Reality check your thoughts
If you're depressed, negative thoughts go with the territory. However, they are rarely grounded in reality.
Once you've identified a negative thought, ask yourself, "Where is the evidence that I'm the most despicable human being on the entire earth?" There probably isn't any.
"You can't just be rattling these thoughts back and forth and saying they're true," says Blackburn. "You have to come up with some solid evidence."
And if you're worried about what people are thinking about you, go ahead and ask them.
Choose smart goals
Select a few simple, straightforward goals you can easily set and follow, suggests Rego. Those goals should be SMART, which stands for "specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding, and time-limited."
So for example, deciding you will have a job by the end of the week is unrealistic.
But deciding to post two resumes online by the end of the week, on the other hand, is SMART. "It's specific. It's attainable. It's not that much effort to do and it could be rewarding," says Rego.
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