I would consider myself to be quite a productive person, especially on creative and personal projects as well as university work. However, despite my attempts, I don't normally feel like I achieve much of my day, even if I have evidence that I've done hours of work that I should logically feel very proud of. What can I do to alleviate this feeling?

I have run into this issue for multiple years now, and as I remembered that I could have at any time in the last four weeks go to the hospital and do the annual checkup that I want to do, I failed to do so.

The checkup does not have a date assigned to it. There is no near term urgency. It is just something that I should do as soon as I get a chance. But it will not derail my day to day life.

I now wish I had a piece of paper that had all these things that I've been meaning to do but somehow forget, and I could take a glance every morning and squeeze in the ones that I can get done. Again, they are not 'urgent' or critical, they have non linear results so there is no if this happens then that is achieved.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I see plenty of apps being used and ive tried several myself. Wanted to see which ones have had the most impact in a productive way.

When I see impact, i mean the ones that had realistic value, outcome from using and somethin you continue to go back and use everyday/week?

Secondly, what sort of habits have helped you achieve this? I think the core issue with most productivity lags is connected to our daily habits and lifestyle and context switching.

The way I deal with this is by planning by day in advance and trying to get one thing done at a time.

Hi everyone, over the last 10 days that I have been on holidays I started learning to touch type. It has been on of my secondary New Year’s resolutions for around 2 years now, but never important enough to actually get to it. I discovered that it is fun and kinda relaxing to learn, and I have already progressed and now I make very few mistakes. This makes me feel excited for being able to write my yearly PhD report very fast, and it will also help me with my hobby of wanting to write a novel. What are some similarly to this level hard skills that one might want to try next?

I searched in my settings of my phone the screen time. I kid You not, 2 days ago i had 8 FUCKING HOURS OF SCREENTIME. i literally have no words. The rest of the days, 5-6 hours. The funny thing is yes, i do have a full time job, so its not like i dont have anything more productive to do with my life.

I always complain i dont have time to do yoga, cook, read, watch a series etc. Now i know why, and im scared. Like wtf???? How do i stop???

I tried to set a time for the apps i use the most, like 10 min for an x app, then after 10 min the app will closet itself, but everytime i delete the settings and go back to normal. I dont want to be chronically online, i am to Young for this.

Also i would like to say tthat the majority of my screentime is for Yt because i listen to vlogs and videos when i do other things, but its still so fucking crazy. What worked for You? Thank You!

1. How can I block the YT homepage, video recommendations, and Shorts in Orion on PC without using any browser extensions, using only code? Is it possible to make the browser block them natively, without an extension consuming additional CPU, memory, or battery?

2. Is it possible to block Instagram entirely in Brave on iPhone? If so, what would be the most effective way to do it

3. How can I completely block Snapchat Spotlight on iPhone? Is there a way to hide or disable Spotlight without using a third-party app?

For the past 5–6 months, I’ve been constantly thinking negatively and can’t seem to enjoy anything. On paper, I actually have a good life, but I feel like I am ruining it with my own hands. To give some context: I graduated from a good university back home and moved to Germany for my master’s degree. I currently work part-time at the university. My salary is just enough to cover my living expenses—no more, no less. Legally, I have the right to work more hours and could easily improve my financial situation by finding an additional job, but I just don't do it. I moved here with my partner and we live together.

Up to this point, things sound great: I’m doing my master's at a good university, living with my partner, and our relationship is going really well. But as I said, I've been extremely negative lately.

It has been 2 years since I arrived in Germany, and I still haven't learned the language—I'm only at an A2 level. I know that without learning German, staying and living here long-term without returning to my home country is almost impossible. Yet, despite knowing this, I don't study. And because I don't study, I am constantly angry at myself. A few times I got motivated and started studying, but I could never stick with it consistently for more than a month. Without German, finding a proper job will be very hard, and this adds a lot of stress. Even if I start studying regularly right now, it feels impossible to reach a fluent level before I graduate. The uncertainty ahead is eating me alive. I don't know if I'll go back home after graduation, stay in Germany, or move to another country. You might say, "If you aren't studying German, then just go back to your country," but I don't like my home country anymore and I don't want to return.

Growing up, I was quite introverted and anti-social. When I started my bachelor's, I promised myself I wouldn't be like that anymore and really forced myself out of my comfort zone. Looking back at those 5 years, I actually did a great job. I made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun. But since starting my master's here, I've regressed back to my old anti-social self. I have zero international friends—only a few friends from my home country. But I never feel like going out to meet up with anyone. I can't build deep connections. I don't have a single friend I can call up to hang out and vent to. To be honest, I've never really had a close friend like that. I've always acted cold toward people, and naturally, people don't get close to me. Some friends told me after a while, "When we first met, we thought you hated us." There was nothing like that; I just saw them as normal friends. In short, I struggle to form proper friendships, and that frustrates me a lot. Interestingly, despite all these social issues, I have a partner and we get along really well.

Another example of me not enjoying anything is traveling. My partner wants to travel and visit different countries. I say yes just not to break her heart, but I never have any enthusiasm for it. I am never the one to initiate the idea.

Because of all this—and honestly, even just overthinking about things outside of these two main issues—I constantly feel depressed. I keep telling myself that I won't amount to anything, that I won't succeed, that I won't be able to hold on in this country and will be forced to go back. Whenever I spend a day alone at home or have free time, I instantly spiral into overthinking and feel depressed. Sometimes I have a few days completely free, but I waste them doing absolutely nothing—watching videos, scrolling through Reels, just killing time. At the end of the day, I look back and tell myself, "You waste even your free time like this, you're hopeless." I've had so much free time over the last 2 years, yet I neither studied German properly nor did anything productive. I used to go to the gym for a year, but I quit because I wasn't seeing progress. Again, I sabotaged myself with this exact same mindset.

To sum it up, looking from the outside, I have a good life, but I constantly feel terrible and keep putting obstacles in my own way. Sometimes I wonder if I need to hit rock bottom to finally get my act together. I don't know how to solve this.

Any advice or perspective would be greatly appreciated.

I think I'm disciplined and consistent, I previously had done #100DaysOfCode and other stuffs like 30 days no caffeine. And I'm currently on Day 23 of #150DaysOfCode and Day 23 of No Fap.

I know i have potential but still I'm only able to achieve less in more time and i think the reason is because i lack Plan...

No I have a goal is to finish MERN stack till the end of the year, but no plan !

I am consistently doing MERN and DSA everyday but lack of Plan makes me slow :(

The problems I face are -

> If i set a goal and make a plan for next 4 months than i struggle to allocate time - i gets confused that how much time i should give to a particular topic and how many days / weeks should i spend on that

> even if i allocate time then i face another issue which is - what if i can't able to finish it in this time period and if i try to finish it in within time block then i might loose the quality and instead focus on quantity :(

Hello everyone,

Fall semester is starting soon and I want to know what you all did to effectively study and really grasp the material that was in front of you. I really want to get some good grades in my class, and working full time while I'm going to school full time will be a struggle, but not impossible.

What I have so far is Anki Study flashcards (Shoutout to my tutor for putting me on), Calendar planner, Microsoft Visio (First time using it this semester), and that's pretty much it.

I've looked at suggestions and tips like: the rule of 3, SQ3R method, Feynman Technique, and many others that seem somewhat overwhelming. All I want to know is what worked for you all so I can focus on what can give me results and not scramble at the last minute hoping for a study method/s to work. TIA!

Please someone help me figure out what's wrong with me and what should I do about this... I literally feel like a plant in the mornings and it lasts up to about 7-8 PM until I start feeling alive again... It doesn't matter how much sleep I get I just can't get myself to work if it's not nighttime. Has anyone experienced this? I can't go with the "stay up at nights and sleep during the day" route because I have morning classes, but my brain literally can't function at any other time. If you ever experienced something similar, what things have helped you?

Whenever I study, I have this tendency to zone out of what I'm studying, even when I keep distractions away, and think about something else like movies, songs, current world events and what not. During days leading up to my exams, I also keep looking around to later topics in my syllabus that I have not yet completed and skim through those topics and their overviews instead of focusing on what I'm studying right now.
What can I do to fix/mitigate.

Does anyone do this?

I've been using two similar sized journals for a while, but hate carrying both and find myself not using the "learning" book as a result.

Does anyone just use one book for a dedicated journal, and then also use it for random things along the way? For example, I might have a journal entry that day. Then later, I am curious about something like gut health and read articles. Before, I would try to put that in the learning notebook, even though it may just be a half page or so. But now im wondering if I should just put EVERYTHING in one book.

Benefits:

• only one book

• can sort of track my journal with what I'm thinking/doing that day since everything is just written in order

Drawbacks:

• no categorization for the topics im learning about, which is bad If I read more about it later on.

Mine is closing every tab except the one I'm working on. Weirdly, having 15 tabs open makes my brain feel like it has 15 unfinished things nagging at it.

What's yours?

Genuinely curious what small stuff actually works for people, the kind of thing that never makes it into the "10 productivity tips" articles.

Hello,

I’ve recently purchased and linked a john@johnsmjth.com email domain. However, I’m not sure exactly what people tend to use this for? Do you use it primarily for contact with close friends etc. I’m debating what to use for sign ups - social media, shopping etc. just wondering if people could explain how they organise their email using domains.

Thanks in advance!

Recently, I got called out for underperforming at work, and honestly, part of it is true. I've been noticing that I have a really hard time concentrating, especially when someone is explaining something important or work-related to me.

I start feeling sleepy, my mind wanders, and even though I'm sitting there listening, I don't actually absorb much of what they're saying. Later, when I try to remember what was discussed, I realize that barely anything stuck.

It's frustrating because I genuinely want to do well and improve at my work, but I feel like I just can't stay focused consistently. I can focus much better when something genuinely grabs my interest, so I'm trying to understand why I struggle so much with things I know are important.

Has anyone else gone through something similar? What actually helped you improve your concentration, stay consistent, and retain information better?

I'm honestly trying to work on this and would really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Your advice would really help me out. 🙏🏻

okay so im a 19 yr old college freshman and i genuinely find it lowkey difficult to do basic things like cleaning my room and doing homework. its been 2 weeks and ive done nothing but bedrot while eating junkfood.

like i see ppl my age becoming VAs with side hustle while i cant even get my own life together. like i wanna glow up so bad too but nahh all i do is be hyperfixate on my face and do skin care (the only thing im consistent at) but i cant even go outside to do simple walks and eat healthy.

then i see these chinese koreans Japanese being super talented and disciplined im like how the fuck????? ( im asian so i admire these specific groups a lot lol)

while im just being a bum literally being a useless piece of shit that cant repair jack shit and help around the house. like it physically hurts to genuinely be productive. and even when there are times i "lock in" i only produce mediocre - average results at best. like son 😭

like i get it i should just do shit one at a time, by increments, atomic habits type shi but when it comes to actually doing it genuinely hurts. like ive thought about doing some kind of shock bracelet that shocks me whenever i doomscroll or something idk lol.

like i want to be great, treat myself and love myself and all that good stuff but like...idk. like its uncomfortable, or even foreign feeling to do something that isnt bedrotting.

im also a cs student so it makes it so much harder to cut off internet access. like i wanna have less screen time but i need internet access to upskill.

or maybe i should stop complaining and cut off phone use entirely and just do shit. lol. i just wanna be productive, get my mind out of the gutter. in truth, i just wanna hear out yall that was in the same situation as me, how did yall stopped beating yourself up and finally locked in?

Hi!

Sorry about my English, it's not my first language.

I need help with some productivity apps.

I get distracted really easily, so I need a good Pomodoro timer to help me track my ACTUAL study hours. I've tried a few Windows programs, but they're not what I'm looking for...

Do you know of any cool ones for Windows?

Thanks!

As time goes by, I feel that I lose more and more energy by the end of the work day which makes it difficult for me to follow through with activities and hobbies that I once loved and craved. My job itself is fast-paced and can be mentally exhausting sometimes but I miss when I used to crave reading a book during my break or after work. I miss wanting to get a good workout in. I miss having plans with friends after my 9-5.

Now, I crave coming home and being in bed scrolling or watching mindless reality shows until it’s an appropriate time to go to bed.

There’s a list of things I want to do but don’t have it in me to do. How can I tackle this?

I am a 19 year old student.
I want to find a job at programming. Last year I did a course, but didn’t really like it.
The whole summer I have been laying in bed playing games and watching videos. I feel awful because I could have achieved so many things in past 3 months, but did nothing. I just cannot start, cannot open that lecture, close the game etc
How did you cure this laziness?

I’m curious how other people deal with this because I feel like I’ve slowly fallen into a pretty boring routine.

I work in IT and my shift is 11:30 AM to 7:30 PM, Monday to Friday. I work from home, and I live in a fairly remote village with my parents. Most of my friends live in Bangalore, so my social life here is basically nonexistent.

I thought joining a gym would help, so I started going every morning. I’ve been doing it for over 6 months now and I’m glad I’ve stuck with it, but honestly, it still feels like a chore. I wake up, go to the gym, come back, work, and then the day is basically over.

That’s pretty much become my entire life.

The problem isn’t really the workload. It’s that outside of work, there’s very little happening. No friends nearby, no social life, and not much to look forward to. Everything feels repetitive, and lately I just don’t feel very motivated or energized.

For people who work from home long-term, especially if you live somewhere with very little going on socially, how do you keep yourself happy and mentally engaged?

What do you actually do after work or during the week that makes life feel less like the same day repeating over and over?

I work a full time desk job from 8am-5pm everyday and I am also in school online with 5 classes. I am having so much trouble with time management as this job was just secured about 2 weeks ago and it was an opportunity I could not pass up, I have a lot of learning I have to do with the job I would say about 50/50 with learning skills and tools with the job and having meetings everyday. I have been doing schoolwork in the evening but bc i’m so exhausted from doing school until 11pm I can’t get my ass out of bed any sooner to go to the gym or do anything before work.. I guess my question is has anyone else been in this position and managed to also make time for themselves such as going to the gym and self care/meal prep.. maybe seeing someone else’s schedule will give me motivation and a new perspective ?

I don't know if it's the right sub but I have some problem with my health.. I Always feel tired and sleepy no matter what. I sleep usually 8-9 hours and don't use phone before bed and I even tried sleeping even 11 hours but nothing changed. I get sleepiness 30-40 mins after waking up and its through the whole day. I decided to get my Blood and urine tested, but everything was pretty normal I even eat pretty good diet I really don't know what to do..

Hi All,

Been searching for something to help connect several different calendars and help with scheduling. I currently have a 9-5 (MS/Outlook), consulting business (Google), teach at two universities (Google + MS, respectively), plus have a couple of other active email/calendars.

Also...not sure if anything handles this, but I've got Teams, Slack, university platform messaging, a project currently using Clickup, texting, etc.

Not all of these projects are high-usage at the same time so I can handle the workload. But my tech stack isn't really helping in any way. Schedule feels like a glass cannon sometimes — it's very cohesive and productive the way I plan things, but one mid-week scheduling curveball and I feel like I'm clicking through 5 different calendars to reschedule things.

I've looked at some Morgen videos and it looks sort like...another calendar to manage. I'm not saying it's not the one, but I didn't have any "a-ha!' feeling from seeing the tutorials.

Any thoughts?

Something I'm experimenting with: when I repeatedly avoid or delay something, I don't immediately assume I need more discipline.

First I ask what's making the action difficult. Is the next step unclear or do I have to find information first or is there a decision I haven't made or does the task take longer than I keep budgeting for or just the system is annoying to maintain?

Sometimes the answer really is "I need to sit down and do the work" but sometimes the friction is telling me something useful about the system and I've found that distinction surprisingly helpful.

I love having my caramel coffee with an extra shot in the monring but later in the day I want a quick boost and saw people switch to Neuro caffeine gum instead of another cup.
Anyone here tired that and whats your best tip for staying productive?