Find purpose

• You learn to take your time and make calm, measured decisions rather than last minute, panicked choices.
• You also learn assertiveness as you delegate and say no to commitments, and patience as you manage your goals.

“By saying no, you are giving yourself the ability and bandwidth to say yes to the things that are more important.”

“If you often find yourself run down by your daily workload or overwhelmed by the complexity of projects and tasks in your life, it is likely because you have not fully mastered effective time management.”

Understand the common triggers. Once you understand which one is behind your depression, you can better learn how to cope with depression.

Feelings of loss, “less than” and “never going to happen” are the major reasons that most people dip into depression. Loss can result from a loved one dying or losing a job; feelings of “less than” can be triggered by comparing yourself to others you view as having more than you and “never” occurs when you start believing that your goals and dreams are completely out of reach. 

Many of those trying to find ways to deal with depression have formed limiting beliefs that negatively affect how they think.

If you come from a family who has never had a member attend college, you might believe that you are not smart enough to achieve your goals. Another common limiting belief is that they are supposed to be sad because depression or anxiety runs in their family. 

Productivity is directly related to your energy level.

Find your most productive hours — the time of your peak energy — and schedule Deep Work for those periods. Do low-value and low-energy tasks (also known as shallow work), such as responding to emails or unimportant meetings, in between those hours.

Before going to bed, spend 5 minutes writing your to-do list for the next day. These tasks should help you move towards your professional and personal goals.

You’ll be better prepared mentally for the challenges ahead before waking up and there won’t be any room for procrastination in the morning. As a result, you’ll work faster and smoother than ever before.

• Create a schedule for your day and stick to it!
  
• Chunk: Group like tasks together into blocks of time, then focus on those specifics. 
  
• RPM: Short for Results-oriented/Purpose-driven/Massive Action Plan: a system to uncover what you want and then reap the rewards. 
  
• Harness the power of habit and productivity will become second nature. 
  

Being busy and always moving through tasks is not the same as being productive.

Productivity is getting the results you aim for with less time and effort. When you are productive, you won't be chasing deadlines or running behind schedule to get done. You'll probably be ahead of schedule.

The pursuit matters just as much as the goal.
Consider why you're pursuing your goal and how the journey to achieve it will help you grow as a person.

People often give up on their resolutions because they set unattainable goals.

Try to set a goal that you can reasonably achieve within one year. If it is challenging to complete it in your set timeframe, you might become overwhelmed and give up. If the goal will take more than one year, try and set a benchmark for what you'd like to accomplish in a year.

It's your daily actions that will change what you believe about yourself and the person you become. 

Focus on the process. Focus on showing up,  on sticking to the schedule, on “not quitting.”

Eventually, the results and the self–confidence will come anyway. 

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

A mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notations that is so established that it creates a powerful incentive within you to continue to adopt or accept prior behaviours, choices, or tools.

It’s so powerful that it affects every decision-making process. It predetermines your responses and interpretations of situations.

Rather than trying to work flat-out, break down your day into a series of work-sprints with a short rest period after each session.

Set a timer for 25 min and focus exclusively on your work for that time, take a 5 min break, and repeat.

Some people find that taking a 5 min break destroys their flow. But it does help to break long complex tasks into a series on manageable sprints.

The 2-minute rule is a strategy for quickly assessing and taking action on small tasks so they don’t take up too much mental energy.

Ask yourself if a task is going to take you 2 minutes or less. If so, just do it.

What you feed your mind is what you become. So give your mind the most nutritious content possible.

Read biographies of great people who have achieved amazing things and endured massive challenges. This will help you put your own life into perspective and gain insight. 

• Adopt a healthy diet, in the long term. You must have the right fuel to push your body and increase strength and stamina. 
• Exercise. Aim for 5 days a week minimum. Push yourself so your heart is racing for at least 10 minutes to get the full cardiovascular benefit.
• Create a daily ritual to help make you strong. It should leave you feeling happy and ready to take on your day.