How to Get Motivated When Depressed: 12 Tips

Whether it’s going into the office, cleaning the kitchen, or hitting the gym, getting motivated can be challenging at the best of times — but it can feel even harder if you have depression.

In fact, a loss of motivation is one of the most common symptoms of depression — alongside trouble concentrating and lost interest in things you used to enjoy. Add in fatigue and a low mood and you can see why depression and motivation don’t exactly go hand in hand.

There are steps you can take to help, though. Below, we explore tips for finding motivation when depressed, so you can get things done when it feels the hardest.

Sure, you may want to learn Italian, get a promotion, and buy a house, but these goals are intimidating to anyone.

When you’re struggling to get motivated, try setting small goals that are within your reach. When you achieve them, it'll boost your confidence and your motivation to keep the ball rolling.

Small goals could include:

• Get up and get dressed

• Go for a 10-minute walk

• Call your family for a catch-up

You can slowly start setting bigger goals as your motivation increases.

Wondering how to motivate yourself to work when depressed? The same advice applies here. Try breaking your to-do list into super small tasks and setting achievable goals to work your way through them.

We know you might not be in the mood for exercising, but hear us out.

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis looked at 218 studies on depression and exercise with more than 14,000 participants in total. The results showed that these types of exercise helped to reduce depression:

• Walking

• Jogging

• Aerobic exercise

• Yoga

• Strength training

• Tai chi

• Qigong

If any of those options feel overwhelming, refer back to tip number one and start with small steps.

Depression and insomnia go together like depression and poor motivation, and finding motivation when depressed might feel even harder if you’re sleep-deprived.

But research shows that getting enough sleep could help curb depression, anxiety, rumination (translation: endless worrying), and stress — all of which could help you feel more motivated day to day.

You can improve your sleep by:

• Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day — yes, even on weekends

• Avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and evening

• Winding down before bed with a warm bath or a good book

Our guide on how to sleep better dives into the details.

Believe it or not, what you eat can impact your mental health. Improving your diet could improve your depression symptoms — and therefore your motivation levels.

You might notice the difference pretty quickly, too.

In a 2019 study, 76 young adults ate either a Mediterranean-style diet or their usual diet for three weeks.

At the end of the three weeks, the improved-diet group reported lower depression symptoms than the control group — and these results were seen three months later too.

The new-and-improved diets included:

• Fruits and vegetables

• Wholegrain cereals

• Protein like tofu, eggs, fish, and lean meats such as chicken

• Nuts and seeds

• Olive oil

• Unsweetened dairy

When depressive symptoms hit, it’s easy to slip into habits that further impact your mental and physical health — like staying up late or skipping meals.

Giving yourself a daily routine can help you combat that.

It doesn’t have to be planned out to the minute or overly ambitious. You can simply set times to:

• Wake up

• Eat meals

• Go for a walk

• Start work, if you have the flexibility

• Take medication, if you take it

• Go to sleep

Ideally, you’d sprinkle in a few daily habits to aim for too — like cooking a healthy meal, exercising, or messaging a friend.

Even when you have low motivation, try sticking to your daily routine as closely as possible.

There’s nothing like a hangover to tank your desire to do...anything. But the link between depression, motivation, and alcohol goes deeper than that.

Depression is common among people with alcohol dependence. And even if you’re just an occasional drinker, alcohol can impact your sleep, mood, and mental performance.

Plus, alcohol and antidepressants don’t mix well.

Try cutting down on alcohol — or cutting it out completely — to improve your motivation, energy levels, and mental health symptoms.

Not sure how to get out of a depressive slump? Developing a meditation and mindfulness practice might help.

It can reduce symptoms of depression and improve your sleep quality. Plus, research shows mindfulness can improve your levels of motivation. That’s what we call a win-win-win.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy may even help decrease depression severity in those with treatment-resistant depression.

Mindfulness practices include:

• Deep breathing exercises

• Body scans

• Walking meditations

To get started, check out our guide on meditation for beginners.

Just like with exercise, you might lack motivation to socialize when depressed, but a little connection can go a long way.

Try meeting up with a trusted friend over a coffee. If you’re up for it, talking about your depression may also help.

You could also ask friends and family for motivation support.

For example, if you’re trying to exercise a little more, you could agree to meet a friend for a brisk walk around the park. You may find your motivation to get out there is higher knowing you’re accountable to someone else.

If you really don’t feel motivated to interact with other humans, try sitting in a coffee shop or going to a movie alone. Just being around other people is a positive first step.

Social media use can increase your risk of depression. You might find yourself losing hours to TikTok dance tutorials or comparing yourself to touched-up photos and “highlight reels” of people’s lives on Instagram.

Taking a one-week break from social media can improve:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Overall well-being

Even just limiting how long you spend on social media each day or avoiding it first thing in the morning might help you feel better and more motivated IRL.

Plus, when you’re not on social media, you’ll have more free time to do other things, so you may find you’re more productive.

One tree hug isn’t the secret to finding motivation when depressed, but research shows that going for a walk in nature can improve depression and anxiety symptoms.

Additional research shows that a 50-minute nature walk can improve both memory and mood in people with major depressive disorder.

If you’re struggling to muster up the energy for something that long, consider starting with a lap around your local park.

Speaking with a professional can help reverse a loss of motivation, loss of interest, and anhedonia.

A therapist can help you work through your symptoms, get to the bottom of why you’re feeling them, and teach you ways to manage and improve them.

If therapy sounds daunting, know that there are quite a few different types, so you can experiment to find the style that’s most effective for you. We’re talking:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

• Group therapy

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

You might find you feel more motivated to go to a support group than a one-on-one therapy session, for example, or you may feel more motivated to stick to online therapy compared to in-person visits.

Depression medication can give you relief from your symptoms, which can go on to boost your motivation.

Medications used to treat depression include:

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs work by increasing the activity of serotonin — aka the happy hormone — in your brain. This can improve your mood, memory, social behavior, and sleep. Fluoxetine (Prozac®), sertraline (Zoloft®), and paroxetine (Paxil®) are all SSRIs.

• Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). SNRIs work similarly to SSRIs, but they target norepinephrine as well as serotonin. Low levels of norepinephrine are linked to lethargy and trouble concentrating. SNRIs include duloxetine (Cymbalta®), venlafaxine (Effexor®), and levomilnacipran (Fetzima®).

• Norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs). NDRIs work by increasing the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine in your brain. Dopamine plays a role in motivation and cognitive function. Bupropion (Wellbutrin®) is a commonly used NDRI.

Reach out for professional help if you think depression medications could help you.

A healthcare provider can talk you through the potential side effects and benefits of each, and recommend the best medication for you.

If you’re already on antidepressants and you’re finding side effects are affecting your motivation, reach out for advice. A mental health professional can make tweaks to your treatment plan or recommend a different medication or ways to manage your current medication’s side effects.

With depression, it’s hard to feel like your most energetic and productive self, so don’t be too hard on yourself if your motivation is in short supply.

Just know that you can change things about your daily life to feel better and achieve your goals.

Here’s the TL;DR on how to motivate yourself when you are depressed:

• Start small. Set yourself small goals to work toward. If you’re deep in a depressive funk, that could be something like getting up and making the bed each day. As you start to feel better, try setting small goals to get the ball rolling on getting some work done or exercising.

• Set up and follow a daily routine. Choose times you’ll wake up, work, work out, and go to bed. Bonus points if you give yourself some easy healthy habits to accomplish each day. Now for the most important part: Try to stick to your routine, even when you’re feeling depressed and unmotivated.

• Reach out for help. Ask friends and loved ones for help — either in general or with getting daily tasks and healthy habits ticked off — and reach out to a healthcare provider if you’re interested in depression treatments like therapy and medication.

You can even start treating depression and lack of motivation from your couch. Connect with a licensed healthcare provider through our website to access depression treatments.