{"id":3457,"date":"2024-01-10T19:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T19:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/?p=3457"},"modified":"2025-05-28T21:50:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:50:29","slug":"ups-my-secret-for-avoiding-depression-being-more-productive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/2024\/01\/10\/ups-my-secret-for-avoiding-depression-being-more-productive\/","title":{"rendered":"UPS – My secret for avoiding depression, being more productive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Down days<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s normal for people to have down days, to have times in which they become less than motivated. it’s also normal to find yourself without purpose here and there. Sure, you have a purpose\u2014you have good old Maslow’s hierarchy of needs<\/em> to keep you going. Are ya hungry? In pain? Do you need to make money? Do you need a hug today (the answer is always yes). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are moments in which we lack a bit of motivation. Even people who are explicitly, painfully, blindly aware of motivation, productivity, the way things work, still have those moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I’m talking about me. Mark Bradford, at your service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I’m not talking about just “hanging out” or “putzing” or having fun. Those are all healthy, good things. I’m talking about those moments of being a little lost, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually1<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the two biggest reasons for depression?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stressful life events<\/strong> and trauma especially when combined with isolation and lack of support can create an atmosphere of depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So when I find myself in those moments (whether they are a few seconds or it looks like it’s gonna be a long haul) I turn to the thing I created to save me, to pull me out of those down times\u2014U.P.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again with the acronyms? Oh yeah. LIfe is made of three things, there are five facets to life, there’s the Do it to a F.A.U.L.T. method of getting things done, and now U.P.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to this quick episode to see if it applies to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update: Here is the UPS sheet<\/a> you can use to put down your thoughts and be ready if you ever have to say “UPS!” Feel free to download and print.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Don’t read too much into that. This is not a discussion on being spiritually lost, or empty inside. That’s an entirely different discussion. I use the word “spiritually” because having a purpose can feel very much like you are in tune with the universe, thus “spiritual.” \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>
    \nhttps:\/\/alchemyfor.life\/podcasts\/ups.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div>

    Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

    Subscribe: RSS<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Down days It’s normal for people to have down days, to have times in which they become less than motivated. it’s also normal to find yourself without purpose here and there. Sure, you have a purpose\u2014you have good old Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to keep you going. Are ya hungry? In pain? Do you need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Don't read too much into that. This is not a discussion on being spiritually lost, or empty inside. That's an entirely different discussion. I use the word \\\"spiritually\\\" because having a purpose can feel very much like you are in tune with the universe, thus \\\"spiritual.\\\"\",\"id\":\"aafc1950-8fe9-4444-9366-04ca33851bcb\"}]"},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3457"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4090,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions\/4090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyfor.life\/balancecoaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}