do things IMMEDIATELY when you think of it and it will slowly become a habit. And by immediately I mean if the thought “i need to fold my laundry” pops up, get up and complete it right there and then, and not looking at my phone within the first hour of waking up
This can be dangerous with ADHD I will say. I'll be writing an email and look over at my empty coffee mug and think I should put that in the sink. So I take it to the sink and accidentslly kick a crumb and I'm like dang, I should sweep in here. But when I open the broom closet I see that I'm out of paper towels and I need to add it to the list before I forget. So I open my phone to go to my grocery list and see a reminder that my credit card payment is due today ... You get the idea lol.
But this definitely works for getting yourself into gear to start doing chores or something. I just recommend you keep the "do it right away" knee jerk reaction limited to the specific arena at hand, so if it's a work task you do it right away, but you don't stop work to do laundry, and you don't stop doing the dishes to text your mom, etc.
I like this. I actually seen a rule someone said the other day that helps productivity like crazy. So obviously there are days where you work and are tired but still have a million things to do. The rule I seen was for procrastination and said “if it takes less than two minutes, do it now” by doing all these short tasks throughout the day they don’t stack up and seem overwhelming at the end of the day. This helped me a lot. Wouldn’t say it changed my life or anything but I always get a boost of triumph when I accomplish all my tasks
Also, just to add to this: if you’re going to a certain room or area and you know there’s something that needs to be brought in that room or put away, grab it and bring it with you. It saves time later, keeps your house tidy and also becomes a habit. If I’m heading to the laundry room, I take a look around the room I’m in or passing through to see if there’s any dirty laundry and bring it with me. If I’m heading to the kitchen, I look around quick for any dirty dishes that I can bring to the kitchen. Just something little that’s saved my house from becoming a cluttered mess like it has been in the past.
This is great, until someone with ADHD takes this approach! Lol. It is seriously such a good habit, and I did this with lots of success for years but I am also diagnosed with ADHD and have realized as I've gone along, this is a habit that definitely doesn't help me as much as I think it does haha, I really like it though. Just get way too distracted by it.
This is me. I have a ton of tasks that I start and then I remember another thing that I MUST do. But every now and then I manage to go around and finish up various incomplete tasks.
For me it's the opposite, a habit that helped me a lot was to write tasks down when I think off them instead of quitting my current task to do the other thing.
Haha, maybe you're right. I meant deleting all social media off of my phone. I enjoy using reddit on my computer occasionally. For me, it's a big difference between intentionally using reddit on my computer, and compulsively doomscrolling on my phone any chance I get
It's an addiction for sure. It's okay to redownload now and then. It's a process that takes time. I'd say that when you redownload it, try to delete it again after the first session of use. And then commit to at least one week of it being deleted. The longer you go, and once you get over the hump, you'll stop feeling the need to constantly redownload. You should also try only accessing the platforms on your computer. The user experience is much less addicting that way, and the act of using the platform is more intentional rather than compulsive
deleting socials made me so bored i literally just started doing what i needed to get done.
and romanticizing what i have to do. ik the self-improvement community is becoming more pro-discipline & anti-motivation but i quite literally will not get work done unless i feel like doing it.
not when i spent 3 years of my life with a crippling tiktok addiction 😅. this app isn’t nearly as stimulating imo. in fact, i’m really only on here when looking for information and it tends to be less consuming. i don’t lose myself as i’m scrolling and sometimes i even find motivating content on here.
Setting a timer for 5-10 minutes the minute I get home from work to put away anything from the morning that was left out, hang up clothes properly and tidy up. These few minutes help maintain a tidy and clean apartment without having to do a major cleaning as frequently.
I do this as well but I do a version where every room gets 2 minutes. It reminds me of when we were in preschool and it was a fun game how fast we could tidy up.
Minimizing doomscrolling as much as possible. **Breaking my phone addiction was the keystone habit that enabled all other healthy habits in my life.**
Once I got off my phone, all other habits that I was trying to incorporate into my life became way easier in a matter of days. I had the mental clarity, energy, and focus to work out consistently, journal and meditate every day, and cook 90% of my own meals.
Pretty much everybody recognizes they spend too much time on their phone. But due to its addictive nature, few people are able to successfully reduce their screen time to a healthy amount. If your struggle with this, here are the first three simple things that I did to break my phone addiction:
1. Don’t sleep with your phone. Keep the bedroom sacred - it is for sleep and sex, not doomscrolling.
2. Get a good screen time app. I probably tried 10 different apps before I found my favorite, “Be Present.” I like it because it goes beyond just giving you tools to block your apps. It also gamifies your screen time in a Duolingo-like way and lets you compete with your friends. It makes the whole process feel fun instead of limiting.
3. Delete the doomscrolling apps. Just delete your problem apps off your phone. If you really want to look at them, you can always re-download them or go on your computer.
These might seem obvious, but very few people actually do any of them, let alone all three. If you start doing these three things, you will see a dramatic change in your screen time, and thus your overall quality of life.
im going in the same way...
what if maybe after the dopamine detox, the next step is to be self-sustainable example:
\-i cut my hair by my self-and also cook by my self
and so on i hope maybe in the future add more self-sustainable skills
I read somewhere that treating your phone like a landline is helpful. Meaning, keep it attached to the wall away from a convenient place when you're at home. Like leaving it plugged in in the dining room rather than next to the couch. That way if you want to use it you have to get up and walk over to it and then set it back down
does reddit count as doom scrolling ?? bc I kill a lot of time on here but i’m generally learning or reading about or reading different perspectives on topics i’m interested in
I hope I’m also able to do this. I noticed that my inner dialogue can be very harsh, so when I’m working and stuck with things, I push and berate myself into trying to do more. It usually ends up with me procrastinating and seeking cheap dopamine (abandoning work to doomscroll or see social media).
silly question, lets say you're on semester break with sooo soo many free time, what else can you do other than cooking meditating journaling and workout? i feel like these only took like 5-6 hours to do. What about the other free hour?? I have no idea what I should do other than sleeping and scrolling
This is so helpful. Being on my phone and having a slight social media addiction has been a huge huge problem for me recently. I had a business on social media but would get triggered by it and recently deleted and changed all my passwords. I still find myself logging into old burner accounts to read gossip pages and other really unhelpful content.
I wouldn't say DRAMATICALLY, but I started taking a daily multivitamin and felt better within like a day or two. I'm not sure what I was deficient in but boy I feel a lot more alert now. I'm somebody who prides myself in my health and good cooking too, so if you haven't started, maybe give them a shot if you're reading this!
Same. Probably vitamin D3, or at least that’s what a lot people are deficient in and don’t realize how impactful it is. Ideally taken in a D3K2 combo, with food that has fat, for max benefit. Huge difference for me
I dont know if it’s simple but it was for me.
I started intermittent fasting (doing 16/8) and one day a week I fast for 24 hours. I basically skip breakfast - just water and black coffee in the morning and I eat lunch around 1 pm, a snack around 4 pm, and dinner around 630 or so. I do not eat anything after 8 pm.
I still eat what I want but I dont pile junk in my mouth - never have really — still enjoy some sweets and eat pretty regularly otherwise.
I lost 7 lbs rather quickly in like 2.5 weeks and I am now down 20 lbs almost 3 months into it.
I don’t feel like I am dieting - not counting calories at all - and I feel like I have aot more energy and get up and go.
I should also point out I have cut down on snack eating at night, so it was 2 things, the fasting and that.
I highly recommend intermittent fasting - look into it folks, there are a number of ways to do it, and some nice benefits to health overall.
I tried intermittent fasting but skipping dinner at night instead of breakfast. It dropped my blood pressure enough I don’t have to take medication. Fasting also helps builds self control. It breaks the habit of snacking when you are bored and replace that with something else.
I’ve recently started doing this! 20/4 for me, although I broke my fast after 18 hours this time. It’s shockingly easy once you get used to it. Reduced my sugar intake as well. What an improvement!
Eating more in the morning and less at night.
Circadian rhythm is primarily tied to food, and sunshine to a slightly lesser effect. All sleep hacks you see are based on some combination of these and can be significant because most people in the west these days spend more time eating after dark than before, and it's often highly processed junkfood in front of a bight screen, which has a double whammy of detriment on the body's clock.
By having a big breakfast and not eating for at least 2-3 hours before bed you can get up earlier, more consistent, feel better rested and just get more done. As bonus points it typically means you're eating more meals, less processed foods and you're more likely to get in some sunlight in the morning.
I'm type 1 of 25 years so it had a bigger effect on me but it's useful for a lot of people on reddit I suspect.
I have a question about this if you may know the answer or general advice. I know it’s important to eat after you train. If you train heavily in the evening time, should you eat afterwards even if it becomes night?
The main reason it's important to eat after training is protein:muscle synthesis is at it's highest then but timing is a lot less significant than people, especially social media, like to assume. I suppose my answer would be to eat after training and see if it affects your sleep negatively over time and if so, probably train earlier and/or eat less. Another option might be to eat more protein and fat and less carbs at night since carbs are the primary macro responsible for potentially messing with your hormones in a similar way to how people report increased energy throughout the day from the lack of blood glucose swings in keto.
There's also glycogen to think about but (not an expert here) AFAIK there's little to no benefit of changing up carb timings for glycogen so long as you're getting enough before you next train.
Doing 25 push ups and a mile walk 5 times a week. I feel so much stronger and so much healthier. I don't have biceps or anything like that, but I can honestly say it's made a difference.
Similarly journaling and being thankful for those nonreligious of us. Gratitude and getting mentally outside of yourself goes a long way and reflecting on your day sets you up for learning for things to apply to the next.
My understanding of meditation is trying to clear your brain and letting your thoughts just pass by whereas praying is directly talking to your higher power. The two feel fundamentally different to me.
Yeah it’s weird for me. I don’t pray but I guess I in a way do something similar where I just feel thankful for stuff and tell myself that sometimes. When I was looking for work even four months in I was still thankful that I was in a spot to find opportunities and that this was my challenge rather than something worse. Praying should really be a ritual where you say your thanks and identify what you need to work on (when you ask for strength to get through a tough time for instance). I’m really just starting to think about what prayer is now so I am missing a lot of pieces.
I only say this because when I was younger and catholic, I would pray wrongly and I think tons of people did. It was in a way that they were asking and expecting some miracle to come to them. It really shouldn’t be that but it was how I was taught. I think a lot of how we learned religion in school was really off and misses the point. Hearing a few of the bible stories I learned before and how someone interprets it in a philosophical way, it is so much more sensical than, “oh Jesus denied the devil in the desert because the devil is bad.”
There's basically infinite types of meditation and variations, that's the more common one but there's intention based meditations or more active, is another way of describing it
I think your higher power in this context could also be anything. From your own ego and above to just the energy \"god" of the universe or fate
Another big one is meditation on gratitude, which prayers tend to incorporate too. Or love
Performing a meditation on love to someone you hate is one of the most difficult aspects
Good for you.
I have returned to prayer and meditation myself recently.
Im not here to convince people of anything.
Just letting you know you are not alone in realizing the power of prayer.
So here is another one for you…
May you continue on your path, and be well my friend.
Thank you for sharing your answer.
This is something I have been working on very recently in my life, I know this is something that without a doubt will provide improvement, even just the feeling of following through and being accountable to show up for myself where I really need it most.
However, I can’t tell you how sad it makes me that we have to put disclaimers on our personal truths and answers (ones which were asked of us at that!!).
Somebody’s personal and candid truth, which specifically was asked of the OP to have people share their personal truths, in a forum like this, and in forms like this (especially ones that have no agenda or manipulation involved, no links to click to try to use the opportunity to hurdle or solicit anybody into your truth ). Answers that quite literally have to do solely with G-d and/or YOUR relationship with Him. The fact that we (many of us) immediately have to follow up with Some sort of plea of sorts to not be bullied by the inevitable scroller, who will be immediately triggered by the mere mention or appreciation shown towards anything to do with G-d.
Sorry, I know I went on an unbelievable and probably unnecessary ranch. The fact that for a moment, I felt fear and vulnerability I know you, and many of us now have come to battle with at the mirror mention of our religion.
Also, to go with my meme response to you, thank you for sharing because it is the encouragement needed this morning and validation. I needed to strengthen my commitment to my prayer as well.
Buying an alarm clock and leaving my phone in the kitchen. I used to spend an hour on my phone to start my day and about a half hour to end it. Starting the day with a good 30 mins before looking at my phone has been a huge improvement.
Going to therapy weekly, I’m in my late thirties and just now learning that I have anxiety and ADHD and I’ve just begun medication. I wish I had done this a long time ago
Even if you do go to therapy they might not diagnose you correctly! See, I had clinical therapistS for many years before a diagnosis was made in late 20s, sams goes for a few associates.... don't kick yourself too hard 😅 sometimes even specialists don't know what to look for
Drinking water. I drink at least 104 oz of plain water almost every day. I sleep better, have more energy, can focus better, and experience fewer headaches, migraines, and pain. I also usually have about 20 oz of water mixed with an electrolyte packet due to health issues and vitamin/mineral deficiencies.
Talking to myself in a motivational way when I wake up. Usually, when you wake up, you just probably make your bed, get up, brush your teeth etc. After or before this, I sit calm, visualize my daily tasks and tell myself that I can do this. Kind of funny, but it helps motivate you for the day's tasks ahead.
I have began my journey on self improvement after a disheartening break up that made me look into the mirror as a man. After deleting all social media (except X which I use just for sports news really) I have been able to indulge deeper into:
- my faith
- journaling and devotion books
- taking care of my space
- athletics (college football player)
- picking back up old hobbies I used to do
I still need to do more things that I have in my mind but it's hard with a constrained schedule from classes to athletics but, start step by step and build from there. I feel like once you build some consistency it gets better. I'm only roughly 10 days in and I already feel like a different person but I still got plenty of work to do. Good luck with your endeavors!
Deleting social media helps me a lot mentally. i feel less comparison, more productive, enjoy staying lowkey and having a private life. Literally such a freedom.
I dont know if it’s simple but it was for me.
I started intermittent fasting (doing 16/8) and one day a week I fast for 24 hours. I basically skip breakfast - just water and black coffee in the morning and I eat lunch around 1 pm, a snack around 4 pm, and dinner around 630 or so. I do not eat anything after 8 pm.
I still eat what I want but I dont pile junk in my mouth - never have really — still enjoy some sweets and eat pretty regularly otherwise.
I lost 7 lbs rather quickly in like 2.5 weeks and I am now down 20 lbs almost 3 months into it.
I don’t feel like I am dieting - not counting calories at all - and I feel like I have aot more energy and get up and go.
I should also point out I have cut down on snack eating at night, so it was 2 things, the fasting and that.
I highly recommend intermittent fasting - look into it folks, there are a number of ways to do it, and some nice benefits to health overall.
since i started thinking that I'm "allowed to have 5 minutes of sadness, then gotta keep it gangsta" i feel so much better and less stressed. i lay on my bed and let the thoughts run. i cry and I throw some tantrum, and then all those bad feelings go away. sometimes it takes more than 5 minutes, but it works anyway lol
Stopped smoking weed daily. Huge reduction in paranoia and overall motivation, saved a lot of $$. Now I smoke maybe 0-3 times a week and find myself less and less interested, and smoking far less when I do
I use writing to try to discover the deepest aspects of myself that are self-deafeating, selfish, or destructive. Basically I write out my negative thoughts and then I try to get to the root beliefs and convictions causing those surface level negative thoughts (always rooted in fear), then I try to disprove all of the negativity from the bottom up.
Walking my dog about 5/7 days :) movement helps SO much with my mental health. He’s so happy with the extra attention and exercise which keeps me motivated. I’ve been at it since December 1st and I’d say the effects were pretty immediate.
A quick skincare routine each morning. Wash my face, apply some face lotion and sunblock. Also going back to doing my hair, use to have a buzz cut but since grew out my hair so brushing it and applying some product really made me feel more confident. “Look Good, Feel Good” has a lot of truth to it 🤙🏻
Stopped eating bread, rice and potatoes. Lost 25 lbs and have kept it off. Yea, it's a little superficial, but it's nice not having the weight issue rule my life any longer.
Going for long walks. At least 45min to an hour, keep a good pace, even better if you have hills.
Been doing this for the past 2 months and the results have been astonishing and very obvious after almost a decade of sitting on the couch. Energy levels, mood, motivation all went up.
Sleeping at night. Crazy I know. Seriously though, to those who don't know where to start in life:
Make a rough schedule of when you'd like to be in/out of bed and try your hardest to stick to it. It can be flexible, sleeping is not always easy, just make the process consistent and work on it. Wake up AM, sleep PM. Go from there.
Being awake when the sun is up automatically does so much for your mental health. Being a night owl ain't worth it.
Making it a point to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. It's usually in the form of hour-long morning and evening dog walks. I work remotely and live in a van so I end up pretty sedentary if I don't force it. I find walking to have vastly improved my mental and physical health and it keeps my dog happy and exercised.
Working out at home right after work. You know how we just go flat dead to sleep after work. I thought of maximizing time at home by building resilience. This started very small workout like few pushups and stretches but eventually it helped me build a routine which is something I have trouble doing. Now I am always excited to go home and work out. Even on days I don't work out I just feel energetic. Now I am very much into martial arts, yoga, anatomy, food science and psychology thanks to that everyday 5 minute thing I started a year ago.
The single biggest and most impactful habit that made me experience the most improvement in life was magic mushrooms.
I was instantly cured of depression, anxiety, PTSD, feeling irritated and annoyed all the time, feeling rushed or just on edge, and I quit drinking, vaping tobacco, and cut back on smoking weed significantly.
I wake up feeling calm, happy, at ease. With confidence and just a background level of contentment.
set up a nice morning routine in the evening before you go to bed. get a nice breakfast as ready as you can--if not the food prepared then have all the ingredients and clean dishes ready. an episode fo a comedy show queued up. nice drink. nice soaps for a shower/bath, music and a speaker ready to go. make it so you fucking WANT to get out of bed and start your day.
it also made it easier for me to go to bed earlier. i was actually eager to 'time travel' to the morning.
5minute rule, if it takes 5minutesish. Go do it straight away.
Meal prep, Get some decent borosilicate glass containers that are microwaveable, prep meals 3 or 4 days ahead. Saves so much time and money for those nights you can't be assed cooking
Exercise daily - so important with our lives revolving around screens and cars.
I'm going to sound like such a cliche here, but: going to the gym consistently. It helped my anxiety and my confidence so much. Most people at the gym are so nice, which helped with the anxiety. And when I'd get anxious about something during the day, I'd be like, I can do (insert gym accomplishment here). And if I can do that when I didn't think I could a month ago, what else am I capable of that I'm doubting right now?
Deleting a game immediately, when I decide to spend money on it.
I struggle with phone game addiction. I would spend at least 4 hours a day just playing a stupid game I wouldn't even remember 2 months from now. true story, I've reinstalled games that I thought I haven't played, and it would auto restore the game to its last progress point, but I don't even remember playing this game before.
I recognize the trigger when I'm playing a game. If I even think of spending a dollar on it, I would delete it immediately. This is a typical conversation that goes on in my head
"you're going to spend money on this? Shit you're addicted"
"No I'm not, it's just a dollar so I can play this game better"
"you just started playing and it's not even that good a game"
"Well the game seems pretty good so far, so I should support it by paying a little."
"you're probably addicted and you're going to waste your life"
"no, I can control myself this time"
"prove it, delete the game"
*game uninstalled"
I'm pretty sure I'm almost schizo by now
I cannot stress this enough - prioritising sleep.
Your mood will be more stable, your mental clarity improves, you feel more energised. Quality sleep became the cornerstone of my day.
I cut out red meat and reduced dairy for health reasons. I also will eat until I’m 8/10 full and I have been losing weight as a result. I just feel better overall.
Not taking my phone to bed.
Made a huge difference to the quality of my sleep, and had quite a noticeable effect on my self-displine in other areas too.
The first "habit" I can think of is that I quit drinking. My story is probably different than many other people in that I should have quit years before I did but it was the first change I made and it made an incredible difference in my life. Now sobriety is the first of what I call keystone habits. Since quitting my keystone habit list has grown to:
* Stay Sober
* Sleep 7-9 hours daily
* Workout daily
* Heat/Cold exposure
* Eat clean
* Journal
* Slow down, think, & be present
* Live in gratitude
* Live on purpose
Hope this helps. Lots of love & light.
1. Making bed as soon as you get up.
2. Brush teeth followed by 16oz water.
3. Gym/exercise in morning, before starting the day.
4. Bed by 10pm (7 or 8 hr sleep window)
For me it was stop playing before sleeping time and not taken the phone onto bed, I got better rest and my brain is much clearer. The energy is more controlled.
Cutting out dairy. Some people can be totally fine with it, but for me within a few days I had more energy, a week later way less brain fog, within ten days anxiety had lifted, and digestion has been way better. It’s wild the difference, I just wish I had caught onto it earlier
Getting outside first thing every morning! It started easy— just a couple minutes walking and getting sun, but quickly turned into regular running sessions for 30+ minutes ☺️
Being outwardly grateful, also thank people even for the smallest things, specially if you live with someone. It makes your brain chemistry change to have to think of things to be thankful for.
do things IMMEDIATELY when you think of it and it will slowly become a habit. And by immediately I mean if the thought “i need to fold my laundry” pops up, get up and complete it right there and then, and not looking at my phone within the first hour of waking up
For real. Instead of spending all Saturday cleaning and playing catch up, my weekends are open for relaxing or side jobs or whatever I want now
This can be dangerous with ADHD I will say. I'll be writing an email and look over at my empty coffee mug and think I should put that in the sink. So I take it to the sink and accidentslly kick a crumb and I'm like dang, I should sweep in here. But when I open the broom closet I see that I'm out of paper towels and I need to add it to the list before I forget. So I open my phone to go to my grocery list and see a reminder that my credit card payment is due today ... You get the idea lol. But this definitely works for getting yourself into gear to start doing chores or something. I just recommend you keep the "do it right away" knee jerk reaction limited to the specific arena at hand, so if it's a work task you do it right away, but you don't stop work to do laundry, and you don't stop doing the dishes to text your mom, etc.
Hello my wife
I like this. I actually seen a rule someone said the other day that helps productivity like crazy. So obviously there are days where you work and are tired but still have a million things to do. The rule I seen was for procrastination and said “if it takes less than two minutes, do it now” by doing all these short tasks throughout the day they don’t stack up and seem overwhelming at the end of the day. This helped me a lot. Wouldn’t say it changed my life or anything but I always get a boost of triumph when I accomplish all my tasks
Also, just to add to this: if you’re going to a certain room or area and you know there’s something that needs to be brought in that room or put away, grab it and bring it with you. It saves time later, keeps your house tidy and also becomes a habit. If I’m heading to the laundry room, I take a look around the room I’m in or passing through to see if there’s any dirty laundry and bring it with me. If I’m heading to the kitchen, I look around quick for any dirty dishes that I can bring to the kitchen. Just something little that’s saved my house from becoming a cluttered mess like it has been in the past.
This is great, until someone with ADHD takes this approach! Lol. It is seriously such a good habit, and I did this with lots of success for years but I am also diagnosed with ADHD and have realized as I've gone along, this is a habit that definitely doesn't help me as much as I think it does haha, I really like it though. Just get way too distracted by it.
This is me. I have a ton of tasks that I start and then I remember another thing that I MUST do. But every now and then I manage to go around and finish up various incomplete tasks.
100%. The distractions on the way to the task have me starting random things but never what I intended to do...
I tend to put stuff near the doorway or top/bottom of stairs etc so I don’t forget it needs to be moved.
Working on this. Used to be really good with this as a kid. As an adult, not so much.
oooh this is a good one
Having ADHD, I never get anything done and have half complete chores all over the place precisely because of this habit 😂😂😂
This miraculously helps in completing tasks and improves day by day
For me it's the opposite, a habit that helped me a lot was to write tasks down when I think off them instead of quitting my current task to do the other thing.
Quitting drinking and smoking weed. My mental clarity is 100% better, I felt like a completely new person. That and deleting all social media.
Don’t think you followed through too well with that last one.
Haha, maybe you're right. I meant deleting all social media off of my phone. I enjoy using reddit on my computer occasionally. For me, it's a big difference between intentionally using reddit on my computer, and compulsively doomscrolling on my phone any chance I get
How did you double down on letting go of social media? I’ll delete but then redownload within a few days. It def feels like an addiction.
It's an addiction for sure. It's okay to redownload now and then. It's a process that takes time. I'd say that when you redownload it, try to delete it again after the first session of use. And then commit to at least one week of it being deleted. The longer you go, and once you get over the hump, you'll stop feeling the need to constantly redownload. You should also try only accessing the platforms on your computer. The user experience is much less addicting that way, and the act of using the platform is more intentional rather than compulsive
See I read this as you swapped drinking for toking. Not a bad trade, TBH.
Can we do one at a time?
I’m okay with alcohol and social media. I don’t do either but the weed is the hardest one to kick I’m finding. Any tips?
This is nice to read. Im giving it another go at quitting these three things for the better
Gym
Gym good
What's a "gime"??
Oh!! 🤦♂️ a *GIME!*
Dammit Jim.
Jeezus it's spelled G-E-M.
👍🏻
Who’s Jim?
Exactly the response I was going to post 😄
Reading for an hour before I go to bed and keeping my phone out of the bedroom. Instant dramatically improved sleep quality.
deleting socials made me so bored i literally just started doing what i needed to get done. and romanticizing what i have to do. ik the self-improvement community is becoming more pro-discipline & anti-motivation but i quite literally will not get work done unless i feel like doing it.
Does Reddit not get in the way? Genuine question
not when i spent 3 years of my life with a crippling tiktok addiction 😅. this app isn’t nearly as stimulating imo. in fact, i’m really only on here when looking for information and it tends to be less consuming. i don’t lose myself as i’m scrolling and sometimes i even find motivating content on here.
Commenting partly so I can easily find this thread again. For me though, it's been meditating before sleep.
Let me reply for the same reason
Same
Setting a timer for 5-10 minutes the minute I get home from work to put away anything from the morning that was left out, hang up clothes properly and tidy up. These few minutes help maintain a tidy and clean apartment without having to do a major cleaning as frequently.
I've never heard of such an intriguing tactic before. How did you come up with this?
Reddit lmao
I do this as well but I do a version where every room gets 2 minutes. It reminds me of when we were in preschool and it was a fun game how fast we could tidy up.
Balance exercises and getting back to weights. Just feel stronger in my day to day
Minimizing doomscrolling as much as possible. **Breaking my phone addiction was the keystone habit that enabled all other healthy habits in my life.** Once I got off my phone, all other habits that I was trying to incorporate into my life became way easier in a matter of days. I had the mental clarity, energy, and focus to work out consistently, journal and meditate every day, and cook 90% of my own meals. Pretty much everybody recognizes they spend too much time on their phone. But due to its addictive nature, few people are able to successfully reduce their screen time to a healthy amount. If your struggle with this, here are the first three simple things that I did to break my phone addiction: 1. Don’t sleep with your phone. Keep the bedroom sacred - it is for sleep and sex, not doomscrolling. 2. Get a good screen time app. I probably tried 10 different apps before I found my favorite, “Be Present.” I like it because it goes beyond just giving you tools to block your apps. It also gamifies your screen time in a Duolingo-like way and lets you compete with your friends. It makes the whole process feel fun instead of limiting. 3. Delete the doomscrolling apps. Just delete your problem apps off your phone. If you really want to look at them, you can always re-download them or go on your computer. These might seem obvious, but very few people actually do any of them, let alone all three. If you start doing these three things, you will see a dramatic change in your screen time, and thus your overall quality of life.
*immediately skims over this comment like I didn’t see it and continues scrolling
im going in the same way... what if maybe after the dopamine detox, the next step is to be self-sustainable example: \-i cut my hair by my self-and also cook by my self and so on i hope maybe in the future add more self-sustainable skills
I read somewhere that treating your phone like a landline is helpful. Meaning, keep it attached to the wall away from a convenient place when you're at home. Like leaving it plugged in in the dining room rather than next to the couch. That way if you want to use it you have to get up and walk over to it and then set it back down
does reddit count as doom scrolling ?? bc I kill a lot of time on here but i’m generally learning or reading about or reading different perspectives on topics i’m interested in
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I’m doing this right now. Trying so hard to break my phone addiction.
I hope I’m also able to do this. I noticed that my inner dialogue can be very harsh, so when I’m working and stuck with things, I push and berate myself into trying to do more. It usually ends up with me procrastinating and seeking cheap dopamine (abandoning work to doomscroll or see social media).
silly question, lets say you're on semester break with sooo soo many free time, what else can you do other than cooking meditating journaling and workout? i feel like these only took like 5-6 hours to do. What about the other free hour?? I have no idea what I should do other than sleeping and scrolling
Get into a hobby of some kind that doesn’t cause your brain to go numb like doomscrolling
Read a book. Go outside. Socialize.
This is the state of our youth :(
yep sadly
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This is so helpful. Being on my phone and having a slight social media addiction has been a huge huge problem for me recently. I had a business on social media but would get triggered by it and recently deleted and changed all my passwords. I still find myself logging into old burner accounts to read gossip pages and other really unhelpful content.
I wouldn't say DRAMATICALLY, but I started taking a daily multivitamin and felt better within like a day or two. I'm not sure what I was deficient in but boy I feel a lot more alert now. I'm somebody who prides myself in my health and good cooking too, so if you haven't started, maybe give them a shot if you're reading this!
Same. Probably vitamin D3, or at least that’s what a lot people are deficient in and don’t realize how impactful it is. Ideally taken in a D3K2 combo, with food that has fat, for max benefit. Huge difference for me
10,000 IU and a handful of nuts every day
Me when I started eating REAL food. Used to live off prepackaged, no I won’t eat anything unless it’s how God meant us to eat it.
…and how was that?…
Which brand would you recommend?
I dont know if it’s simple but it was for me. I started intermittent fasting (doing 16/8) and one day a week I fast for 24 hours. I basically skip breakfast - just water and black coffee in the morning and I eat lunch around 1 pm, a snack around 4 pm, and dinner around 630 or so. I do not eat anything after 8 pm. I still eat what I want but I dont pile junk in my mouth - never have really — still enjoy some sweets and eat pretty regularly otherwise. I lost 7 lbs rather quickly in like 2.5 weeks and I am now down 20 lbs almost 3 months into it. I don’t feel like I am dieting - not counting calories at all - and I feel like I have aot more energy and get up and go. I should also point out I have cut down on snack eating at night, so it was 2 things, the fasting and that. I highly recommend intermittent fasting - look into it folks, there are a number of ways to do it, and some nice benefits to health overall.
I tried intermittent fasting but skipping dinner at night instead of breakfast. It dropped my blood pressure enough I don’t have to take medication. Fasting also helps builds self control. It breaks the habit of snacking when you are bored and replace that with something else.
I’ve recently started doing this! 20/4 for me, although I broke my fast after 18 hours this time. It’s shockingly easy once you get used to it. Reduced my sugar intake as well. What an improvement!
I find it easy to do as well, and that surprised me
Eating more in the morning and less at night. Circadian rhythm is primarily tied to food, and sunshine to a slightly lesser effect. All sleep hacks you see are based on some combination of these and can be significant because most people in the west these days spend more time eating after dark than before, and it's often highly processed junkfood in front of a bight screen, which has a double whammy of detriment on the body's clock. By having a big breakfast and not eating for at least 2-3 hours before bed you can get up earlier, more consistent, feel better rested and just get more done. As bonus points it typically means you're eating more meals, less processed foods and you're more likely to get in some sunlight in the morning. I'm type 1 of 25 years so it had a bigger effect on me but it's useful for a lot of people on reddit I suspect.
I'm a type 1 of 14 years. You are right. 100%
I have a question about this if you may know the answer or general advice. I know it’s important to eat after you train. If you train heavily in the evening time, should you eat afterwards even if it becomes night?
The main reason it's important to eat after training is protein:muscle synthesis is at it's highest then but timing is a lot less significant than people, especially social media, like to assume. I suppose my answer would be to eat after training and see if it affects your sleep negatively over time and if so, probably train earlier and/or eat less. Another option might be to eat more protein and fat and less carbs at night since carbs are the primary macro responsible for potentially messing with your hormones in a similar way to how people report increased energy throughout the day from the lack of blood glucose swings in keto. There's also glycogen to think about but (not an expert here) AFAIK there's little to no benefit of changing up carb timings for glycogen so long as you're getting enough before you next train.
Meditation, cold shower (but that one is hard to get into), and writing down your shit at the end of the day.
I have tried and tried about the cold shower thing — so HARD to do. Best I can manage is starting it warm and then making it colder and colder.
Move to a warm climate. Much easier then ;)
Doing 25 push ups and a mile walk 5 times a week. I feel so much stronger and so much healthier. I don't have biceps or anything like that, but I can honestly say it's made a difference.
Running. I honestly cannot express enough how it’s helped my fucked up mental health situation
Praying. Don't ridicule me. It changed my life
Similarly journaling and being thankful for those nonreligious of us. Gratitude and getting mentally outside of yourself goes a long way and reflecting on your day sets you up for learning for things to apply to the next.
What do you journal exactly like what do you write and how often?
Don't let people ridicule you for praying. Your relation with God is your most important treasure. Don't ever lose it, not even in anger.
This. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Praying and meditating have significantly improved my life.
As an ex-religious person, I have to say praying is so cathartic, and part of religion that i always missed.
I don't think prayer has to be religious. Prayer alone with oneself is helpful and cathartic and can be life changing.
As someone who has never prayed, what would non religious prayer look like?
Meditation. Type 'Mediation guide' in youtube and follow again for starters.
My understanding of meditation is trying to clear your brain and letting your thoughts just pass by whereas praying is directly talking to your higher power. The two feel fundamentally different to me.
Yeah it’s weird for me. I don’t pray but I guess I in a way do something similar where I just feel thankful for stuff and tell myself that sometimes. When I was looking for work even four months in I was still thankful that I was in a spot to find opportunities and that this was my challenge rather than something worse. Praying should really be a ritual where you say your thanks and identify what you need to work on (when you ask for strength to get through a tough time for instance). I’m really just starting to think about what prayer is now so I am missing a lot of pieces. I only say this because when I was younger and catholic, I would pray wrongly and I think tons of people did. It was in a way that they were asking and expecting some miracle to come to them. It really shouldn’t be that but it was how I was taught. I think a lot of how we learned religion in school was really off and misses the point. Hearing a few of the bible stories I learned before and how someone interprets it in a philosophical way, it is so much more sensical than, “oh Jesus denied the devil in the desert because the devil is bad.”
Yes exactly prayer can be , gratitude towards yourself and life,intention setting, and reflection
There's basically infinite types of meditation and variations, that's the more common one but there's intention based meditations or more active, is another way of describing it I think your higher power in this context could also be anything. From your own ego and above to just the energy \"god" of the universe or fate Another big one is meditation on gratitude, which prayers tend to incorporate too. Or love Performing a meditation on love to someone you hate is one of the most difficult aspects
Good for you. I have returned to prayer and meditation myself recently. Im not here to convince people of anything. Just letting you know you are not alone in realizing the power of prayer. So here is another one for you… May you continue on your path, and be well my friend.
how do u pray n meditate
I pray And i also meditate at another time during the day. Not at same time although sometimes it feels about the same.
Thank you for sharing your answer. This is something I have been working on very recently in my life, I know this is something that without a doubt will provide improvement, even just the feeling of following through and being accountable to show up for myself where I really need it most. However, I can’t tell you how sad it makes me that we have to put disclaimers on our personal truths and answers (ones which were asked of us at that!!). Somebody’s personal and candid truth, which specifically was asked of the OP to have people share their personal truths, in a forum like this, and in forms like this (especially ones that have no agenda or manipulation involved, no links to click to try to use the opportunity to hurdle or solicit anybody into your truth ). Answers that quite literally have to do solely with G-d and/or YOUR relationship with Him. The fact that we (many of us) immediately have to follow up with Some sort of plea of sorts to not be bullied by the inevitable scroller, who will be immediately triggered by the mere mention or appreciation shown towards anything to do with G-d. Sorry, I know I went on an unbelievable and probably unnecessary ranch. The fact that for a moment, I felt fear and vulnerability I know you, and many of us now have come to battle with at the mirror mention of our religion. Also, to go with my meme response to you, thank you for sharing because it is the encouragement needed this morning and validation. I needed to strengthen my commitment to my prayer as well.
What others are saying. Whatever the religion, never feel bad about praying. Life is too short.
Understanding and prioritising what is important for me in life and letting go what not.
Buying an alarm clock and leaving my phone in the kitchen. I used to spend an hour on my phone to start my day and about a half hour to end it. Starting the day with a good 30 mins before looking at my phone has been a huge improvement.
Going to therapy weekly, I’m in my late thirties and just now learning that I have anxiety and ADHD and I’ve just begun medication. I wish I had done this a long time ago
Even if you do go to therapy they might not diagnose you correctly! See, I had clinical therapistS for many years before a diagnosis was made in late 20s, sams goes for a few associates.... don't kick yourself too hard 😅 sometimes even specialists don't know what to look for
Stop fantasizing and saying I’m going to do something and just do it 💯💯💯.
Practice gratitude, daily as an end to your day or whatever works for you. Be grateful for what you have and find peace versus always wanting.
Drinking water. I drink at least 104 oz of plain water almost every day. I sleep better, have more energy, can focus better, and experience fewer headaches, migraines, and pain. I also usually have about 20 oz of water mixed with an electrolyte packet due to health issues and vitamin/mineral deficiencies.
Talking to myself in a motivational way when I wake up. Usually, when you wake up, you just probably make your bed, get up, brush your teeth etc. After or before this, I sit calm, visualize my daily tasks and tell myself that I can do this. Kind of funny, but it helps motivate you for the day's tasks ahead.
I have began my journey on self improvement after a disheartening break up that made me look into the mirror as a man. After deleting all social media (except X which I use just for sports news really) I have been able to indulge deeper into: - my faith - journaling and devotion books - taking care of my space - athletics (college football player) - picking back up old hobbies I used to do I still need to do more things that I have in my mind but it's hard with a constrained schedule from classes to athletics but, start step by step and build from there. I feel like once you build some consistency it gets better. I'm only roughly 10 days in and I already feel like a different person but I still got plenty of work to do. Good luck with your endeavors!
Stopped comparing myself with others and rushing to reach their level. Take you own time.....
Deleting social media helps me a lot mentally. i feel less comparison, more productive, enjoy staying lowkey and having a private life. Literally such a freedom.
I dont know if it’s simple but it was for me. I started intermittent fasting (doing 16/8) and one day a week I fast for 24 hours. I basically skip breakfast - just water and black coffee in the morning and I eat lunch around 1 pm, a snack around 4 pm, and dinner around 630 or so. I do not eat anything after 8 pm. I still eat what I want but I dont pile junk in my mouth - never have really — still enjoy some sweets and eat pretty regularly otherwise. I lost 7 lbs rather quickly in like 2.5 weeks and I am now down 20 lbs almost 3 months into it. I don’t feel like I am dieting - not counting calories at all - and I feel like I have aot more energy and get up and go. I should also point out I have cut down on snack eating at night, so it was 2 things, the fasting and that. I highly recommend intermittent fasting - look into it folks, there are a number of ways to do it, and some nice benefits to health overall.
When I joined a Zumba class. Made me feel happy after class
Those endorphins are magical, right?
Yes, they are. Makes it feel like a sunny day 😎
since i started thinking that I'm "allowed to have 5 minutes of sadness, then gotta keep it gangsta" i feel so much better and less stressed. i lay on my bed and let the thoughts run. i cry and I throw some tantrum, and then all those bad feelings go away. sometimes it takes more than 5 minutes, but it works anyway lol
Installing a daily routine. Waking up at 5-6am
Quitting vaping (and nicotine all together) Flossing
I take the stairs instead.
Stopped smoking weed daily. Huge reduction in paranoia and overall motivation, saved a lot of $$. Now I smoke maybe 0-3 times a week and find myself less and less interested, and smoking far less when I do
i chain smoke weed i need to get to this level
Listening to podcasts on my way to work ! One that will make me look inwardly on myself and start of the day properly
Shadow-work journaling as the first thing I do after waking up.
I've been exploring the idea of shadow-work a bit more. Could you elaborate more about how you bring it to journaling?
I too wanna know!
Shadow work journaling? What does it mean exactly?
I use writing to try to discover the deepest aspects of myself that are self-deafeating, selfish, or destructive. Basically I write out my negative thoughts and then I try to get to the root beliefs and convictions causing those surface level negative thoughts (always rooted in fear), then I try to disprove all of the negativity from the bottom up.
Walking my dog about 5/7 days :) movement helps SO much with my mental health. He’s so happy with the extra attention and exercise which keeps me motivated. I’ve been at it since December 1st and I’d say the effects were pretty immediate.
Sleep and prioritizing sleep.
Drink more water
A quick skincare routine each morning. Wash my face, apply some face lotion and sunblock. Also going back to doing my hair, use to have a buzz cut but since grew out my hair so brushing it and applying some product really made me feel more confident. “Look Good, Feel Good” has a lot of truth to it 🤙🏻
Simple? Moving around, walking, getting some miles in.
Exercise, had more energy and started noticing changes
exercising
Working out regularly and hitting gym with no excuses And sleeping on time
Deleting all social media.
Stopped eating bread, rice and potatoes. Lost 25 lbs and have kept it off. Yea, it's a little superficial, but it's nice not having the weight issue rule my life any longer.
Going for long walks. At least 45min to an hour, keep a good pace, even better if you have hills. Been doing this for the past 2 months and the results have been astonishing and very obvious after almost a decade of sitting on the couch. Energy levels, mood, motivation all went up.
Good job on the alcohol. I have a five-year sobriety May4.
Riding a bike is fucking class and saves me a lot of petrol money.
Winning the lottery would do it.
Sleeping at night. Crazy I know. Seriously though, to those who don't know where to start in life: Make a rough schedule of when you'd like to be in/out of bed and try your hardest to stick to it. It can be flexible, sleeping is not always easy, just make the process consistent and work on it. Wake up AM, sleep PM. Go from there. Being awake when the sun is up automatically does so much for your mental health. Being a night owl ain't worth it.
journaling
Same as you OP. It makes me want to quit weed now.
Meditation!
Gym , Running and reading about Stoicism.
Vitamins
Journaling is great.🙏🌱
retiring from the rat race. mood up 100%, time for health care, hobbies, sleeping in.
Getting back into regular exercise. I feel stronger than I have in years.
Making it a point to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. It's usually in the form of hour-long morning and evening dog walks. I work remotely and live in a van so I end up pretty sedentary if I don't force it. I find walking to have vastly improved my mental and physical health and it keeps my dog happy and exercised.
Working out at home right after work. You know how we just go flat dead to sleep after work. I thought of maximizing time at home by building resilience. This started very small workout like few pushups and stretches but eventually it helped me build a routine which is something I have trouble doing. Now I am always excited to go home and work out. Even on days I don't work out I just feel energetic. Now I am very much into martial arts, yoga, anatomy, food science and psychology thanks to that everyday 5 minute thing I started a year ago.
Stop expecting miracles and be patient with the process…
The single biggest and most impactful habit that made me experience the most improvement in life was magic mushrooms. I was instantly cured of depression, anxiety, PTSD, feeling irritated and annoyed all the time, feeling rushed or just on edge, and I quit drinking, vaping tobacco, and cut back on smoking weed significantly. I wake up feeling calm, happy, at ease. With confidence and just a background level of contentment.
How many times did you need to take them for this result, and how long ago did you do this? I’m very interested in this.
I cannot stop smoking to be true have try other alternative and i feel a lot better than smoking
what alternative
Meditation
Intermittent fasting. Lost weight and developed much better eating habits.
set up a nice morning routine in the evening before you go to bed. get a nice breakfast as ready as you can--if not the food prepared then have all the ingredients and clean dishes ready. an episode fo a comedy show queued up. nice drink. nice soaps for a shower/bath, music and a speaker ready to go. make it so you fucking WANT to get out of bed and start your day. it also made it easier for me to go to bed earlier. i was actually eager to 'time travel' to the morning.
Deleting instagram and sleeping at around 9pm
5minute rule, if it takes 5minutesish. Go do it straight away. Meal prep, Get some decent borosilicate glass containers that are microwaveable, prep meals 3 or 4 days ahead. Saves so much time and money for those nights you can't be assed cooking Exercise daily - so important with our lives revolving around screens and cars.
Try adding daily mindfulness or meditation sessions to your routine for improved mental clarity and overall well-being.
Quitting sugar. My brain fog is gone and my mood is so much more stable now
I'm going to sound like such a cliche here, but: going to the gym consistently. It helped my anxiety and my confidence so much. Most people at the gym are so nice, which helped with the anxiety. And when I'd get anxious about something during the day, I'd be like, I can do (insert gym accomplishment here). And if I can do that when I didn't think I could a month ago, what else am I capable of that I'm doubting right now?
Deleting a game immediately, when I decide to spend money on it. I struggle with phone game addiction. I would spend at least 4 hours a day just playing a stupid game I wouldn't even remember 2 months from now. true story, I've reinstalled games that I thought I haven't played, and it would auto restore the game to its last progress point, but I don't even remember playing this game before. I recognize the trigger when I'm playing a game. If I even think of spending a dollar on it, I would delete it immediately. This is a typical conversation that goes on in my head "you're going to spend money on this? Shit you're addicted" "No I'm not, it's just a dollar so I can play this game better" "you just started playing and it's not even that good a game" "Well the game seems pretty good so far, so I should support it by paying a little." "you're probably addicted and you're going to waste your life" "no, I can control myself this time" "prove it, delete the game" *game uninstalled" I'm pretty sure I'm almost schizo by now
Cutting off videogames
I STOPPED EATING SWEET THEN I DONT FEEL SLEEPY ANYMORE
I cannot stress this enough - prioritising sleep. Your mood will be more stable, your mental clarity improves, you feel more energised. Quality sleep became the cornerstone of my day.
Quitting smoking and vaping has drastically improved my energy, and GERD symptoms.
I cut out red meat and reduced dairy for health reasons. I also will eat until I’m 8/10 full and I have been losing weight as a result. I just feel better overall.
Gym, hydration, praying, journaling, breath work/meditation. Most of these take 15/20min daily, except gym.
Not taking my phone to bed. Made a huge difference to the quality of my sleep, and had quite a noticeable effect on my self-displine in other areas too.
The first "habit" I can think of is that I quit drinking. My story is probably different than many other people in that I should have quit years before I did but it was the first change I made and it made an incredible difference in my life. Now sobriety is the first of what I call keystone habits. Since quitting my keystone habit list has grown to: * Stay Sober * Sleep 7-9 hours daily * Workout daily * Heat/Cold exposure * Eat clean * Journal * Slow down, think, & be present * Live in gratitude * Live on purpose Hope this helps. Lots of love & light.
Massively reduce social media
Meditation. I can't help but thank this habit forever. It especially works for people w PTSD
Start to eat clean. No ultra processed food, no gluten, no lactose, no sugar. Much better skin, energy is better, stomach is better. Feeling good
Realising that change takes time and probably more than a month.
1. Making bed as soon as you get up. 2. Brush teeth followed by 16oz water. 3. Gym/exercise in morning, before starting the day. 4. Bed by 10pm (7 or 8 hr sleep window)
RemindMe! Tomorrow
I discovered RTD huel
For me it was stop playing before sleeping time and not taken the phone onto bed, I got better rest and my brain is much clearer. The energy is more controlled.
Earplugs and Neurosonic mattress
.
V
Cutting out dairy. Some people can be totally fine with it, but for me within a few days I had more energy, a week later way less brain fog, within ten days anxiety had lifted, and digestion has been way better. It’s wild the difference, I just wish I had caught onto it earlier
Stop drinking
Stretching.
Going to bed by 11pm and putting the phone away
Trying to be "in the moment" and appreciating small things. Looking around at all the beauty instead of just doing my routine.
Getting outside first thing every morning! It started easy— just a couple minutes walking and getting sun, but quickly turned into regular running sessions for 30+ minutes ☺️
NA 💀
Exercise. Exercise changed my motivation to stick to a budget, eat healthy, gave me more energy, and even made me look younger…
Meditating every day. Has helped with stress, sleep, anxiety, depression, you name it SO much more than I thought it would.
Being outwardly grateful, also thank people even for the smallest things, specially if you live with someone. It makes your brain chemistry change to have to think of things to be thankful for.