Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

So yes, these are some of the things I do to make my life easy. Even if I face a big problem in life, the little ones are taken care off. My house is clean, my bills are paid, my health is great, and my bed is made. Cheers!