How do I invest during a recession?

During a recession, economic activity contracts by definition. Unemployment will rise, available credit for businesses and consumers alike becomes scarce, and corporate profits decline.
It is a recipe for disaster if you try to sell stocks before the recession arrives and buy them before the recession is over because it is extremely difficult to actually do this successfully and often results in locking in losses.
The first thing I want you to do as the recession approaches is to resist anxiety and fear. Your fear is going to most likely be rooted in fear of job loss and volatile markets. Fear is never a good emotion for making investment decisions.
I do not believe in buying individual stocks because I’m not Jim Cramer. Use sector indexes to smooth out volatility
During a recession consider purchasing consumer stables, healthcare, and utilities. The largest healthcare ETF is XLV which covers the broad healthcare industry. Energy Select Sector SPDR, ticket XLE, is the largest energy ETF which covers oil and gas exploration and production.
As we shift into the late stages of the recessions, you can consider purchasing real estate, consumer discretionary, and industrials like XLU for utilities.
Overview of Psychology and Strategy: https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/trading-investing/how-to-invest-during-recessions

Types of ETFs: https://etfdb.com/etfs/sector/
Health Care ETFs: https://money.usnews.com/investing/etfs/slideshows/best-health-care-etfs-to-buy-now
Consumer Discretionary ETFs: https://etfdb.com/etfs/sector/consumer-discretionaries/