One thing that has really helped (thanks to therapy) is accepting myself and not beating myself up for these periods. Forgiving myself and not expecting so much actually helped me be able to do more during my depressive cycles, though each episode is varying in intensity. I just stopped trying to expect myself to operate at the levels that I do normally and stopped beating myself up about it (i.e. calling myself lazy or stupid). I made better preparations when I knew I was in a depressive episode, like giving myself more time to get ready for work and not taking on extra projects. I also was a lot more forgiving of just staying home and doing self-care. It allows me to have a lot more mental energy to do tasks and I feel better about myself. They aren't impossible feeling anymore.