So you know how people are always harping on you to be persistent? And how you think that too, yet still end up backing out of things when they get hard? Or how even when you push ahead and complete something, it doesn’t even matter because you’re too drained to care?

When the going gets tough, the tough quit. Fuck what people say about persistance. That’s all bullshit. In reality when someone is overwhelmed by something they don’t pluck up their courage and keep at it, they quit because they know nothing can be done right then.

No it’s good to stop doing something when it has begun to take over your life. If your depression has metastasized to the point where you are endlessly miserable, and if pushing on will mean that you become even more unhappy, then it won’t be worth all the effort once you’ve succeeded. Because really nothing is worth sacrificing that much of your well-being. And the more energy that you invest in something that you can no longer care about, the harder it is for you to objectively realize that you just don’t fucking like what you’re doing.

Now, just because you quit something, that does not mean that you can never come back to it.  It doesn’t even mean that you have to quit for very long. You can stop for 5 minutes, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, or whatever. Because even a short time where you aren’t doing the thing that is making you miserable can give you some perspective, so that when you choose to go back, it’s more manageable. Non-depressed people call this “taking a break.” It’s a strange concept, this allowing yourself to quit something temporarily without all the self-loathing. Still, it seems to work out.

There are some things that you might not be able to quit for very long. Responsibilities to people that need you. Activities that you are literally in the middle of and need to complete. Survival things like eating or sleeping. In these cases, you can take a time out to regroup, and then get back to it. Maybe there’s even someone who can tag team with you, which would give you a bit longer to sort things out. The point is that if these things are that important, then you really need to be able to keep doing them so a spectacular crash and burn is not an option. In such cases, quitting for a little while is a necessity so that you have the stamina to keep going in the long run.

So go ahead and stop doing things that are making you fucking miserable. Then later if you want or need to keep doing them, start doing them again. When you quit you aren’t giving up, you’re making a tactical decision about how to pursue the course of action that will best guarantee long-run productivity. Persistance does not mean that you do everything right away and never stop working. It means that even if you quit something, you come back to it later. So quit as much as you want, and then give yourself the time to figure out your next steps going forward.