If you're thinking about ending your life, or you're not safe right now, call 000 in Australia or 988 in the US. Lifeline is on 13 11 14, any time.

How to get motivated when you feel low

When you feel low, it's natural to wait until you feel like doing something. Behavioural activation starts the other way round: do something small, and motivation can follow.

Why motivation drops

Behavioural activation describes a loop. Low mood takes away energy and interest, so you do less. Doing less leaves fewer good moments in your day, and that can make the next start harder. The behavioural activation guide explains the loop.

Do it first, and motivation can follow

You don't have to feel ready. Pick a small activity, do it, then notice how you feel. Behavioural activation is built on the idea that motivation can follow once you've started.

Make it smaller

If an activity feels too big, shrink it until you could do it on a bad day. Each of these takes five minutes or less:

• Text someone you've been meaning to reach out to ConnectionSend that message you've been putting off
• Dance to one song BodyPut on a track and let your body move
• Sort the mail AchievementOpen, file, or toss whatever's piling up
• Close your eyes and listen to one song RestLet one song play all the way through without doing anything else
• Watch the sunset or sunrise EnjoymentStep outside and take in the sky for a few minutes

For more, see the achievement, connection, enjoyment, body and rest lists, or all 142 activities.

Plan the time, not the mood

Choose a time for your activity and do it when the time comes, however you feel. Plan tomorrow's activity tonight, so the morning has no decisions in it. Activity scheduling shows how to plan a week.

Notice how you feel after

After the activity, ask yourself: do I feel worse, the same, a bit better or much better? Write it down. After a week or two, read your notes back. Look for the activities that left you feeling better, and plan more of those.

On days when nothing feels possible

Some days even a small activity feels like too much. Make the next one smaller, or choose something from the rest list on purpose. One small activity still counts. If most days feel like this, talk to your GP.

When to get more help

Has it lasted more than two weeks? Is it getting in the way of work, study or the people around you? Then talk to your GP. In Australia, your GP can refer you to a psychologist under a Mental Health Treatment Plan.

Beyond Blue is on 1300 22 4636 in Australia. If you're not safe, call 000 in Australia or 988 in the US, or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

What the research says

A 2020 Cochrane review brought together 53 studies of behavioural activation for depression in adults, with about 5,500 people. Five of those studies, with 601 people, compared it with CBT. The review found no clear difference between the two in the short term, up to six months after treatment, and rated that evidence as moderate certainty.

Behavioural activation is a recommended psychological approach for depression (RANZCP 2020; NICE NG222).

These studies tested behavioural activation with a therapist or trained mental health worker. They didn't test Bloom, and Bloom isn't therapy.

Behavioural activation step by step sets out the whole method.

Sources

1. Uphoff E and others (2020). Behavioural activation therapy for depression in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013305.pub2
2. Kanter JW and others (2010). What is behavioral activation? Clinical Psychology Review 30: 608–620. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.04.001
3. NICE (2022). Depression in adults: treatment and management (NG222). www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng222
4. Malhi GS and others (2021). The 2020 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 55: 7–117. www.ranzcp.org/getmedia/a8c79505-c0b5-46b4-9f27-67f79e047674/RANZCP-mood-disorders-clinical-practice-guideline-2020.pdf