Tackling symptoms of depression using an IT prioritisation model
One of the more apparent signs of depression is a relatively consistent experience of anhedonia. Anhedonia is a reduced ability to feel pleasure, enjoyment, and engagement with life. It can also include reduced motivation to do things.
What would you think if I told you that a seemingly unrelated technique within the field of Technology Management could unlock your potential to reduce the impacts of depressive episodes? Read on to find out!
There is a relatively simple technique to provide short-term support and assistance to tackle the feeling of anhedonia and, therefore, to a lesser extent, depression. Tackling the symptoms may not be directly addressing the root cause of the problem. I would recommend seeking professional help, but if you are not comfortable doing so, the following should help you switch to more positive thinking.
One of the challenges when facing depression is the effort required to instil positivity into everyday life. The struggle seems elevated when comparing to others within the populus, or more correctly, the perception of effort within thyself.
Using the below approach is aimed, with minimal effort, to turn the tide and take action for positive change.
WSJF or Weighted Shortest Job First is a Scaled Agile Framework (IT Management) technique that effectively prioritises work based on time and effort to provide value as quickly as possible and balance time and effort. The interiors of this technique are rather elaborate; however, boiled down, the formula is:
WSJF = value / duration
If you would like to learn more about the technique, I would recommend visiting this link.
Based on the above formula, we need two inputs: duration and value. These will be applied to a set of activities opposite of anhedonia, provide pleasure, and hopefully begin rewiring the existing reward system.
The process is straightforward:
- List all the things you found pleasant in the past.
- Assess the value (fondness) and duration (effort) for each item and put it on a scale from 1–8.
- Calculate the WSJF value
- Sort your list according to WSJF score
Let us take few simple examples.
The first one is cooking; let’s say you love eating food and making it; value, in this case, is 6, but the effort involved is relatively high, although because you are good at it, we make it a 5. We calculate the WSJF score (6 / 5), which happens to be: 1.2.
The second one is exercise; you do not like it as much; it is a 4, but you also have everything ready to go out for a walk, so the effort is relatively low — a good 2. Again, we calculate the score (4 / 2), and that happens to be 2.
Based on the above, the higher score of 2 indicates that it would be more valuable to go out for a walk than begin cooking because it would take less effort and relatively provide more value.
The above process should be repeated for all the things you enjoy doing but limiting the list to a top 10 is a good idea to make it faster.
As a side note, this is not medical advice; if you feel that you are struggling in any way, please seek out professional help.
