Ever been somewhat depressed?

Occasionally, I become disheartened or depressed. Nothing serious. But, I was wondering WHY that happens to me. What is it that causes frustration, depression, etc. --> Side note, this is only why I feel this way. I've read enough about personality types to know that my situation may be typical for 25% of people out there, but not everyone. However, it could possibly contain insight for you. Hopefully it does. :)

For example, earlier today I felt this way. In this case, I was up early in the morning (at 6 ish) only to fall asleep from 8am-noon. I was like... NOOOO!!! I WASTED ANOTHER FREAKIN DAY! Another example, I planned to wake up at 7am or 9am last week. But I woke up at 10am or 12pm. Again, I was like... I WASTED ANOTHER DAY! What am I doing with myself?!?! There are all these things to do and I'm just sleeping! Sheesh.

The other common examples are when I come up to some significant deadline, but don't feel like I can finish in time. For example... last week I had a quiz and lab report due on Wednesday. I get back home late Tuesday and haven't started any yet. I was so scared that I couldn't do all of them in time that I never even started. I ended up just sitting on the computer and doing... I don't even remember. Ended up falling asleep and waking up still unprepared. Instead of studying or working on my lab for 1-2 hours when I had the chance before my quiz, I STILL was overwhelmed to the point of analysis paralysis (can't do anything, overwhelmed). It didn't get any better and I honestly didn't really do either and will/have suffered the consequences.

Have you ever had either of those happen to you? Seeing that these have happened to me more than once already in 2013, I feel like you might have had something like this happen at least once in your life... Ever wanted to know how you might be able to limit those from happening? I'm honestly getting VERY sick of this. These are my personal conclusions as to WHY this is happening and how I can change it to limit/eliminate it.

1. USE my freakin calendar. I didn't buy a calendar for this year because I have 3 unused ones from the last 2 years. Today I edited one so that it has this years dates (I only used that calendar for about... 6 total weeks last year including the first 3 weeks that have already passed). I even have a ICal.
--> What I REALLY need is a place I put all my upcoming deadlines and assignments. That would help a lot.

2. Change my focus. This is a HUGE point... My perspective when I'm depressed/overwhelmed is SUPER limited. All I am doing is focused on myself and exaggerating the circumstances of my life. 

There are a couple ways I know of that can help change focus (comment if you know more).
1: Do some service. This week I'm doing some community service in the morning. It will REALLY help out my perspective. It has already. I've heard (and experienced) that you will feel a lot better about yourself if you are out there serving people. Everyone that I have talked to who have done community service trips/projects, especially for extended periods of time, say that they got more out of it than the people they served.
2: Watch movies/videos/clips or read stories that showcase the human potential. Inspirational movie clips or short stories are really powerful for this. Most often, these can help me feel like I can do anything or that my circumstances are WEAK in comparison to others.
--> Today I heard stories about the Mormon pioneers. VERY inspirational. Many walked over 1000+ miles to head west because they were being persecuted. My other favorite are stories of 18-21 year olds fighting in WWII, or my friend Jim's grandfather who was in his early 20s in WWI in trench warfare. I'm very grateful to not have those trials in my life!
3. Write in a gratitude journal. Focusing on what we are grateful for magically changes perspective. It's so wonderful, that I wrote about it once before

More side notes... (I like side notes because then I can write something that comes to my head only partially related to the rest of what I write) I literally can't believe how HUGE focus is. I mentioned in a post a few days ago about my mentor Chris Mattis's favorite quote. I will have to study it more. It applies so much more than I realized it did. I wonder how correlated depression is with focusing on individual circumstances...