Part of what has really been helpful throughout my recovery journey is having a schedule and being held accountable. While sometimes my anxiety/depression makes this near impossible, I do the best I can do. And by the “best I can do”, I mean I may overdo it when I am feeling well. The thing is that it really does help, so making checklists, weekly/daily schedules, having a ridiculous planner, and a daily journal are all things that I have scattered about me randomly.
The weekly schedule is on the fridge. My DBT BA (a basic explanation of what a BA, or behavioral activation is! CLICK ME! I CONTAIN KNOWLEDGE!) schedule is in my planner, my daily grateful/goals/self-affirmations are in my journal, and random to-do lists/events/and things to remember are all scribbled about somewhere in my planner.
Keeping track of everything I do helps me stay focused and gives me perspective when at the end of the day I feel like I didn’t accomplish anything.
^ this is my BA list, weekly.
Not only do I try to do better day to day, but I can make weekly goals, too. I keep them every week and try to look for patterns. Sometimes digging into patterns helps, but oftentimes I end up overwhelmed, so I try to do it sparingly. If you like my layout, go ahead and steal it! Add your own stuff in! Keep track! Then, look back and be grateful and proud of all you’ve accomplished.
To be honest, there are days that I can check off maybe 1 box of completions. But you know what? There are other days that I manage to get all of them done. It all evens out, even with the bad days. I promise.
Optimism and Caffeine 