I’m feeling overwhelmed. I haven’t been able to balance my crappy fulltime job, my depression, my doom scrolling and my hobbies. I feel stuck. I want to get back into writing again. But every time it feels possible stuff gets chaotic again and I get pulled away. Then it’s hard again. I have a project that means a lot to me that I want to do. But I just feel so tired and defeated all the time. I just don’t have energy left outside of work and when I do, I just can’t seem to focus it. Instead, I end up sleeping or wasting hours just mindlessly scrolling social media. I don’t really know where to start or what to do. But I want to find a way to get out of that and get back to doing the things I find meaningful and enjoyable. I’m just at a loss. Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Any suggestions of where to start?
Well, I can tell you that ur condition is not uncommon, as a lot of us are in that situation or were, as we are burnt out from work, then we go into recovery, when we are finally free to do as we wish. I would suggest doing a little of what you want to do every day, it’s what I’ve had to do after being so burned out and in the same situation as yourself. You won’t be able to do it at the level you were at before. I know it all too well, as I was doing a thousand words daily for one story and two stories daily, being so burned out and having so much going on, keeping me from writing and doing my hobbies.
Balance is very hard to do, I know all too well, being so burned out, I ended up in a pretty bad depression not even being able to enjoy the hobbies that I enjoy
Would it be possible to set up some sacred time just for yourself? Like maybe early in the morning if you’re too burned out at night. You could go to bed earlier and then get up a half hour earlier and save that time slot just for you. You deserve it! If that’s not a good time, then maybe you could write over your lunch break or whenever you can fit it in? You need to block out some period of time every day where you just pamper yourself and do the things you want to do, and not let anyone else interfere with that time period. How to do it and when becomes the challenge. But you can do it! ( ˆ◡ˆ)۶ ٩(˘◡˘ )
I feel very much the same way and it sucks. Making time for yourself or writing or whatever it is you want to do is difficult. It helps to start small and not allow yourself to feel guilt if you can’t do as much as you want to. That guilt only makes you associate the writing or “me” time with negative feelings and makes it harder to do. It’s okay if you only do five minutes a day, or a week. As long as you are able to do some when you can, you are making progress. Slow progress is still good progress. Baby steps.
Before I say anything, I just want to send hugs 
I’ve been there before. It’s not easy and you might slip backwards at times, but don’t be discouraged. The way out of a hole isn’t always linear.
Regarding depression, one of the things that really helped me was having a support group. I will admit that it wasn’t easy finding one. You need to find someone you can not only trust with your secrets, but also someone you know will be there for you during tougher times. You need someone who knows how to comfort you and give you emotional support and tell you the truth.
Once you have someone or a group of people you can rely on, then it gets easier from there. Just being able to confide in another person can work wonders for depression.
I know, it’s easier said than done, but it’s possible. Online friends work too!
As for the lack of energy outside of work—that’s actually one of the symptoms of depression. I still haven’t gotten rid of my tiredness even though I’m on holiday so I don’t know how much I can help, but I know that sleeping earlier helps me. As well as keeping the curtains and blinds open. Minimizing the amount of artificial light used, especially at night. Maybe that can help in your case? I know my roommate gets affected by the lack of sunlight more easily than I do, and she got a special light to ward off seasonal depression.
Oh, and you can also consider putting screen time controls on social media apps. I’ve done it before for studying but if you find yourself doomscrolling a lot, perhaps forcing a limit on your phone can help? Say an hour of social media use per day.
Hope this helps! Sending more hugs your way 
if you need anything more, my DMs are open. I can’t promise to respond right away but I’ll be there to listen 
I wish I had the cure for this, because I feel similar most of the time, and my job is actually decent at the moment (so even without the added stress of a crappy job…it sucks). The only halfway reasonable solution I’ve found to minimize doomscrolling is uninstalling social media apps from my phone. I only access them on browser, which makes using them very annoying, so I use them less 
I’ve also been known to temporarily deactivate my insta every now and then. Honestly, I’m tempted to just delete it, but I love using it on holiday, and I have some friends I only talk to on there, so I haven’t been able to.
I think that the biggest aspect of dealing with this shit is the guilt. Because maybe you’ll get a few good days now and then, which will be ruined by the guilt that you’re not enjoying them “enough”. The truth is, though, we live in fucked-up times. And if you’ve got even a shred of decency, you’re going to feel anxious and depressed by just looking at the news once in a while.
So I always try to just remind myself that I’m okay and that I’m doing okay. I don’t have to be “productive” (writing or at work) every day. No one can take my hobbies away. They’re there, and I can always go back to them when I feel good and ready.
Also: anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. Your writing doesn’t have to be perfect, your home doesn’t have to spotless, your work doesn’t have to be excellent. Doing an imperfect little bit of something is still better than nothing.
And I just remembered this video I came across recently, a therapist shared it in a webinar at work, and I’ve been trying to do this before bed because I have a hard time falling asleep. I think it’s really good for getting your mind to just calm down for a bit, and it’s only 10 minutes long.
