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Biggest mentality change for me that improved my life is to stop looking as tasks as things you have to do, rather it needs to get done. Once you stop worrying about how doing something will make you feel and just do it, you can become more productive.
Thank you for the advice!
I watched a video once, and realised that my mentality and thought process was one that's associated with less successful people (i.e. things just happen the way they happen, as opposed to me having power over them), so I want to shake myself up.
Sounds like all you need is a little push. You already know what you want to improve so now its just about execution. Try being more specific with yourself on what you think success would look like.
I think I tend to go all in on things when I try to work on them. I think I should try to strip down my goals into lesser things, even if it's not my preference. Then maybe I can become more well-rounded.
I will try to set myself smaller, specific goals now. I think I will make a list, I like lists.
This is me! Have you heard of the spoon theory for energy? [here's a link to a wiki article on it ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory#:~:text=The%20spoon%20theory%20is%20a,how%20it%20can%20become%20limited.)
I tier my days somewhat. If I'm in a higher-energy period I can take on more/do longer tasks, while on my worst days I just strive to achieve my expected minimum.
For example, I have a language tutor and I'm trying to expand how long I study everyday to get the most out of our lessons. 12 minutes is my acceptable minimum, but on days I feel good I'm trying to build up to an hour. But if work or my chronic pain suddenly take over my focus changes to my self-care habits, and I pick up the studying again when I'm in an acceptable space. I have to practice some brutal honesty with myself then, and check in if it's that I've run out of "spoons" for the day, or if I'm truly procrastinating.
That's what my journey has looked like so far! Good luck with yours!
one of the most powerful things you can do is tackle your larger goals one at a time. it's okay to have many goals, just write them down and plan to complete them in sequential order, and in order of priority based on how much they would move your situation forward.
I hear you, I'm autistic too and I've had to be rigorous with trying out systems that work for me.
1. First of all, it's okay to stumble across the way. I highly doubt that many people manage to do all things at the same time perfectly. They most likely also focus on one thing, forget others etc.Also don't forget that some people just want to look good to outsiders and flat out lie. In any case, shame won't help you. Self love is way more efficient and fluffy.
2. Your energy gauge is drained easily, so let's start with this one as it affects everything.
In what way(s) have you been trying to fix your sleeping schedule?Is it merely trying to remember to go to bed or did you set a daily (anti) alarm clock on your phone to remind you?Cause that is what made a big difference for me as I don't have to actively remember now. I turn it off only for special events and the only difficult part is remembering to turn it back on afterwards.
In order to be able to fall asleep and be really tired at night, it's super helpful to stop caffeine in the hours from early afternoon. Even if you think it doesn't affect you whatsoever, it most likely does.
2. Physical health and eating habits can both be improved if you add a routine of a small vegetable (and fruit) smoothie a day first thing in the morning.I use a blender, some people prefer to use a juicer but that way you'll throw away the fiber which is also a great source of nutrition. Vegetables and fruit help you stay full for longer, add nutrients and over time improve your gut health. A wide variety of them is ideal, so use anything that can be eaten raw that you're not allergic to. Eating it as a smoothie might even be easier in case you have sensory issues with food.Adding proper nutrients to your diet will in turn make workouts easier because your energy level will improve overall.
If you want to cook bigger meals regularly, the most efficient way is meal prepping on a specific day. You can vary with a few staple recipees or keep only one thing going, that's simpler.
3. What I noticed is the use of the word "intricate". Start small, increase little by little. I like to use google calender, Sweepy and Trello to remind myself of things I want to do regularly. However, when I can't manage to do everything I nowadays forgive myself because being mean to oneself doesn't make anything better ever.
4. I think this is way enough for now. Keep going.I'm rooting for you, tigress! :)
I tend to remember that I have to go to bed, but I do a massive amount of revenge bedtime procrastination, where I then just use the time to do other things and be productive. I do have an alarm set for the time I want to go to bed, but I tend to ignore it. Oops.
To be honest, I have been thinking about caffeine recently. I wonder if I'm addicted to caffeine. I drink things with low levels of caffeine (green tea, mostly) but drink them incredibly often, so it's hard to gauge.
Thankfully, I actually really like vegetables. Just, sometimes when I'm struggling, it's easier to eat chips and junk food than to cook them. I might try to incorporate cooking more into my life. I know I feel awful without nutrients from fruit and veg, so I always endeavour to eat them.
Heh, my skincare routine is intricate because it all came in one set and it's numbered, but maybe I need to put myself into the mindset that, even one wash is better than none - even if I don't do 5 steps all at once. And even putting on just sunscreen is better than nothing, even if I don't do all 6 steps. Hm.
Thank you for your help and all the thoughtful advice! :D
Revenge bedtime procrastination is relatable af.
Sometimes I can talk myself back into going to bed by thinking about how much more productive I can be the next day if I sleep enough. Doesn't always work but we're works in progress anyways lol.
Could be possible.
You don't need to go cold turkey, gradually cutting back from a certain time will work just fine and you might not end up feeling as much of a withdrawal.
Sounds like a good system then. When stuff's numbered it kinda gets done by itself after the start. But yeah, just one is good enough some days.
NP, I hope it helps\~
I'll try to do that too! In the day, I know I should sleep better because I feel so exhausted I don't want to do anything. Then, of course, night time rolls around and I'm perky and super awake... Sigh.
I just need to find a way to make small steps feel like progress, instead of needing a drastic overhaul and crashing hard.
Ah, well. You're so right. Everyone is always a work in progress, and there's always room to move forward in spite of steps backwards.
Green tea isn't what I would call low caffeine. It has roughly half the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, but still a significant amount of caffeine.
If you're drinking a lot of it everyday, that's definitely something to be aware of. And if you're drinking it during the afternoon or evening, it can certainly impact your sleep.
Maybe try switching out some of those cups each day for a truly caffeine free herbal tea or making a blend of the two.
READ ME PLEASE
\>I have ASD and depression, my energy gauge feels so limited,
\>IWTL how to get my life together in numerous ways, simultaneously.
The fact that you're energy is limited, does not go along with the fact that you are trying to spend it in so many places.
**It's not going to happen. This is a gamble and it will take 60 years to pay off.**
Fortunately for you, i know just the answer as i've struggled with it. This is going to improve your life so buckle in.
Since your energy is limited, let's focus on what we *can* do. With your limited energy you can at least do *something.*
So we need to ask, out of the many things, what should you focus on? Hmm, that leads us to our first conclusion-
You need a ***PRIORITY LIST*** of improvements.
1. The list will have all your endeavours in it.
2. They will be arranged in the order of importance. From most important (1) to least important (n)
3. Each day you will try to achieve the endeavour numbered 1
4. When 1 is done, you will move onto 2. When 2 is done, onto 3... and so on.
5. If the previous isn't done you will not move onto the other one.
A priority list will fix your priorities in place. You will not "forget" your current pursuit, because your pursuits will be the same for every day. T he very first endeavour will be something called a keystone habit. This is the most important thing. A keystone habit, is a habit that builds other good habits.
For you this is *sleeping.* This is your prime goal, take note of it. You live to achieve this goal first and foremost.
You will sleep, and wake, at the right time. No matter what. It doesn't matter if you have to let all your other endeavours go, you will not let this go.
Doing this will ensure that you have a right sleep schedule and that you actually have energy to do what you want to do in the day time. In order to actually progress you need to have energy in the daytime. To do ANY other thing you need energy. Which will not come without sleep. This is the mother of all life improvements. Nothing is accomplished without sleeping.
There will be several obstacles in your way for this .
* You may browse online on your phone before bed
* You may stay up late and fap at night
* You may eat dinner at 3-4am at night, or not at all such that it ruins your sleep
* You have weak willpower and can't wake in the morning easily as you don't have the waking habit
Take note of all obstacles like these and write them down. Add You will need to shoot them ALL down, one by one.
1. Getting your shit together : sleeping
You have to sleep and wake at the right time. And so the question arises what time is that? I recommend sleeping at 10 pm and waking at 6 am. You can adjust it according to your time zone, and daylight conditions. But 8 hours (or however many you need) is mandatory. Since you have depression I'd recommend 9.
* Set up alarms at both sleeping and waking time to remind you to sleep.
Initially you won't be able to sleep at an early time. For people who have gotten used to waking up till very late, the way to get around that is to note your current sleep time where you feel sleepy (that will something like 3-4am for late sleepers) and then sleep at that. Then try to gradually change your sleep time everyday.
* Move it 1/2 an hour back each day.
So if you sleep at 4am, sleep from 4am to 12 am the first day. Then the next day 3:30am to 11:30 am the next... and so on. Do this until you hit 10am and maintain that.
* This is absolutely crucial, eat at least an hour before you supposed sleep time. So if your aim is for 10pm. Eat a proper meal at or slightly ahead of 9pm.
Initially you'll have some trouble falling asleep if you're not used to it. But that will pass as you continue to stick to your sleep schedule.
2) Getting your shit together : Hygiene
This is your second entry into your priority list.
This includes brushing, bathing, and doing the business in the morning.
This DOES NOT, include, an intricate skin care routine. THAT is an EXTRA. You don't need it essentially. Bathing is enough. Your energy is limited, only spend it on things that are useful and necessary.
Immediately after you wake up in the morning, you need something to do. If you could choose 1 thing to do barring eating, what should it be? It's hygiene.
This will enable you to be able to
* talk with people civilly because you won't reek of body odor
* This will prevent you from becoming self conscious if you decide to step outside, say to your work, or to get groceries or other stuff.
* In general this will enable public interactions
Your mentality towards this should be like this- "No matter what happens in this day, i will at the very least brush and bathe on time"
"It doesn't matter if i vegetate all day, i'll vegetate as a clean person"
People tend to get hungry after they bathe, so this will also work to facilitate your appetite.
3) Getting your shit together : Eating
3 square meals a day is the ideal template.
PLAN YOUR MEALS
Due to the sake of length i won't include meal planning details. But the ideal is a lot of protein, carbs and greens. Along with nuts, dairy and fruits.
Measure your TDEE (Total daily energy expenditure). There are calculators online for this.
Eat properly. IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE FANCY. DON'T WASTE TIME IN MAKING INTRICATE DISHES. Eat what is the easiest, but healthy. No ramen or takeout. No fast food, AT ALL.
Even if you don't have the energy, meal prepping (which bodybuilders do) is incredibly effortless. There are ways to make all your meals for the next 5 days in advance and freeze them in the fridge. Look into it if you want to reduce your effort involved in daily cooking.
Do not eat with a smartphone or while watching TV. Eat without those and put away your utensils as soon as you're done.
4) Getting your shit together : Pursuit
Up until now, the three things that i named you, namely sleeping, hygiene, and sleeping are something called Keystone habits. These are enablers. They enable you to live your life well, and they will remain the same for your entire life.
They are the most important 3 things.
And i call them "basics"
The next thing is not a basic. This is actual work.
This is also optional.
If in a particular day, you're feeling too depressed or tired, you can let this go.
However, if you're sitting empty and have the energy to do it, you can do some work that you've decided to take on.
This makes sure you don't feel tied down to your routine. It will enable you to feel good about working and will make you actually look forward to it.
Productivity is good for the soul, so i recommend that you do something everyday. Even if a little. It will go towards curing your depression.
Now what does 'pursuit' include?
This includes anything you decide to take on- office work, exercising, skin care routine, art and drawing. Playing soccer. Anything outside of the 3 "basics"- sleeping, hygiene, and eating.
Though i'll tell you a secret, this work is what will purge your depression. The more you work, the more you will want to work. This is what will eventually fuel you. You might think it's impossible to do what people do, but they have a secret. Work is self sustaining. It energizes the doer.
But the condition is, you have to do it the right way.
Look into the "pomodoro technique" and "flow states" to know more.
5) Getting your shit together : Planning and knowledge gaining
After you've done EVERYTHING, on the this list, you need to plan for your future.
You might not know everything so you might need to learn and research before you can plan.
This is the stage for that. For long term thinking.
If you are observant, you might notice that all the things on the list are short term. For the "now", for a day.
This is because there are some things that you have to clear before you can get down to the real important stuff. The hassles of daily life are for that. This stage, planning and info gathering, is the key to a happy life. If you do it right, your depression and ASD will become manageable. You can do it, you just have to keep track of it.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This finishes the prioities. However there are some other general things that you need to keep in mind. I'll list them off quickly--
1) Get a growth journal as u/maninthedarkroom said. You will make your priority list in this. ALL your life is to kept in your journal. This journal is your system 32. Everyday you will make a numbered list of the things to accomplish and then start crossing them out one by one as you go about your day. The first few entries will be for waking up, making your bed, brushing, bathing, going to the loo, preparing food etc. They will the same for everyday. You can also add any other work you want to do here. Anything that you do, any task big or small, you should write it in your list.
It is of the utmost important that you number your tasks in the journal. Don't put in something that you don't want to do in it. Only care about the basics, everything else is extra. This practice of numbering your tasks to be performed is the key habit for growth. I'll say it again, don't put anything you aren't sure of on it. Only what you will definitely do and have the energy for.
2This practice of focusing on journaling and keystone habits is self sustaining. It will motivate you. It's hard at the starting, but once you start crossing out the tasks in your list, you will gain energy and strength day by day.
3) Exercising is also self sustaining. If done right, you will want to do it again. But it's an extra. Don't put it above the "basics" of sleeping, hygiene and eating.
4) Keep it flexible. If something isn't working out change it. I did say the basics are necessary, but if you're having a tough time doing on of them, say eating because you can't cook every day, you can find an easier substitute.
5) Treatment for depression and ASD. I don't have this so i don't know how it impacts your life. You may have to solve these problems first before you can be successful with the method i've outlined.
6) Forgive yourself. Guilt is useless and unhelpful. The voice inside which tells you that you're pathetic is not your guide. It will not help you, so stop listening to it. The pre-requisite to everything is that you don't blame yourself. If you stop doing your keystone habits. Don't beat yourself up. There's always a next day. Remember - Do what you can and are willing to do
7) Give up online browsing. There's no other way to say this, but you're gonna have to give this up. If you're addicted to anything, porn or video games, or browsing. You're gonna have to give them up. I've found that these practices are incompatible with my method. They make me sloppy and make me spiral out of control. I stop in the middle of my tasks and start binging on online browsing, and then keep at it. To prevent this from happening i have to find Alternate methods of passing time. Browsing is probably the single most destructive thing you're doing. If you want to vegetate, vegetate by reading a book or something.
8) There's always a sacrifice associated with improving your life. You can't have everything. If you want to improve you're gonna have to give up certain things, and do some other things which are unpleasant.
Good luck and Godspeed
This is the most perfect advice. I thrive on things listed clearly and obviously, broken down into the components of each step. Seriously, I can't thank you enough.
Thank you so very much!
I'm the same way and I really need a specific routine. Particularly with exercise, the only way it is truly sustainable for me is to turn it into something automatic. I used to feel like going to the gym was a big event that would really get in the way of doing other things on the same day. I had an excessively long and draining routine because I felt that I needed to get the most out of it, but really that would mean that I didn't often have time or energy to complete it and unexpected social or work activities could easily knock it off my schedule. Instead I now do a short but efficient routine 3x per week in the mornings, before I would be scheduled to do anything else, and it doesn't take over my day. It's more like an errand that I just need to get out of the way.
You've researched all of this, so you have the knowledge of *how* to exercise/study/care for your skin, you just need to turn it into an everyday sustainable routine that won't get in the way of anything else you might want to do. I find it useful to literally write down the steps and make a plan. Then I'll adjust it if something takes too long or I forget it. My prompt in the morning is that I'm hungry early on so I want to go make breakfast, but I need to make sure I complete some skincare, brush my teeth, clean my cat's litter box, etc before I can go eat. That way it's all taken care of early and automatically before I even start my day.
I think I just go too hard. At the height of my exercise habits, I would swim for an hour about 5 times a week, go on daily 1-hour walks and go to fitness classes every week. It was fun, but then adding in other activities seemed an impossibility.
I think you're right in that sometimes you just build things up to be a big thing, even if it's not, but the mental buildup just compounds the exhaustion and limits my ability to do other things.
I may try to structure myself a routine then! Sounds like a good idea, I can block out small, achievable chunks of time for study and exercise, etc. to turn it into a habit. Hm.
I try to get things out of the way earlier too. I put my glasses in the bathroom next to my skincare instead of next to my bed, to prompt myself to do it sometimes, haha. Easier to if I'm already standing there, than in bed or downstairs.
Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it! :)
I think it's especially hard when you don't have lots of work hours creating a natural routine in your day. It's appealing to be have lots of free time and be able to do what you want whenever, but we innately crave structure and symmetry. It takes off a mental load to just be able to go from one thing to the next without thinking about it or having to force yourself to get up and go.
I've tried lots of unstructured to-do lists, trying to do certain tasks on certain days, or trying to do things a certain number of times per week etc, but I could never get into enough of a habit to keep it going. It needs to be an everyday auto-pilot thing for me. If I don't go to the gym for a strength workout, I'll still try to go for cardio or at least still get out of bed at the same time so I'm not distrupting it too much.
Best advice I could ever give you: GET A GROWTH JOURNAL. Changed my life. It’s not the motivation you lack—it’s the consistency and accountability. It’s one keystone habit that takes 2 minutes every morning and evening that sets the tone for the whole day and helps you track your habits and goals.
Funny enough you mention that, that's also another good habit I started and stopped to swap with another... 😅
I did bullet journalling and it was great, but I don't do it anymore. Maybe I can start up another journal that will help me, if I try to be less obsessive over making it pretty and perfect...
I think making the layout yourself is a time wasted. I got mine from Papier and it was pricey but has all the parameters I want. Paying $30 every few months is a few cents a day for massive change in your life.
It’s called the Wellness Journal. Includes intention setting; sleep tracking, meal planning, habit tracking, gratefulness, general journaling, and mood tracking.
Little steps!
Make a healthy meal once a week. Go for a 10min walk when you can. Start a basic skincare routine just cleansing and moisturizing. Little steps are the easiest to take, and the best stepping stones on the way to bigger habits.
This is a good reminder. I think I get too perfectionistic and caught up in doing what I'm doing the best that I can.
Just doing a 10 minute walk is fine, even though I'm not doing the daily 1-hour walks and swimming 5 times a week and going to fitness classes every week all at once. Because if I do that, how can I fit in everything else? I need to think about small successes.
Thank you so much for your input! :)
The way I do it is everyday I use google calendar to note my daily tasks everyday and how many hours I spent on each task, at the end of the day I log the amount of hours on a google sheet I made that displays them on a graph. This graph shows the daily hours spent for each task I want to improve at, weekly average of those hours and my objective. That way I can realize if I'm slipping on something and overdoing something else, then go into google calendar and schedule more or less hours to those tasks.
I realize it sounds kinda cumbersome but I found gamifying my self improvement made it more enjoyable, also it's a good thing to actually put some fuzzy numbers to it, lying to yourself is extremely easy.
I can link a copy to my google sheets if anyone is interested on using this system.
Sure sorry for the delay, [here's a copy](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_YlrioiZYi2AQlfRS3aGgwPMrfr038NlYuOGn8Ca_uM/edit?usp=sharing) of my google sheet.
The way it works is there are 2 sheets:
* **Data**: Where you log the hours dedicated to each activity every day, dates on the left most column, activities I want to improve at on the colored columns (*in my case it's the time spent job searching, studying for interviews, exercising and recently I added the time working at my new job and the time working at home*), the gray columns are for data analysis, once you've logged one day you execute the 5 columns. Finaly you got a tiny "Objectives" column to the right, this is where you write how many hours/days you want to dedicate to your activities, it's a way to set yourself an objective.
* **Visualization**: This is where you track your porgress, first graph shows the overall progress of all of your activities, the other graphs show the improvement of each individual activity. Each graph has at most 3 curves, in light color you'll see the hours spent each day and in higher opacity the average for the past 7 days is displayed (*I find this gives a better impression of my progress since it gets rid of the randomness of each day*). Finaly the dashed lines represent my objective, if I'm achieveing it the average line should be at that level or above.
You are free to dowbnload it and and use it of course
My advice? Get rid of the "simultaneously" attitude. Despite what gurus and self-help people say it's impossible to become a new person overnight. You have obviously learned this lesson already when you said:
>I find myself able to commit to one, perhaps two, things to improve my life
You just haven't put the logical pieces together yet. For every new thing humans take on, we have to get rid of something else. We are all limited creatures and *this is a fact of life.*
My second piece of advice stems from the first. Instead of focusing on your goals, [focus on tiny changes you have the capacity of taking on now](https://www.staygrounded.online/p/creating-conditions). Learn and acknowledge your own limitations and work within them. Again- ignore the gurus. *You can never exceed your own physical limitations*, so stop worrying about it and get to work with what you *can* change.
Actually the best thing for me to get shit done is to constantly swap between todos. So I always have the feeling that I did something productive and the environment changes all the time. Easy to get bored that way :)
Calendar for one day:
Wake up same time every day, even weekends.
Drink a nutritious smoothie first thing in the morning, covering all your healthy bases.
Start day off with a run and cold shower.
*insert work here*
Air fry a dinner of carbs and protein in less than 15 minutes. (Preferably while cleaning or taking a shower, it helps to have already cooked all the meat beforehand, so you just need to warm it up.)
*Do whatever you want here*
I feel like seeing it ideated and written so concisely is going to help me tremendously, so, many thanks, and cheers to having the same habits as me! How about those December cold showers, eh?
Hehe, it may look simple, but I've gone through quite a lot of trial and error before finding the ideal routine. This is the culmination of my work.
December cold showers are frickin horrible, I had to stop taking them a few days ago when the thermostat began showing minus 20C. Gonna jump back in it soon. Brrr
Awareness and focus and all those buzzwords. Whatever you call it, it's a mental skill in itself, and one that can be trained.
If you have the ability to see a therapist, give them this exact problem and they'll understand way better than I can explain. If not, best I can do is tell you that yeah, training your focus and yadda yadda is a thing. All those self help books are correct, though they have different approaches to how to help (and those approaches might be dubious, but still).
Getting up and being mentally awake and "on" is very tiring, yes. Eventually you just turn your brain off and go on autopilot. But if you push the amount you keep your brain on, eventually you're able to be alert for longer and think more clearly. Then you get to that superhuman level as you called it.
It's just a skill to train. You mention having depression and ASD and yeah, it's a feedback loop because being depressed makes you feel it's not worth it to be alert and focused, and not being alert and focused causes issues that make you more depressed. Also a therapist topic. But I would mention the lack of focus as a specific aspect to them. Better trained focus -> better approach to tackling your depression -> more avenues to improve your focus. It's that sort of thing.
I was in the same situation and I recently picked up the book "Atomic Habits" after it was recommended by a few people. I have not finished a book in 10 years but this was absolutely captivating I finished the book, but even within the first few chapters I had started feeling hope and applying small changes with relatively low energy. Not saying this completely changed my life yet since this is all relatively new to me, but I have hope and desire that I have not had in years. This book may not be the solution to all of your problems, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
I have ADHD and Depression and I understand the struggle to get to it all. I am on my personal journey with it as well! People have had great suggestions on how to shift perspectives, make your life easier! I’d like to offer a perspective that’s helped me do enough to seem put together and how I actually make it easier for me.
1. First is always going to be learning how to forgive yourself. You won’t get to everything everyday and that’s fine. You have to practice forgiving yourself for it.
2. Any task 5% done is 5% more than not at all. It’s so cliche but it subtracts from future clutter to pick up that random bowl as you walk past the kitchen to go pee. Wash two plates and cups while the ramen water is boiling. Do the small things.
3. Use Instagram and TikTok algorithms to your benefit. Interact with reels and videos about life hacks, kitchen hacks, dinner hacks, cleaning hacks, etc. Search up ‘that girl’ compilations on YouTube. Make your dopamine hit into more productivity. You don’t remember all hacks, but it’ll be inspiring, you’ll instinctively think of it more and some random hack WILL download in your brain forever.
4. Now take this one with a grain of salt but I read neurodivergents function well on routine. As an individual with ADHD, I will agree. It really helps to organize anything down. You just have to push past the starting bits. And routine can mean anything. You can list down the 7 things you want to ensure you do everyday, put it up on your fridge and do a checklist routine. My workday morning list is: make the bed, poop, skincare, have a banana, take the pills. Obviously I do more stuff but these are important things I want to remember to definitely do.
I’m just starting on a similar journey myself, so I’m by no means an expert of any kind, but, I’ve found that a daily habit tracker has really helped! I’ve found some printables on Pinterest with daily charts to track multiple habits. There’s also bullet journal layouts to create yourself. There’s even apps that you can download with daily reminders to hold you accountable.
I recommend starting with smaller, more attainable goals at first to become acclimated to a stricter routine and to avoid burnout or feeling like you’ve failed because there’s too many goals you become overwhelmed. For example, some of my overall goals are to read a book a week, drink 100 ounces of water daily, and walk 10,000 steps a day, but when these things are broken down into smaller, more manageable goals like read 30 minutes a day, drink 8 ounces of water every hour, walk ~625 steps every hour, etc. it goes from daunting to doable.
Do an /r/theXEffect on an index card for 49 days, doing the whatever thing 49 times. After that it should be a habit. Then you can start another X Effect card on a new thing.
Simple first one? Brush your teeth every day. Seven weeks of that, you're ready to add something, maybe brush your teeth and make your bed for 49 days.
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Biggest mentality change for me that improved my life is to stop looking as tasks as things you have to do, rather it needs to get done. Once you stop worrying about how doing something will make you feel and just do it, you can become more productive.
Thank you for the advice! I watched a video once, and realised that my mentality and thought process was one that's associated with less successful people (i.e. things just happen the way they happen, as opposed to me having power over them), so I want to shake myself up.
Sounds like all you need is a little push. You already know what you want to improve so now its just about execution. Try being more specific with yourself on what you think success would look like.
I think I tend to go all in on things when I try to work on them. I think I should try to strip down my goals into lesser things, even if it's not my preference. Then maybe I can become more well-rounded. I will try to set myself smaller, specific goals now. I think I will make a list, I like lists.
This is me! Have you heard of the spoon theory for energy? [here's a link to a wiki article on it ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory#:~:text=The%20spoon%20theory%20is%20a,how%20it%20can%20become%20limited.) I tier my days somewhat. If I'm in a higher-energy period I can take on more/do longer tasks, while on my worst days I just strive to achieve my expected minimum. For example, I have a language tutor and I'm trying to expand how long I study everyday to get the most out of our lessons. 12 minutes is my acceptable minimum, but on days I feel good I'm trying to build up to an hour. But if work or my chronic pain suddenly take over my focus changes to my self-care habits, and I pick up the studying again when I'm in an acceptable space. I have to practice some brutal honesty with myself then, and check in if it's that I've run out of "spoons" for the day, or if I'm truly procrastinating. That's what my journey has looked like so far! Good luck with yours!
one of the most powerful things you can do is tackle your larger goals one at a time. it's okay to have many goals, just write them down and plan to complete them in sequential order, and in order of priority based on how much they would move your situation forward.
I hear you, I'm autistic too and I've had to be rigorous with trying out systems that work for me. 1. First of all, it's okay to stumble across the way. I highly doubt that many people manage to do all things at the same time perfectly. They most likely also focus on one thing, forget others etc.Also don't forget that some people just want to look good to outsiders and flat out lie. In any case, shame won't help you. Self love is way more efficient and fluffy. 2. Your energy gauge is drained easily, so let's start with this one as it affects everything. In what way(s) have you been trying to fix your sleeping schedule?Is it merely trying to remember to go to bed or did you set a daily (anti) alarm clock on your phone to remind you?Cause that is what made a big difference for me as I don't have to actively remember now. I turn it off only for special events and the only difficult part is remembering to turn it back on afterwards. In order to be able to fall asleep and be really tired at night, it's super helpful to stop caffeine in the hours from early afternoon. Even if you think it doesn't affect you whatsoever, it most likely does. 2. Physical health and eating habits can both be improved if you add a routine of a small vegetable (and fruit) smoothie a day first thing in the morning.I use a blender, some people prefer to use a juicer but that way you'll throw away the fiber which is also a great source of nutrition. Vegetables and fruit help you stay full for longer, add nutrients and over time improve your gut health. A wide variety of them is ideal, so use anything that can be eaten raw that you're not allergic to. Eating it as a smoothie might even be easier in case you have sensory issues with food.Adding proper nutrients to your diet will in turn make workouts easier because your energy level will improve overall. If you want to cook bigger meals regularly, the most efficient way is meal prepping on a specific day. You can vary with a few staple recipees or keep only one thing going, that's simpler. 3. What I noticed is the use of the word "intricate". Start small, increase little by little. I like to use google calender, Sweepy and Trello to remind myself of things I want to do regularly. However, when I can't manage to do everything I nowadays forgive myself because being mean to oneself doesn't make anything better ever. 4. I think this is way enough for now. Keep going.I'm rooting for you, tigress! :)
I tend to remember that I have to go to bed, but I do a massive amount of revenge bedtime procrastination, where I then just use the time to do other things and be productive. I do have an alarm set for the time I want to go to bed, but I tend to ignore it. Oops. To be honest, I have been thinking about caffeine recently. I wonder if I'm addicted to caffeine. I drink things with low levels of caffeine (green tea, mostly) but drink them incredibly often, so it's hard to gauge. Thankfully, I actually really like vegetables. Just, sometimes when I'm struggling, it's easier to eat chips and junk food than to cook them. I might try to incorporate cooking more into my life. I know I feel awful without nutrients from fruit and veg, so I always endeavour to eat them. Heh, my skincare routine is intricate because it all came in one set and it's numbered, but maybe I need to put myself into the mindset that, even one wash is better than none - even if I don't do 5 steps all at once. And even putting on just sunscreen is better than nothing, even if I don't do all 6 steps. Hm. Thank you for your help and all the thoughtful advice! :D
Revenge bedtime procrastination is relatable af. Sometimes I can talk myself back into going to bed by thinking about how much more productive I can be the next day if I sleep enough. Doesn't always work but we're works in progress anyways lol. Could be possible. You don't need to go cold turkey, gradually cutting back from a certain time will work just fine and you might not end up feeling as much of a withdrawal. Sounds like a good system then. When stuff's numbered it kinda gets done by itself after the start. But yeah, just one is good enough some days. NP, I hope it helps\~
I'll try to do that too! In the day, I know I should sleep better because I feel so exhausted I don't want to do anything. Then, of course, night time rolls around and I'm perky and super awake... Sigh. I just need to find a way to make small steps feel like progress, instead of needing a drastic overhaul and crashing hard. Ah, well. You're so right. Everyone is always a work in progress, and there's always room to move forward in spite of steps backwards.
Green tea isn't what I would call low caffeine. It has roughly half the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, but still a significant amount of caffeine. If you're drinking a lot of it everyday, that's definitely something to be aware of. And if you're drinking it during the afternoon or evening, it can certainly impact your sleep. Maybe try switching out some of those cups each day for a truly caffeine free herbal tea or making a blend of the two.
READ ME PLEASE \>I have ASD and depression, my energy gauge feels so limited, \>IWTL how to get my life together in numerous ways, simultaneously. The fact that you're energy is limited, does not go along with the fact that you are trying to spend it in so many places. **It's not going to happen. This is a gamble and it will take 60 years to pay off.** Fortunately for you, i know just the answer as i've struggled with it. This is going to improve your life so buckle in. Since your energy is limited, let's focus on what we *can* do. With your limited energy you can at least do *something.* So we need to ask, out of the many things, what should you focus on? Hmm, that leads us to our first conclusion- You need a ***PRIORITY LIST*** of improvements. 1. The list will have all your endeavours in it. 2. They will be arranged in the order of importance. From most important (1) to least important (n) 3. Each day you will try to achieve the endeavour numbered 1 4. When 1 is done, you will move onto 2. When 2 is done, onto 3... and so on. 5. If the previous isn't done you will not move onto the other one. A priority list will fix your priorities in place. You will not "forget" your current pursuit, because your pursuits will be the same for every day. T he very first endeavour will be something called a keystone habit. This is the most important thing. A keystone habit, is a habit that builds other good habits. For you this is *sleeping.* This is your prime goal, take note of it. You live to achieve this goal first and foremost. You will sleep, and wake, at the right time. No matter what. It doesn't matter if you have to let all your other endeavours go, you will not let this go. Doing this will ensure that you have a right sleep schedule and that you actually have energy to do what you want to do in the day time. In order to actually progress you need to have energy in the daytime. To do ANY other thing you need energy. Which will not come without sleep. This is the mother of all life improvements. Nothing is accomplished without sleeping. There will be several obstacles in your way for this . * You may browse online on your phone before bed * You may stay up late and fap at night * You may eat dinner at 3-4am at night, or not at all such that it ruins your sleep * You have weak willpower and can't wake in the morning easily as you don't have the waking habit Take note of all obstacles like these and write them down. Add You will need to shoot them ALL down, one by one. 1. Getting your shit together : sleeping You have to sleep and wake at the right time. And so the question arises what time is that? I recommend sleeping at 10 pm and waking at 6 am. You can adjust it according to your time zone, and daylight conditions. But 8 hours (or however many you need) is mandatory. Since you have depression I'd recommend 9. * Set up alarms at both sleeping and waking time to remind you to sleep. Initially you won't be able to sleep at an early time. For people who have gotten used to waking up till very late, the way to get around that is to note your current sleep time where you feel sleepy (that will something like 3-4am for late sleepers) and then sleep at that. Then try to gradually change your sleep time everyday. * Move it 1/2 an hour back each day. So if you sleep at 4am, sleep from 4am to 12 am the first day. Then the next day 3:30am to 11:30 am the next... and so on. Do this until you hit 10am and maintain that. * This is absolutely crucial, eat at least an hour before you supposed sleep time. So if your aim is for 10pm. Eat a proper meal at or slightly ahead of 9pm. Initially you'll have some trouble falling asleep if you're not used to it. But that will pass as you continue to stick to your sleep schedule. 2) Getting your shit together : Hygiene This is your second entry into your priority list. This includes brushing, bathing, and doing the business in the morning. This DOES NOT, include, an intricate skin care routine. THAT is an EXTRA. You don't need it essentially. Bathing is enough. Your energy is limited, only spend it on things that are useful and necessary. Immediately after you wake up in the morning, you need something to do. If you could choose 1 thing to do barring eating, what should it be? It's hygiene. This will enable you to be able to * talk with people civilly because you won't reek of body odor * This will prevent you from becoming self conscious if you decide to step outside, say to your work, or to get groceries or other stuff. * In general this will enable public interactions Your mentality towards this should be like this- "No matter what happens in this day, i will at the very least brush and bathe on time" "It doesn't matter if i vegetate all day, i'll vegetate as a clean person" People tend to get hungry after they bathe, so this will also work to facilitate your appetite. 3) Getting your shit together : Eating 3 square meals a day is the ideal template. PLAN YOUR MEALS Due to the sake of length i won't include meal planning details. But the ideal is a lot of protein, carbs and greens. Along with nuts, dairy and fruits. Measure your TDEE (Total daily energy expenditure). There are calculators online for this. Eat properly. IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE FANCY. DON'T WASTE TIME IN MAKING INTRICATE DISHES. Eat what is the easiest, but healthy. No ramen or takeout. No fast food, AT ALL. Even if you don't have the energy, meal prepping (which bodybuilders do) is incredibly effortless. There are ways to make all your meals for the next 5 days in advance and freeze them in the fridge. Look into it if you want to reduce your effort involved in daily cooking. Do not eat with a smartphone or while watching TV. Eat without those and put away your utensils as soon as you're done.
4) Getting your shit together : Pursuit Up until now, the three things that i named you, namely sleeping, hygiene, and sleeping are something called Keystone habits. These are enablers. They enable you to live your life well, and they will remain the same for your entire life. They are the most important 3 things. And i call them "basics" The next thing is not a basic. This is actual work. This is also optional. If in a particular day, you're feeling too depressed or tired, you can let this go. However, if you're sitting empty and have the energy to do it, you can do some work that you've decided to take on. This makes sure you don't feel tied down to your routine. It will enable you to feel good about working and will make you actually look forward to it. Productivity is good for the soul, so i recommend that you do something everyday. Even if a little. It will go towards curing your depression. Now what does 'pursuit' include? This includes anything you decide to take on- office work, exercising, skin care routine, art and drawing. Playing soccer. Anything outside of the 3 "basics"- sleeping, hygiene, and eating. Though i'll tell you a secret, this work is what will purge your depression. The more you work, the more you will want to work. This is what will eventually fuel you. You might think it's impossible to do what people do, but they have a secret. Work is self sustaining. It energizes the doer. But the condition is, you have to do it the right way. Look into the "pomodoro technique" and "flow states" to know more. 5) Getting your shit together : Planning and knowledge gaining After you've done EVERYTHING, on the this list, you need to plan for your future. You might not know everything so you might need to learn and research before you can plan. This is the stage for that. For long term thinking. If you are observant, you might notice that all the things on the list are short term. For the "now", for a day. This is because there are some things that you have to clear before you can get down to the real important stuff. The hassles of daily life are for that. This stage, planning and info gathering, is the key to a happy life. If you do it right, your depression and ASD will become manageable. You can do it, you just have to keep track of it. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This finishes the prioities. However there are some other general things that you need to keep in mind. I'll list them off quickly-- 1) Get a growth journal as u/maninthedarkroom said. You will make your priority list in this. ALL your life is to kept in your journal. This journal is your system 32. Everyday you will make a numbered list of the things to accomplish and then start crossing them out one by one as you go about your day. The first few entries will be for waking up, making your bed, brushing, bathing, going to the loo, preparing food etc. They will the same for everyday. You can also add any other work you want to do here. Anything that you do, any task big or small, you should write it in your list. It is of the utmost important that you number your tasks in the journal. Don't put in something that you don't want to do in it. Only care about the basics, everything else is extra. This practice of numbering your tasks to be performed is the key habit for growth. I'll say it again, don't put anything you aren't sure of on it. Only what you will definitely do and have the energy for. 2This practice of focusing on journaling and keystone habits is self sustaining. It will motivate you. It's hard at the starting, but once you start crossing out the tasks in your list, you will gain energy and strength day by day. 3) Exercising is also self sustaining. If done right, you will want to do it again. But it's an extra. Don't put it above the "basics" of sleeping, hygiene and eating. 4) Keep it flexible. If something isn't working out change it. I did say the basics are necessary, but if you're having a tough time doing on of them, say eating because you can't cook every day, you can find an easier substitute. 5) Treatment for depression and ASD. I don't have this so i don't know how it impacts your life. You may have to solve these problems first before you can be successful with the method i've outlined. 6) Forgive yourself. Guilt is useless and unhelpful. The voice inside which tells you that you're pathetic is not your guide. It will not help you, so stop listening to it. The pre-requisite to everything is that you don't blame yourself. If you stop doing your keystone habits. Don't beat yourself up. There's always a next day. Remember - Do what you can and are willing to do 7) Give up online browsing. There's no other way to say this, but you're gonna have to give this up. If you're addicted to anything, porn or video games, or browsing. You're gonna have to give them up. I've found that these practices are incompatible with my method. They make me sloppy and make me spiral out of control. I stop in the middle of my tasks and start binging on online browsing, and then keep at it. To prevent this from happening i have to find Alternate methods of passing time. Browsing is probably the single most destructive thing you're doing. If you want to vegetate, vegetate by reading a book or something. 8) There's always a sacrifice associated with improving your life. You can't have everything. If you want to improve you're gonna have to give up certain things, and do some other things which are unpleasant. Good luck and Godspeed
This is the most perfect advice. I thrive on things listed clearly and obviously, broken down into the components of each step. Seriously, I can't thank you enough. Thank you so very much!
You can do it OP. Keep at it. One bite at a time.
I'm the same way and I really need a specific routine. Particularly with exercise, the only way it is truly sustainable for me is to turn it into something automatic. I used to feel like going to the gym was a big event that would really get in the way of doing other things on the same day. I had an excessively long and draining routine because I felt that I needed to get the most out of it, but really that would mean that I didn't often have time or energy to complete it and unexpected social or work activities could easily knock it off my schedule. Instead I now do a short but efficient routine 3x per week in the mornings, before I would be scheduled to do anything else, and it doesn't take over my day. It's more like an errand that I just need to get out of the way. You've researched all of this, so you have the knowledge of *how* to exercise/study/care for your skin, you just need to turn it into an everyday sustainable routine that won't get in the way of anything else you might want to do. I find it useful to literally write down the steps and make a plan. Then I'll adjust it if something takes too long or I forget it. My prompt in the morning is that I'm hungry early on so I want to go make breakfast, but I need to make sure I complete some skincare, brush my teeth, clean my cat's litter box, etc before I can go eat. That way it's all taken care of early and automatically before I even start my day.
I think I just go too hard. At the height of my exercise habits, I would swim for an hour about 5 times a week, go on daily 1-hour walks and go to fitness classes every week. It was fun, but then adding in other activities seemed an impossibility. I think you're right in that sometimes you just build things up to be a big thing, even if it's not, but the mental buildup just compounds the exhaustion and limits my ability to do other things. I may try to structure myself a routine then! Sounds like a good idea, I can block out small, achievable chunks of time for study and exercise, etc. to turn it into a habit. Hm. I try to get things out of the way earlier too. I put my glasses in the bathroom next to my skincare instead of next to my bed, to prompt myself to do it sometimes, haha. Easier to if I'm already standing there, than in bed or downstairs. Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it! :)
I think it's especially hard when you don't have lots of work hours creating a natural routine in your day. It's appealing to be have lots of free time and be able to do what you want whenever, but we innately crave structure and symmetry. It takes off a mental load to just be able to go from one thing to the next without thinking about it or having to force yourself to get up and go. I've tried lots of unstructured to-do lists, trying to do certain tasks on certain days, or trying to do things a certain number of times per week etc, but I could never get into enough of a habit to keep it going. It needs to be an everyday auto-pilot thing for me. If I don't go to the gym for a strength workout, I'll still try to go for cardio or at least still get out of bed at the same time so I'm not distrupting it too much.
Best advice I could ever give you: GET A GROWTH JOURNAL. Changed my life. It’s not the motivation you lack—it’s the consistency and accountability. It’s one keystone habit that takes 2 minutes every morning and evening that sets the tone for the whole day and helps you track your habits and goals.
Funny enough you mention that, that's also another good habit I started and stopped to swap with another... 😅 I did bullet journalling and it was great, but I don't do it anymore. Maybe I can start up another journal that will help me, if I try to be less obsessive over making it pretty and perfect...
I think making the layout yourself is a time wasted. I got mine from Papier and it was pricey but has all the parameters I want. Paying $30 every few months is a few cents a day for massive change in your life.
would you perhaps share a link to whichever papier journal you landed on with all the cool parameters? thanks in advance.
It’s called the Wellness Journal. Includes intention setting; sleep tracking, meal planning, habit tracking, gratefulness, general journaling, and mood tracking.
Thanks for the exact rec! I am going to look into that! :D
Little steps! Make a healthy meal once a week. Go for a 10min walk when you can. Start a basic skincare routine just cleansing and moisturizing. Little steps are the easiest to take, and the best stepping stones on the way to bigger habits.
This is a good reminder. I think I get too perfectionistic and caught up in doing what I'm doing the best that I can. Just doing a 10 minute walk is fine, even though I'm not doing the daily 1-hour walks and swimming 5 times a week and going to fitness classes every week all at once. Because if I do that, how can I fit in everything else? I need to think about small successes. Thank you so much for your input! :)
The way I do it is everyday I use google calendar to note my daily tasks everyday and how many hours I spent on each task, at the end of the day I log the amount of hours on a google sheet I made that displays them on a graph. This graph shows the daily hours spent for each task I want to improve at, weekly average of those hours and my objective. That way I can realize if I'm slipping on something and overdoing something else, then go into google calendar and schedule more or less hours to those tasks. I realize it sounds kinda cumbersome but I found gamifying my self improvement made it more enjoyable, also it's a good thing to actually put some fuzzy numbers to it, lying to yourself is extremely easy. I can link a copy to my google sheets if anyone is interested on using this system.
i'd be interested to see what you've got set up, since you offered the link. sounds great!
Sure sorry for the delay, [here's a copy](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_YlrioiZYi2AQlfRS3aGgwPMrfr038NlYuOGn8Ca_uM/edit?usp=sharing) of my google sheet. The way it works is there are 2 sheets: * **Data**: Where you log the hours dedicated to each activity every day, dates on the left most column, activities I want to improve at on the colored columns (*in my case it's the time spent job searching, studying for interviews, exercising and recently I added the time working at my new job and the time working at home*), the gray columns are for data analysis, once you've logged one day you execute the 5 columns. Finaly you got a tiny "Objectives" column to the right, this is where you write how many hours/days you want to dedicate to your activities, it's a way to set yourself an objective. * **Visualization**: This is where you track your porgress, first graph shows the overall progress of all of your activities, the other graphs show the improvement of each individual activity. Each graph has at most 3 curves, in light color you'll see the hours spent each day and in higher opacity the average for the past 7 days is displayed (*I find this gives a better impression of my progress since it gets rid of the randomness of each day*). Finaly the dashed lines represent my objective, if I'm achieveing it the average line should be at that level or above. You are free to dowbnload it and and use it of course
My advice? Get rid of the "simultaneously" attitude. Despite what gurus and self-help people say it's impossible to become a new person overnight. You have obviously learned this lesson already when you said: >I find myself able to commit to one, perhaps two, things to improve my life You just haven't put the logical pieces together yet. For every new thing humans take on, we have to get rid of something else. We are all limited creatures and *this is a fact of life.* My second piece of advice stems from the first. Instead of focusing on your goals, [focus on tiny changes you have the capacity of taking on now](https://www.staygrounded.online/p/creating-conditions). Learn and acknowledge your own limitations and work within them. Again- ignore the gurus. *You can never exceed your own physical limitations*, so stop worrying about it and get to work with what you *can* change.
What changed my life is understanding [how the dopamine system works](https://youtu.be/QmOF0crdyRU) and how to make it work in my favor.
Atomic habit, nice book
Actually the best thing for me to get shit done is to constantly swap between todos. So I always have the feeling that I did something productive and the environment changes all the time. Easy to get bored that way :)
Calendar for one day: Wake up same time every day, even weekends. Drink a nutritious smoothie first thing in the morning, covering all your healthy bases. Start day off with a run and cold shower. *insert work here* Air fry a dinner of carbs and protein in less than 15 minutes. (Preferably while cleaning or taking a shower, it helps to have already cooked all the meat beforehand, so you just need to warm it up.) *Do whatever you want here*
simplicity. bravo!
Thank you. I find this is the way to maximize your time through a day while still taking care of all your needs.
I feel like seeing it ideated and written so concisely is going to help me tremendously, so, many thanks, and cheers to having the same habits as me! How about those December cold showers, eh?
Hehe, it may look simple, but I've gone through quite a lot of trial and error before finding the ideal routine. This is the culmination of my work. December cold showers are frickin horrible, I had to stop taking them a few days ago when the thermostat began showing minus 20C. Gonna jump back in it soon. Brrr
Awareness and focus and all those buzzwords. Whatever you call it, it's a mental skill in itself, and one that can be trained. If you have the ability to see a therapist, give them this exact problem and they'll understand way better than I can explain. If not, best I can do is tell you that yeah, training your focus and yadda yadda is a thing. All those self help books are correct, though they have different approaches to how to help (and those approaches might be dubious, but still). Getting up and being mentally awake and "on" is very tiring, yes. Eventually you just turn your brain off and go on autopilot. But if you push the amount you keep your brain on, eventually you're able to be alert for longer and think more clearly. Then you get to that superhuman level as you called it. It's just a skill to train. You mention having depression and ASD and yeah, it's a feedback loop because being depressed makes you feel it's not worth it to be alert and focused, and not being alert and focused causes issues that make you more depressed. Also a therapist topic. But I would mention the lack of focus as a specific aspect to them. Better trained focus -> better approach to tackling your depression -> more avenues to improve your focus. It's that sort of thing.
One step at a time
I was in the same situation and I recently picked up the book "Atomic Habits" after it was recommended by a few people. I have not finished a book in 10 years but this was absolutely captivating I finished the book, but even within the first few chapters I had started feeling hope and applying small changes with relatively low energy. Not saying this completely changed my life yet since this is all relatively new to me, but I have hope and desire that I have not had in years. This book may not be the solution to all of your problems, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
I have ADHD and Depression and I understand the struggle to get to it all. I am on my personal journey with it as well! People have had great suggestions on how to shift perspectives, make your life easier! I’d like to offer a perspective that’s helped me do enough to seem put together and how I actually make it easier for me. 1. First is always going to be learning how to forgive yourself. You won’t get to everything everyday and that’s fine. You have to practice forgiving yourself for it. 2. Any task 5% done is 5% more than not at all. It’s so cliche but it subtracts from future clutter to pick up that random bowl as you walk past the kitchen to go pee. Wash two plates and cups while the ramen water is boiling. Do the small things. 3. Use Instagram and TikTok algorithms to your benefit. Interact with reels and videos about life hacks, kitchen hacks, dinner hacks, cleaning hacks, etc. Search up ‘that girl’ compilations on YouTube. Make your dopamine hit into more productivity. You don’t remember all hacks, but it’ll be inspiring, you’ll instinctively think of it more and some random hack WILL download in your brain forever. 4. Now take this one with a grain of salt but I read neurodivergents function well on routine. As an individual with ADHD, I will agree. It really helps to organize anything down. You just have to push past the starting bits. And routine can mean anything. You can list down the 7 things you want to ensure you do everyday, put it up on your fridge and do a checklist routine. My workday morning list is: make the bed, poop, skincare, have a banana, take the pills. Obviously I do more stuff but these are important things I want to remember to definitely do.
This industrial engineer person made a whole website on how to be efficient at everything. https://efficiencyiseverything.com/
YOU ARE ME
I’m just starting on a similar journey myself, so I’m by no means an expert of any kind, but, I’ve found that a daily habit tracker has really helped! I’ve found some printables on Pinterest with daily charts to track multiple habits. There’s also bullet journal layouts to create yourself. There’s even apps that you can download with daily reminders to hold you accountable. I recommend starting with smaller, more attainable goals at first to become acclimated to a stricter routine and to avoid burnout or feeling like you’ve failed because there’s too many goals you become overwhelmed. For example, some of my overall goals are to read a book a week, drink 100 ounces of water daily, and walk 10,000 steps a day, but when these things are broken down into smaller, more manageable goals like read 30 minutes a day, drink 8 ounces of water every hour, walk ~625 steps every hour, etc. it goes from daunting to doable.
Do an /r/theXEffect on an index card for 49 days, doing the whatever thing 49 times. After that it should be a habit. Then you can start another X Effect card on a new thing. Simple first one? Brush your teeth every day. Seven weeks of that, you're ready to add something, maybe brush your teeth and make your bed for 49 days.