r/getdisciplined

guys I’ve done it all!! I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 15 and noticed it in my inability to focus in classrooms but I could always get stuff done (medicated) at home. However, when I got to college I found it much more difficult to remember to do things, even if I really wanted to do them. Here are the things I have done that have really changed my life:

1. I really struggle waking up in the morning before my meds kick in so even taking them without falling back asleep is hard. I sleep with my pillbox in my bed with water directly beside me. It minimises the risk as much as possible. When I’m dating someone, I often ask them to wake me up to give me my meds so I can fall back asleep and wait for them to kick in.
2. I also sleep with my planner in my bed so that I look at the planner instead of random shit on my phone. I find it pretty hard to even remember my name most mornings so it really helps me set my intentions or at least remember 2-3 important things to do.
3. I also don’t remember any of the things I have done that I have successfully completed, both large and big things. Every day I write down what tasks I did in my notes app so I am aware that I am making progress and am not just floating aimlessly through time and space.
4. Everything showers twice a day 🌟 I cannot do a morning routine sequentially. I don’t know what it is, but I do something different every time. Like I put my socks on and then brush my teeth and then stop to do something else and then I don’t remember to do the rest until way later in the day. So I just keep all of my face wash, toothbrush and etc in my shower so I can just do it all in one go. For me, it has made a huge difference.
5. One thing I do in the kitchen is use a pour over coffee maker. The time it takes for the water to boil, I can usually do the dishes and pick up my kitchen. Crazy how quick you can do it under the timer. It's like last minute procrastination for me.
6. I really struggle with interrupting people in conversation and an insane trick I learned is crossing your fingers if you need to say something and the other person is still talking. People with ADHD often want to blurt out the thought to “get it out” often to not forget it. Doing something small and unnoticeable (someone suggested crossing their toes) helps your brain acknowledge what you want to say. This helps not only give your brain a pause so you can better regulate when you speak but also remember what you wanted to say.

I still struggle with this but it has really helped me.

Hello, I know there have been thousands of posts, but even though I've read several and their replies, I still can't find the answer I'm looking for.

So, here's the thing:

I feel like life isn't worth living.

For a while now, I'd say about eight months, I feel like I'm heading straight for disaster. I can't get interested in anything anymore, I can't motivate myself to do anything, even in areas that have always interested me. Everything seems bland. I can't eat anymore, I can't exercise, even socializing gives me a headache.

I spend most of my time scrolling.

My relationship with my family is a disaster

I can't even sleep anymore.

Anyway, I could tell you everything that's on my mind, but some things haven't changed: I feel like I'm wasting my life.

At I wrote on it that I couldn't find an answer, but I don't even know what kind of answer I'm looking for; I don't even know where I'm going with this life.

I was never that much of a driven person, but I used to at least have some drive. It all feels gone now. Basically the entire last year was just stress, every single day and I just couldn’t do it anymore.

I thought my energy and motivation would return after a couple months of rest. It hasn’t. I don’t regret quitting in and of itself because the job made me quite miserable in the last year or 2 (I was there for 6 years), but I do wish I left to a different job before I burned out.

Financially I’m fine, at least short term. I have a decent amount of savings and moved back in with parents while I figure out next steps. Here’s the thing though, I haven’t really figured out many next steps at all. I wake up and think “why bother trying?” It’s obviously a horrible job market right now and it does not help my motivation.

Ive been feeling like such a privileged loser and a failure. So many hardworking people out there, working 2 jobs to support themselves and/or their families and do not have the luxury to rest. I do try to give myself some grace as I did 6 years of work and my work did contribute something meaningful to society. It’s just really hard to get back into that headspace

Just curious if anyone has gone through something similar and how they may have recovered.

I procrastinate literally everything. Homework, cleaning, even replying to people sometimes. I’ll think “I’ll do it later” and then just… don’t. A month ago I saw someone mention this thing: “If it takes less than 2 minutes, just do it right away.” It sounded kind of dumb honestly, but I figured I’d try it. At first it was just small stuff: putting clothes away, washing a dish, answering a text instead of ignoring it But after a few days I noticed something weird. That feeling where you’re constantly arguing with yourself about doing stuff… kinda went away. So I started using it just to start bigger things: like “I’ll just open the assignment” or “I’ll just do one set” And most of the time I’d end up doing way more than I planned. I’m not suddenly super productive or anything, but things feel easier now. Less stuff piling up, less stress in the back of my mind. It’s like starting was the hard part the whole time. idk, I didn’t expect something this simple to actually do anything is anyone else tried this or something similar?

I'm currently a student, and I can't stand the fact that I'm heavily flawed in discipline, focus, motivation, and essentially anything that makes or forces someone have or want to continue what they are doing. It's not even a matter of trying to start something anymore; I will get distracted BEFORE I even begin. I have at least 2 hours of screen time on Youtube shorts a day (none of which was worth), and at least an hour more on my computer doing other things that are nowhere close to being related to my work. That minimum is never truly reached either; my average is typically an hour or more higher, I've lost track.

I've gone so far deep into this rabbit hole that I'm going into what feels like a coma every time I see my phone or a tab with Youtube, and doomscroll until at least an hour has passed. These days, I unconciously break my promises to my parents to not scroll, which is weird because I almost never break active promises to my parents like these, especially since I'm making these promises the day I break them. However, as soon as I'm done, I immediately regret everything I do and grow my sense of self-hatred, and I'm now starting to confuse even myself as to whether I wanted to lock in, or if I gave up on something.

On the contrary, I'm doing well in school, with good grades and steady extracurriculars and all, but I noticed that since my last two semesters, my grade has been going on a slippery slope, despite me having what should be more time on my hands (which I assume you now all know where that's going to).

If there is anyone with any advice as to how I can decrease my distractions, or at the very least help me even regain consciousness while getting distracted so I can apply methods of prevent distraction, please help. I've broken the trust in time management that my parents have on me, and I'm desperate for any solution.

TL;DR: Growing desperate from going into a downfall in grades because of distractions I'm not even conscious about, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ever found yourself at 2 AM, exhausted, yet you can’t stop scrolling? It’s not a lack of willpower. It’s a Dopamine Loop combined with Decision Fatigue.

Your brain is looking for a "completion signal" that never comes because the feed is infinite. Here is the 3-step "Visual Logic" I used to kill this habit:

1. The Friction Gap: The reason we scroll is that "Going to sleep" feels like a complex task (brushing teeth, changing, setting alarms). Your brain chooses the path of least resistance: The Scroll.

• The Fix: Visualize the "Night Routine" as a single 2-minute block. Reduce the friction by prep-ing your bed before dinner.

2. The Bright Light Trap: Blue light suppresses Melatonin, but the "Dopamine Hits" from notifications keep the brain in "Hunting Mode."

• The Fix: Use a "Visual Boundary." Put your phone in a dedicated "Charging Zone" (outside the bedroom) 30 minutes before bed. If it's not in sight, the loop breaks.

3. The Zeigarnik Effect (The Brain Hack): Your brain hates unfinished business. If you see a "Visual Map" of your day tomorrow, your brain feels "Safe" to shut down.

• The Fix: Instead of a To-Do list, draw a simple Time-Block Map. Seeing the empty spaces for rest tells your nervous system it’s okay to stop.

I spent months turning these psychological loops into visual patterns because seeing the "Logic" of the habit makes it 10x easier to break.

Does anyone else feel like their brain "locks" them into the scroll at night? How do you break out of it?

The actual insight is pretty simple. for two years I knew I needed to practice speaking English more. I work in English, it matters for my career, I have clear motivation. didn't matter — I kept not doing it.

things I tried: weekly tutor sessions (kept rescheduling), language exchange partners (fell apart after 3-4 sessions every time), watching English shows and podcasts (fine but passive), Duolingo (pointless for actual speaking fluency).

I kept blaming consistency or discipline. what I eventually realized was that none of those things failed because of motivation — they failed because they all had friction. scheduling, coordination, the small mental overhead of "starting." when you're tired at the end of a day, any excuse to skip is enough.

what finally worked: I attached speaking practice to my existing morning routine. I make coffee, I open Fluently, I talk for 10-12 minutes while I wake up. the AI responds, corrects my grammar and pronunciation in real time, I finish, I go about my day.

no scheduling. no waiting for someone else. no prep. just open and talk.

it's been about 4 months. I've missed maybe 8 days. my speaking confidence at work is noticeably different — I find words faster, I hesitate less, I don't dread calls the way I used to.

the lesson I took from this isn't specific to language learning. any habit I've successfully built had one thing in common: the gap between "deciding to do it" and "actually doing it" was almost nothing. the moment it requires effort to start, it doesn't survive a bad week.

what's worked for reducing friction in habits you've built?

I’ve noticed a strong negative correlation between how much people talk about their goals and how likely they are to actually achieve them.

When I used to tell people I was going to get a 6-pack, become rich, or find a wife I’d usually end up feeling good just talking about it and immediately excuse myself from doing the work right after.

Now I refuse to talk about my goals and instead only reveal to people the actions I’m taking for that day instead.

No more, “I’m gonna get a 6-pack,” now it’s, “yeah I gotta meal prep before I hit the gym at 11.”

It’s a lot less sexy, it’s a lot less exciting, but I find when I do this I’m compelled to finish the work I planned and then I tell them the goal once I’m done and not a second before.

Don’t tell people when you start the gym, tell em when you’ve lost 20-lbs. Don’t tell people when you start school tell em when you graduate. Celebrate the end of a war, not its beginning.

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who genuinely want to improve but find consistency harder than expected. Sometimes we might guilty or shy about the person we've become without the consistency to talk it out, but I really would want to hear it here.

What do you think the biggest reason for you to quit earlier? or maybe won't even start at all.
Are the things you're trying seem too complex?
Or feels like taking too much time to invest while the years pass by?

and...

If you think you've got out of this zone of mindset, let us hear what did help you? And how do you feel for future?

as for myself, removing the cognitive load sort of helped me. Less decision fatigue made it easier to begin. Instead of going for the classic "perfect or nothing" approach.
just a simple walk, cooking a basic meal, exercising basic compounds, an easy song intro on the piano etc.

What do you think about our/your main pain point? It is important for me to talk this topic with real humans instead of getting a lecture from AI models :)

Maybe even create a product that would help me and others with the same problem

Six months ago I realized I'd been telling people I meditate every morning but I'd actually stopped three weeks earlier. Didn't even notice when I stopped. That scared me.

I run a company. My routine is what keeps me steady & feeling good. When I slip, everything slips. I'm shorter with my girlfriend, shorter with employees, eating worse, sleeping worse, etc. And the worst part is I never notice the slip until it's already been weeks.

So I built something for myself. It's called Kriya. Instead of streaks that just make you feel guilty when you break them, it shows you a trajectory graph. One line that tells the truth about whether you're getting better or falling behind. You can zoom out to a month and see exactly when things started going sideways.

I also put in 66 routines pulled from books like Atomic Habits, Deep Work, Can't Hurt Me, The Power of Now + plenty of others. Each one has 3 daily habits from the book. You can add them to your routine in one tap or just build your own from scratch.

Here's the thing though. I've only had about 40 users and most of them are friends and family. I don't know if this actually helps other people or if I just built something that works for me. I need to find out.

I'm looking for 50 people to use Kriya for 30 days. Real people who will actually tell me the truth about it.

What you get:

• Free access to Kriya. Not a trial. Free forever. Your account never expires and you never see a paywall. That's the deal and I'm not changing it.
• 66 routines from real books or build your own from scratch
• I'll be in this thread the whole time answering questions and posting weekly updates with real data

What I need from you:

• You've tried a habit tracker before and quit. Or you keep meaning to start one and never do.
• Drop a short update in this thread once a week. Even if it's "I deleted it on day 3 because it was annoying." I need the honest feedback not the polite feedback.

How to join:

• Comment below with one habit you keep starting and stopping
• I'll DM you the link (first 50 people)
• No credit card. No catch.

I'll post weekly updates with the real numbers. How many people are still using it, what the graphs look like, what people are telling me. If it works you'll see it. If it doesn't you'll see that too.

I struggled with chronic procrastination for over four years. I tried every app, every planner, and every "hustle" quote on the internet, but nothing stuck. I realized my mistake was trying to fight my biology with willpower alone.

About six months ago, I started diving into behavioral psychology and realized that my brain was suffering from "Decision Fatigue." I was giving myself too many options every morning, which led to a complete mental freeze. To fix this, I implemented a strict Choice Limitation rule: I am only allowed to have TWO high-priority tasks on my list at any given time. If I finish one, I can add another, but never more than two.

To support this, I use Priming. I set up my physical environment the night before (putting my notebook open on the desk, phone in another room). By reducing the friction of starting and the stress of choosing, I’ve managed to be more productive in the last month than in the previous six combined.

It’s not about "working harder," it’s about understanding how the mind handles choices. I’ve started mapping out these kinds of triggers visually because it helps me remember the logic better than reading long texts. Has anyone else found that limiting their daily options actually increased their output? I'd love to hear how you simplify your decision-making process.

I have a very strong aversion to hardwork and I have poor time-management skills, and I have issues getting up in the morning. The habits that I build never stick, it's frustrating, and it' has resulted in very severe depression before. My online college courses always suffer because of a lack of motivation and discipline. I've felt defeated now. I don't take online by choice, it's the only option available in my given circumstance. I want to, in the future, go into careers that consist of very hardwork and long hours on top of consistent study. At my current rate, it would be impossible for me to get through the education to enter these careers.

I, however, do a good job in my actual fast food job. I have good performance and I really try not to let anything affect that.

I'm wondering, let's say I do 60-70 hours of work a week in both volunteering and work work. Would that help with discipline issues? Or would that make things even worse?

It's been a week and a half since I set the 5 hour limit but I managed to keep my screen time at five hours when it was at 13 monthly average before. I’m in school but even on school days it was at 13/12 hours so I was really happy I could reduce it, and I’m keeping up with it well for now, but I found that I'm still doing absolutely nothing with my days. I just zone out for hours most of the time. I draw but I find it really hard to do right now. To be fair it’s been like that for the past month or so so I’m not sure if it’s related to my general lack of motivation to do anything at all or just art block.

My country is in lock down rn so I can't go outside, and I still have trouble doing chores. Do I need to deal with my lack of productivity problem right now or do I need to deal with stuff one at a time? Because I know it takes 3 weeks to get rid of an addiction not a week and a half. But I also heard that I need to replace my addiction with a hobby, and right now I'm really just in my bed all day. So idk if I should try and do stuff at the moment or if I should wait for the three weeks to be over before trying to fix my life. But I mostly came to the conclusion that I need a hobby… but It feels like I can’t do anything.

"This sub's 'popcorn brain' and 'lost 5 hours to TikTok' posts mirror my life exactly. But decision fatigue was my real enemy—worse than laziness because it feels productive (endless planning) but kills execution. Real numbers: Last month, tracked 47min daily deciding breakfast alone. Total week = 5+ hours lost before 9 AM. Tried Atomic Habits quadrants, Pomodoro, even monk-mode fasting. Nothing stuck because CHOICE itself drained willpower. Week 4 building web app fix: Dashboard with burnout quiz → 'input dilemma' → instant pick with logic ('Tea: Better for focus'). From my faceless TikTok carousels teaching burnout tips (max 300 views), learned people desperately want systems for this. Current struggle: Coding randomizer logic tonight. Poll: What's YOUR decision fatigue monster? A) Morning routine (53%) B) Work task priority C) What to eat D) Evening 'one more episode?' Not selling—validating before Product Hunt. Waitlist link in top comment for beta invites. Share your war story: How do you beat choice paralysis? Eisenhower? Default options? Coin flips? Replying to all—let's build better discipline together."

​

Hello.

I have had some shift in perspective last December.

Since January I’ve been able to create and stick to a fixed routine(80% adherence excluding travel days) . I maintain it in a diary, one page per day. The page is divided into the following sections:

Essentials

Good to haves

Urge log(for my porn and food cravings)

2 lines of reflection

This system has worked for 2 months. Some habits are setting in. Friction is low. I am since more energetic, positive, I have found faith and spirituality. I am filled with gratitude, and I actually genuinely enjoy life on a day to day(We all have bad days, but I am able to shift my perspective without spiralling much.)

The 3rd month of March has been a bit uncertain. I have missed days. Good to haves have reduced, and screen and food cravings are higher - I am guessing the novelty factor has disappeared and maybe the routine in itself seems like a chore. I still feel I have a positive mindset and adherence, but I find myself mildly cheating within limits.

But my questions now are:

1. How can I level up? Stricter diet, enforce 'good to haves' better, incentivise higher intensity excercise

2. How can I Add more to the system? I feel ready to take on some projects and I am not sure how to start incorporating them without breaking the current system altogether.

Any practical tips or psychological tips will be helpful. Thanks for taking the time

No one really talks about how quiet the struggle with discipline is.

It’s not always dramatic.
It’s not always obvious.

Sometimes it’s just you…

sitting there, knowing exactly what you should be doing —
and still not doing it.

Not because you don’t care.
Not because you’re lazy.

But because something in your mind just resists starting.

And the worst part is, it’s hard to explain to anyone else.

From the outside, it looks like you’re doing nothing.
But inside, you’re constantly thinking, planning, worrying, restarting.

It’s exhausting.

I went through that for a long time.

I’d tell myself “this time I’ll be consistent,”
only to fall back into the same pattern a few days later.

And slowly, that starts to mess with your confidence.

You stop trusting yourself.

You start questioning whether you’re even capable of being disciplined.

What helped me wasn’t some big breakthrough.

It was accepting that this struggle exists — and simplifying everything around it.

Instead of trying to fix everything at once, I focused on making it easier to just start.

Not perfectly. Not intensely. Just start.

I also built a really simple system for myself so I don’t have to rely on motivation or “feeling ready” anymore.

Nothing complicated — just something I can follow even on those quiet, low-energy days.

I even made a stripped-down version because I noticed the harder I made things, the more I avoided them.

It’s still not perfect.

But now, instead of sitting there stuck in my head,
I move — even if it’s small.

And that alone has made a bigger difference than anything else I’ve tried.

Guys, I really need help.

I’m not able to do anything properly these days. I lose motivation very quickly and I can’t stay disciplined at all.The biggest problem is that I live too much in my own head. I stay in this kind of “delusion” where I keep imagining things instead of actually doing them. I try to stop, but honestly, so many things go wrong in my life that being in that state feels easier than facing reality.

Even my sleep is messed up. I feel sleepy at night, but I still can’t sleep. I lie down, close my eyes, but my mind keeps running and I stay awake till 3–5 AM.

I’ve tried to be disciplined, but I just fail every time. I don’t understand what’s wrong with me.

Right now, I’m not able to follow anything:

•	Not my diet

•	Not going to the gym consistently

•	Not even studying for CFA

I just feel completely stuck and lost in life. I don’t know what to do anymore.

I used to think I had a discipline problem. But the truth was: I was just overwhelmed.

too many tasks.Too many things to think about. too many decisions all the time.

So I’d procrastinate… not because I was lazy, but because my brain was overloaded.

What I learned:

Discipline isn’t just about willpower. It’s about reducing the amount of thinking you have to do. Why most people fail: They try to manage everything in their head. Or they create complex systems that take more energy than the work itself.

So what actually worked for me:

Step 1 – Reduce your daily scope. Pick 2–3 things that actually matter today. Not 15. Not 10. Just a few.

Step 2 – Make starting easy. Don’t aim for perfect sessions. Just remove the resistance to begin.

Step 3 – Stop planning everything in detail. You don’t need a perfect plan. You need a clear next step.

Step 4 – Work with your brain, not against it. Your focus is limited.. Your energy fluctuates. That’s normal — not a flaw.

Step 5 – Remove friction everywhere. Less apps. Less decisions. Less noise.

More clarity. The biggest shift for me: I stopped trying to become more disciplined… and started making things easier to actually do. That’s when consistency finally clicked.

Hey, I need some opinions and advice about something I’ve been thinking about.

I’m a second-year uni student and an international student. I really like my major and I know my long-term goal. My main focus is to build something on my own, which takes a lot of time and effort.

Because of that, I’m not sure whether I should focus on getting a job or fully commit to my goals.

Another issue is that my field isn’t very common, so it’s hard to find jobs directly related to it. I can apply to similar roles, but they’re not exactly aligned with what I’ve been focusing on. They’re related, but they don’t match the specific area I’ve been building my skills in.

Most of ppl i know already have part-time jobs, and I feel like I’m falling behind. But at the same time, I worry that working in something unrelated might just slow me down.

I also don’t feel fully prepared for roles that are only similar to my field, since I haven’t studied those areas deeply. For roles that are directly in my field, I feel ready it’s just that those opportunities are harder to find.

On top of that, as an international student, I keep thinking about what happens if I fail. Studying abroad is expensive, and I’m scared I won’t be able to make money from the path I’ve chosen.

Sometimes it feels like I have clear goals, but I’m still behind people who don’t even know what they want yet.

So I feel stuck and not sure what I should prioritize getting a job first or focusing on my goals.

I’ve been struggling a lot with staying focused, especially when I’m supposed to be studying. I’ll go to the library or sit down at my desk with full intention to work, and somehow I still end up scrolling for way longer than I should.

I’ve tried most of the usual things like app timers, deleting apps, even putting my phone in another room, but I always end up finding a workaround or just losing discipline after a few days.

Recently I tried something a bit different. Instead of relying on willpower, I changed how accessible certain apps are depending on where I am. So for example, when I’m at home, distracting apps are basically unusable, but when I go somewhere like the library or gym, they’re available again.

It sounds simple, but it’s been working way better than anything else I’ve tried. It feels less like I’m constantly fighting myself and more like I’ve just removed the option entirely in the wrong environment.

I’m curious if anyone else has tried something like this or has found other ways to reduce distractions without relying purely on discipline?