treeantlers

As much as I hate to say it… sleep, exercise, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and sticking to a strict routine.

When I was in my teens and 20s, I thought everyone was full of shit, and that everyone who claimed that any of those worked had just never experienced actual depression before because there was no way something that sounded so simple could actually make an impact.

As it turns out, my brain needs a heavy dose of mood stabilizers every night and 8-9 hours of sleep (but no more than that, sleeping too much is also bad). If I’m checking those two boxes, I’m a pretty functional and happy person.

If I’m not, it snowballs pretty quickly: first, my attitude will shift from things being opportunities to things being obligations. Then I find myself not being able to keep up with my regular tasks. These dishes suck, work sucks, my stupid dog is barking again – she sucks too. Everything feels boring and tiring and meaningless. I resent everybody and argue with people in my head. My internal monologue is brutal. Everything is a stupid piece of shit, myself included. Exercise is stupid. Making food is stupid; it takes forever and just makes more dishes. Now you’re eating stale crackers for dinner? Who does that? (You get the picture.)

I’ve been on medication for eight years and sober for five – all of what I described above is what happens to me just after being sleep deprived for a day or two.

So it’s frustrating because all the stuff that well-meaning, non-depressed people suggest does have a huge impact. But it’s way harder for a depressed brain to accomplish any of it, and hearing “oh, well just do this easy thing that works for me!” can be incredibly discouraging.

Like your mom’s advice: “think happy thoughts”? 10 years ago I would have heard that as “just think about sunshine and rainbows and all your problems will be solved” – and yeah, that’s pretty dumb advice. But if you replace that with “use positive self-talk and be mindful of small things that make you happy,” that can be a powerful tool.

So be patient with your brain and gentle when you talk to yourself – depression is tough, but with the right medication and the proper emotional tools to work through it, it can be managed.

Also: if you’re not already seeing one, I highly recommend therapy if you have the option. The techniques may seem dumb at first, but they really do work.

It’s really more of them commenting on individual items that they like or are new. Think, “oh man, have you tried these chick’n nuggets yet? We just got them in a flavor and I’m so addicted.”

Now… if they commented on entire purchases I would probably have died of embarrassment in the Trader Joe’s line fifteen times over. (Yes, this cheese is all for me and no, I am not throwing a party.)

Also: your glove-scarf masterpiece brings peace to me and also my one ski glove that permanently lives next to my clothes hamper. Thank you for sharing.

Hey, no need to apologize! This is something I’ve had a tough time with for a while, so it’s also helpful for me to articulate some of my thoughts to someone else.

As far as getting other people interested: that’s a fantastic reason to spend time learning about a topic! Good on you for taking an educational stance on something so important.

The fact that you’re new to this information about climate change does change (slightly) what I was saying previously: I’m in my 30s and I’ve been reading report after report for over a decade and only recently decided to avoid them.

The fact that you’re new to this is challenging because it’s important for you to learn about climate change, but it’s not exactly a topic that inspires hope. I’m not sure which specific report you’re referring to, but you do need to remember that there are a lot of reports out there that are really overblown and sensationalized.

Climate change is definitely a threat, but environmental science is also ridiculously complicated. It’s easy for people with little understanding of a topic to make commentary on it (and sound convincing because they’re using technical terminology!) But they may not be qualified to make the claims they’re making.

As you educate yourself, I’d stick to intro-level educational resources from universities and science organizations – they tend to be less “doom and gloom,” more focused on solutions, and they avoid making over-the-top claims.

Also, remember that climate change is, well, change. And change is scary. But the fact that the future is going to be different doesn’t mean that everything is going to become terrible one day and be terrible forever until we all die in under 100 years (which as many people have said in this thread, is extremely unlikely.) The future will have good times and bad times, just like there are now. But this kind of change means that we need to adapt and be more resilient than ever: luckily, humans are excellent at adaptation.

So don’t let this report ruin your life: you’re right that you won’t be the same again after learning about climate change, but that’s normal! It’s a part of learning and growing. “Ignorance is bliss” is a phrase for a reason: it really does suck sometimes learning about the world, because not everything about the world is blissful. But now you’re going to take climate change seriously and help others do the same, and that’s a powerful thing.

So again, focus on what you can control, maybe find some less intense resources to learn from, educate your peers so they can help move things in the right direction, and take a deep breath. You’re going to be okay!

Not sure if this helps at all, but you’re not alone: I feel a sense of dread every time I find myself holding an empty plastic container.

It might feel like you’re sticking your head in the sand, but what I do – and what I suggest for people suffering from climate anxiety – is actively avoid reading reports like that. Sure, they’re informative (and it’s important to stay informed), but at the end of the day it’s not worth your mental health.

If there’s one thing we know about the problem of climate change at this point (despite what massive corporate contributors have tried to tell us) it’s that you as an individual cannot fix it and you did not contribute very much to it. Plus: you already know it’s bad. Those statistics are meant for people whose minds and behavior will be changed by them.

Instead of reading reports that are informative (but unhelpful), spend time researching who to vote for, how to get involved with organizations who are making change, and which companies are truly focused on sustainability so you can vote with your money.

Climate change is an unfortunate reality and you’ll never feel good about it, but you can feel better if you’re focusing on what you can change.

Woof, I’ve managed people at paperless companies and hadn’t even considered how painful bad management combined with physical files would be.

It’s one thing to have to pull a bunch of poorly-formatted data into a sheet… but seriously? Tracking physical files in a spreadsheet? What your boss is asking is for an entire new process, not a fun little suggestion.

And side note for your boss: stupid, poorly thought-out suggestions like “just create a spreadsheet” are how you end up with your people wasting 25 hours on a file that you’ll just leave sitting on your desktop and forget you ever asked for. If the boss wants a new system, it should be the boss’s job to develop it and implement it effectively. “Just put it in a spreadsheet?” Give me a break. Terrible management.

Now I’m ranting. That’s infuriating and I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.

Feeling good so far: I’m working toward my Salesforce Admin cert and I spent the morning learning about some cool reporting functionalities I never used in my past sales roles.

Also finally finished some severely-delayed Spring cleaning: I gathered a bunch of stuff to throw away a few weeks ago, but got sidetracked and left it sitting by the stairs until my brain labeled it “furniture” and forgot it was there even though it was a giant pile of clutter in plain sight. (Does this happen to anyone else??)

I also went to Trader Joe’s and found a unicorn: a tired, unenthused cashier. But right as I was about to say “you really don’t have to give commentary on my purchases, it’s cool” another cashier ran up and complimented my haircut. Darn it, maybe I’ll escape next time. At least I know jaded Trader Joe’s cashiers exist now.

Did this all the time as a kid. … And as an adult, sort of. I have a recipe for a chilled corn and edamame salad with a soy sauce/sesame dressing. I make it with frozen veggies and sometimes if I’m feeling impatient I’ll eat it without fully thawing them.

Dad joke in pie chart form? 10/10.

Funny story: I used to work for a company that Elon didn’t pay his bill to. The tool fell under the department that was also responsible for content moderation, so I imagine he figured their tools were just blockers to free speech. But this tool was actually used to make sure ads weren’t being purchased with stolen credit cards.

It doesn’t take a genius to understand the concept of due diligence or that cutting costs can also cut your revenue stream… but hey, whatever floats your boat!

Arguing with walruses: for when you literally want to die on that hill.

I loved Death Stranding – it’s weird, beautiful, and the soundtrack is incredible (RIP Low Roar) but it’s kind of an acquired taste and you have to be cool with the “hiking simulator” aspect.

Thanks for sharing! +1 to to-do lists. Often I find the Sunday Scaries are in part because you know you have a lot to do, but you’re not entirely clear on what that entails.

Also, for some reason I kind of feel like a nerd setting out my clothes for the next day, but I never regret it.