GTD (Getting Things Done) method is popular. I don’t follow it exactly, but the ideas are still good to know about. It’s about being able to trust in a system so that you don’t have a nagging feeling that you are forgetting something. That’s only possible if you know that the system you are using will remember, so that you can offload that info from your brain and focus on the present task.

One thing I took from GTD is that there is no “bucket” for tasks less than ~5 minutes. This is because there is no purpose in taking the time to estimate tasks that small; do it immediately. For my personal habits, this was helpful because I tend to defer even the most minor tasks until they accumulate into a heap. Now, for small things like emptying a trash can, if I see it is full, I do it immediately and don’t allow myself to contemplate. It is done before I had time to think.

Lisdexamphetamine

As someone who has been able to afford a few therapy sessions, I can tell you how important reframing is. Instead of dreading doing it, consider it as an important step of trying to achieve the rule of 1% improvements. Try to make your life 1% less shit every day.

Sauce: finally said “fuck it” and cleaned out my car and replaced my old sneakers with some fresh canvas ones: 1% less shit.

The second big thing is don’t give yourself too much freedom to procrastinate. When my job was at full-time during the summer, I was on top of things and I was basically a functional adult, but still a basement dweller because I am a broke ass functional adult. And before anyone gives me shit for therapy before, getting myself to a mindset where I’m much healthier is crucial. I’m a big believer that health is wealth.

i second the “compartmentalization” concept, but you can use time as well as space.

my work space is separate from my goof off space for sure, but one of the other things i started doing a few years ago is to dedicate one free morning (for example, Sunday) to reset the entire house. eg. do all the laundry, fold/put away, deep clean the kitchen, straighten up all the rooms, personal grooming, bathrooms, pet stuff, you get the idea.

it means my other day off can be totally unproductive bullshit if I want, and i don’t wait for anything to build up, it rarely takes very long to reset it. and it doesn’t have the opportunity to weigh on me or become too big of a deal. everything stays pretty tidy without me dwelling on it.

Another tip . Lists. If you have things you wanna get done. Write them down physically and check them off after they are done.

Would recommend to make the list a day before.

If you finish all your planned things you got something. Done .

I would also recommend to be reasonable with your lists.

Non-ADHD answer: Develop better “attention hygiene”. Reduce the amount of dopamine hits you self-inflict. It is like if you know you are supposed to eat vegetables once in a while, but you only stock candy and fried snacks. Your brain decides based on perceived benefit, which can be, and is, manipulated by things like packaging, bright colors, crunch and texture, etc. which are all precisely engineered in a lab for processed foods.

I have previously posted a couple times on this: post 1, post 2

I don’t have the money to do so, but I hear hiring a dommy mommy to keep you on task is pretty effective.

Have something I want to do even less. I call it procrastivation.

compartmentalization. don’t work in the room where the fun things are, if your work involves touching the computer set up a dual boot to make a work-only space

I have never been successful in an endeavor that I’ve done alone. I really think it’s that simple for me.

Do you have ADHD

I think a lot of it depends on what you’re procrastinating. If it’s a big project due a while from now or with no due date, I like to break it down into teeny tiny baby steps and then set a deadline for the first baby step. That’s usually “I need to read this email within 15 minutes”, or “by 1pm I need to get the vacuum out of the closet”. I set a timer for when I need to start (which works with distractions/being online etc too), and then as soon as the alarm goes off I immediately turn my brain off and go to where the task is and start doing the task. I’ve Pavloved my brain and now I stand up immediately whenever my alarm goes off lmao

Like, pretend you’re about to jump into an ice bath, you gotta just jump in. You need like 1 second of actual willpower and after that you’re already in it and there’s no going back. Did you really just get all freezing cold and wet for 1 second just to jump out? The hard part is over! Once you get over the initial barrier of just doing anything at all, it’s much easier imo.

Also making lists and checking them off as you go is rewarding, oftentimes I snowball and get everything done.

I’ll add more if I think of it/if you want. :)

Better to slap it together than do nothing at all

Org Mode. But you’re gonna have to stop procrastinating to be able to learn Emacs so idk maybe it was all the suffering I inflicted on myself to configure it that cured my procrastination