Here is a list of things to remember:

1) Don’t work in the dark. Even though the fluorescent lights make a buzzing noise and cast an unnatural whiteness over everything, light is still more conducive to productivity than darkness. And headphones keep out the buzzing noise.

2) Get up from your desk at least once an hour. Even if it’s just a trip to the bathroom or the drinking fountain, get up and move around regularly.

3) Do not spend more than thirty minutes on your computer when you get home from work unless it is for the purpose of recording music. If you are recording music, be sure to close all other applications (especially internet applications) and disable Airport because an active internet connection causes pops that will get permanently embedded into any tracks that you are recording.

4) Neediness repels people. Even people who love you or who otherwise enjoy your company are instinctively more likely to withdraw from you when you are too needy.

5) The best way to overcome neediness is to learn to provide for yourself what you are hoping others will provide for you. Namely, happiness. No one can make you happy but you.

6) The harder you try to obtain something, the harder it will be to obtain it.

7) Dwelling on negative thoughts is a choice you make. While it may take some time to learn to catch yourself in the act of automatic negative thinking, whether or not you dwell on them is ultimately a decision you make. Perhaps in time you can learn to make the choice to dwell on positive thoughts instead. But one thing at a time; first you need to stop dwelling on the negative.

8) Lists are very good things. Make a list of all the things that you need to do around your house and keep it posted in plain sight. When you find yourself with nothing else to do, consult the list and pick a project. It might be helpful to list things that are not too overwhelming. The more daunting the task, the more likely it is that you will not tackle it. This list should contain repairs to the house itself, such as finishing the coat closet, fixing the exterior siding, painting, and building a vanity for the bathroom, but it would probably be a good idea to list daily tasks as well, such as dishes, or sweeping/mopping, and even tidying. Because even these simple daily tasks involve busyness. And staying busy is key.

9) You are not the only broken person in the world. Everyone is broken; some are just better at hiding it than you, or perhaps they’re better at coping with it than you. The important thing to remember is that staying broken is a choice. Although there is no guarantee that you’ll be just like new again if you try to fix it, you’ll never know unless you try. And maybe you shouldn’t strive to be “just like new” anyway. Perhaps simply “feeling better” is a much more realistic goal.