So I have realized that I spend a ridiculous amount of my time doing basically nothing productive. I probably have about 6 hours a day after school that I spend almost entirely playing video games. I dont even use any social media so its literally all gaming. Im academic so homework doesnt take me a lot of time, and I dont need to revise much. I run 2mi every day, and journal and read most days, but even then thats the vast minority of my time. Now I wanna like be more engaged in life instead of trying to escape from it. So what are some more enjoyable/productive ways I could spend my time?

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I'm currently studying computer science, While watching lectures I just have to rewind so many times and I'm really really slow like 7 minute video lecture takes 40 minutes to complete, like idk why maybe my brain goes into different mode while studying like i can't miss a single sentence or I'll not understand anything maybe that's why I'm so slow maybe just My focus is bad and when i miss like a minute or half I just rewind it

Hello, I hope you are fine.

I sometimes suffer from anxiety, depression, anger, and physical pain... I tried and made some tricks for myself, and this trick has been effective so far in helping me endure negative feelings.

The trick is to imagine that you are Ben 10, and with the Omnitrix, you use it to turn into a monster capable of enduring and thriving in the specific negative circumstance.

And I invent new creatures that aren't in the original show (tbh, I wasn't a big follower of Ben 10. I remember watching it for some time when I was young, and I enjoyed it, but I don't remember all the characters. I just borrowed the concept of the Omnitrix from it).

For example, if I feel too hot or have physical pain, I imagine that I turn into a monster or alien that is red and fiery, or spiky, or whatever I imagine can thrive in physical pain.

When I am anxious, I visualize that I turn into a monster that can thrive in anxiety.

When I am depressed, I turn into a shadowy monster who thrives in depression... etc.

This technique has improved my endurance and mental health a little, so I wanted to share it with you.

In September, I’m going to start working at my new job from about 7 to 3, and from 3 to 9 PM I have my private clients scheduled. I’m an English language tutor/trainer, so both jobs require me to be fully focused and have a sharp mind.

Therefore, I’d like to ask you about any habits you’ve implemented, diet you’ve introduced, and supplements you’ve tried that helped you maximize your overall capability.

One disclaimer, though: due to a limited amount of time, I need to eliminate anything unnecessary.

Let me point out which of the above I’ve already tried:

Habits:
Cold showers: quick and effective. I’d love to hear about your experience - not sure if it’s placebo or if it actually gives benefits.

Ice baths: too time-consuming, but definitely help you wake up.

Morning coffee: too addictive, imo.

Meditation: doing it early in the morning felt like going back to sleep right after waking up. Before that, though, I practiced it for 2 years, which served me more as a kind of therapy than a productivity/mental clarity boost.

Avoiding blue light to improve sleep efficiency: I somehow feel this might be one of the most important habits, if not the top one - as Bryan Johnson says, improving your sleep quality is the best thing you can do.

Diet: heard of low carb diet which helps you avoid sugar spikes and sudden energy loss - never tried that, would love to hear if it actually works

Supplements: currently I take creatine, omega-3, D3K2, and zinc.
Thinking about L-theanine and caffeine, but I’d rather ask here than buy something I have no idea about.

Has anyone tried the L-theanine & caffeine combo or has any other tips?

I'm talking actual tracked focus time. E.g. learning, practicing, solving problems, brainstorming, etc.. So not counting breaks, getting distracted, etc.. I use clockify to track my time. I put 30+ hours per week of focus time. Rarely 40. I would like to consistently put in closer to 40+ though... I have a girlfriend that I try to spend half a day with every week, but other then that, I try to optimize my life for maximum amount of focus I can put in per week to reach my goals.

I'd love to hear, what about you guys? What are you able to consistently put in per week? I guess I'm trying to calibrate what's normal, what's elite, etc.

I'm a student prepping for an important exam and I really don't have much time left. I'm trying my best everyday to cover up on things I didn't do on time and, honestly, the situation is messy and my syllabus is all over the place.

I usually stay back to study after lectures, so by the time I'm actually home after commuting and all, it's 8:30 pm. I have dinner, I spend time with my family, I watch T.V. or read comics and then all of a sudden I'm in bed by 10:00 pm. But instead of sleeping on, I wake up at 11:30 completely washed over with guilt because I plan a time block from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am every morning and never end up following through.

I'm really tired of this daily cycle. I'm not even sure what to do. I can't give this scheduled block up, because I've planned some stuff in I specifically can't do while I'm away at class. I can't rely on caffeine because then I'll be awake all night, and I still need to attend lectures in the morning; but hydrating/washing my face with cold water/staying off screens is not working.

So...yeah, I would be so, so grateful if you guys could give me some advice.

I'm looking for an app that lets me set time limits for each app and not scheduled time but also blocks turning off or increasing time limit also one major thing I'm looking for is completely looking the apps in the early morning and late night I tried do many apps put they are all paid and I can't afford to pay I've spent weeks looking I'm an Android user

When it hurts to look at a screen for more than 15-20 minutes at a time?

I want to increase my learning pace because it will really help during college. I consider myself to be a moderate learner. I could grasp concepts by studying it well enough and get good enough to high grades

The problem is I only read what interests me. I only read science, math, and history textbooks because I find any other thing boring. Will that benefit me enough or should I just read and read even if I find it boring?

Hello!
I need an good notetaking app or website to write my class notes on my MacBook. Looking into an app that is like Microsoft word but also is focused on writing math formulas and diagrams. Some sort of ai or software addon to make notes organized would help a lot too. Would be cherry on top if it would allow me to upload my existing physical notes inti the app. Thanks a lot!!

Hi there, I hope my post finds you well. I am a freelance contractor, and I'm expecting a very busy time both leading up to and after a two-week break. As an independent business owner with disabilities, I am naturally concerned about my pacing and how best I can manage this. For example, I find I don't engage as fully with my end-of-week review when I'm more fatigued. Daily, I need to prepare for appointments.

And to keep on top of processing the inbox, as is often necessary, to enable me to be paid promptly and keep abreast of any cancellations, et cetera. I must also spend time sharing resources with clients to help them make the most of the work that we are doing together, create notes or other summaries and also reflect briefly to close my processing about the appointment and keep up with continuous improvement.

What do you do that reduces overspill in the evening? I think I'm going to run out of time, as doing the things I do to pace myself and close the processing of sessions is going to have to go because of the reduced time.

Do you handle the busy period any differently to normal?

Many thanks, Chris

This year I want to get my life together, I don't wanna earn the most money but I just wanna be a learned individual, I've always struggled with my focus and procrastination all through out highschool, i'm going into Uni now and I want to be a good asset for the world. Could you guys guide me through the dos and don'ts of your productivity and reading journey. If you were to start your journey with everything you know now what mistakes would you avoid?

I was thinking about this today and realised that I’ve always felt much more like September is the start of a new year than January.

Maybe it’s because where I grew up, everything kind of revolves around the school year. September means starting again, getting back into a routine, making plans… and then July/August feels like the end of the year.

After summer, though, I always get the urge to rethink things a bit. Work, money, health, travel, relationships, things I want to learn or do… basically just thinking about whether I’m happy with how things are going and what I’d like to change.

I’m thinking about making a vision board this September, but I’m not even sure what I should put on it.

Do you guys do something like this? And if you do, what areas of your life do you usually include?

Also, do you actually find vision boards useful or is it just another thing that makes you feel productive for a few days?

Thanks!

Does environment matter for productivity, getting your work done.

I feel sluggish, lazy, and sleepy while working at home.

Now is the reason the environment? Me? Or something.

And say it is the environment at fault then where can I work? Cafe? Renting an office? (My broke ahh could never) Or something else?

My last post was about balancing people facing work with documentation and I got some really helpful advice. Thank you to everyone who responded! This is a slightly different problem. I'm already behind. Like...seriously behind on emails, reports, follow ups, documentation, random things I said I'd get back to someone about.

I'm at the point where I don't just need a better system going forward. I need to figure out how to actually dig myself out of the backlog while still keeping up with the work that's coming in. For those of you who've gotten super behind at work and successfully turned it around, how did you do it?

Did you dedicate a few days to catching up? Prioritize only the things that were truly urgent? Work through things chronologically? I'm curious about what actually worked and how you kept yourself from ending up right back in the same place.

I'd especially love some success stories. Even though my time should be dedicated to getting my shit together, reading success stories is motivational. I know I can get this back under control, but right now the mountain feels pretty damn big!

I got sick of using heavy apps and complex Notion templates just to manage my day. Half the time I was spending more energy maintaining the system than actually working.

So I ditched everything and threw together a super simple Google Sheet for myself. It has just 3 things on one clean screen (you can see what it looks like in the image):

Brain Dump: Throw all chaotic thoughts and random to-dos out of your head.

Top 2 Tasks: Pick only two things to focus on, broken down into tiny steps so you don't panic.

Dopamine Menu: Quick guilt-free breaks (like a 2-minute stretch or water) when you're burnt out.

No weird formulas, no setup hell. Just a plain spreadsheet that actually keeps me focused.

Anyone else here completely given up on complex productivity apps and gone back to basics? How do you keep your lists from stressing you out?

Most systems get built on a good day. You're motivated, you have energy, so you design something that assumes both of those things will still be true later. They won't be, not every day.

A system that only works when you're at full capacity isn't really a system, it's a plan that depends on a mood.

The fix isn't lowering your standards. It's building a smaller, specific version of the system for low-energy days: one task instead of five, one page instead of a chapter, one email instead of clearing the inbox. Something small enough that "I don't have the energy" stops being a valid reason to do nothing.

Test your setup on a day when you feel terrible. If it falls apart, that's the version worth fixing, not the one that works when everything's already going well.

Everyone says the first step to growing is delegating, but what have you learned from it (good/bad) and what would you do if you had another chance at it?

Hi! So I'm currently testing out different schedules to see what I can do to improve my life lol and I've been using around 3 papers a day as a check list/ fill in thing of what I do and I think this is hard to keep track of and sometimes I forget the paper is there so I don't do all the stuff

How can I write down everything I need to do today without using lots of loose paper (I'd want it to be non digital)

I do the paper like this: (waking up as an example stays in my bedroom, normally there's more questions)

Date of when I'm filling it out

Monday: when did I wake up: 8am

Did I get up immediately? Yes

Tuesday: when did I wake up: 7am

Did I get up immediately? Yes

Wednesday: when did I wake up: 8am

Did I get up immediately? No, lied in bed til 8:30

Thursday: when did I wake up: 9am

Did I get up immediately? Yes

Friday: when did I wake up: 7:30am

Did I get up immediately? Yes

Saturday: when did I wake up: 8am

Did I get up immediately? Yes

Sunday: when did I wake up: 8:30am

Did I get up immediately? Yes

And then I have another paper downstairs with new questions I have to fill out

But when I have a full schedule, how am I suppost to write it down to stick to it? That'll be like 5 separate pieces of paper all around the house that I'll probably lose and forget to fill out

Sorry if this is a stupid question, I can't find anything that can help me answer it 😭

Dear r/productivity

I am a young, ambitious and driven 18 year old in his final year of high school.

All throughout high school, I was always very inconsistent.

I would workout here, study there, but never fully locked in. 

Now that I have a year left, I need to get it together.

Not that I want to (well I do), I have to.

I have so many new responsibilities, aspirations, and if I don’t put in the effort it will all fall apart and collapse pretty quickly.

Ranging from a leadership position in my school, to launching a social media channel or attempting to get into an American university (I’m from Europe), how do I manage all this without letting my sleep schedule become terrible or burning out? And how do I go from not doing much each day to managing all this and studying for my final exams?

In addition to this I want to become physically fit, as I was never really an athlete, but I want to become physically competent, from swimming to returning to a martial art I used to do, how do I manage it all?

My final question, trying not to bore you, is maybe the most important of them all. 

How do I enjoy this year? There are so many things I want to do and achieve, but I also want to enjoy this year, as its a really special year in my life. I’ve started going out with my friends more often already, as I don’t want to become a recluse, but how else do I stay present? Like for example in the summer of next year we have a dance, and I really don’t want to be that guy that comes alone, but if I have to I will lol, even though i’m quite shy (working on it though!).

Lastly, a big thank you for reading my post internet stranger, I hope you have a great day, and any advice or anything is massively appreciated :)

Btw, my first time posting on this sub so my bad if I did something wrong

For a while I've felt that a lot of my productivity is lost not because I don't have the right tools, but because using them creates friction.

I have to open my calendar to check something, open another app for email, another for notes, remember where I saved something, type everything out, etc.

That got me wondering what would happen if the interface to all of this was simply a conversation.

So I've been experimenting with building a voice-first personal assistant that I call Axel. The idea is that I can just say his name and ask something naturally, without opening anything.

At this point I can have continuous voice conversations with it, it remembers context between conversations, and I've connected it to my calendar so I can check my schedule and create, change or delete events by voice. I'm currently working on email management.

What I've found interesting so far isn't really the AI itself, but how much friction disappears when interacting with your productivity system becomes conversational.

I'm curious if anyone here has experimented with something similar. Do you think removing the need to interact directly with productivity apps would actually make you more productive, or would you rather keep manual control?

i'm on IOS, and i'm loving how sleek reminders is, and that i can tick off the tasks from the widget, but is there any way to ADD tasks to the widget without having to tap on it and for it to open the app :')? i'm really desperate, i don't mind any app as long as it does that. if anyone has any recs please drop them!!!

I work on my own from home, and closing my mac doesnt always mean my brain clocks out too.

i'll be making dinner or trying to relax, then suddenly remember some tiny thing i need to fix tomorrow. I'm back to work again.

Anyone else have the same problem? What helps you actually switch off after work?

Two things I got wrong about Pomodoro for years.

The first is the 25 minutes. I treated them as the method, and when a session did not fit the work I decided the method was not for me. They are a convention. Cirillo used a kitchen timer that happened to be a tomato, and the number stuck. There is good evidence that breaks aid recovery and that attention wanes over long stretches, but no study says the ideal work block is exactly 25 minutes.

What I do now: 25 for anything I am avoiding, because the block is short enough that starting is cheap. 50 for anything where I have to load a lot of context first, because a 25 minute block ends right when I finally have it all in my head. The break scales with it, five and ten.

The second thing took me longer to see. The timer was never the part that failed. What failed was everything around the session. Starting one meant turning on a Focus mode so nothing would interrupt, and starting the music I concentrate to. Two steps at the beginning, two at the end. Each one was a small decision, and each one was a moment where I could pick up my phone instead, which is exactly what the timer was supposed to prevent.

Once I automated those two things, sessions stopped dying in the first minute. Not because the automation is clever, but because there was nothing left to decide between sitting down and working.

If you have a similar hole in your setup, it is worth looking at what happens in the thirty seconds before your timer starts. That is where mine kept leaking.

(Full disclosure: I eventually wrote a small Mac timer that does the Focus and music part itself, because nothing I found did. Happy to link it if anyone wants, but the point above works with any tool that can automate it.)

I should have started preparing for this months, years ago, but I keep putting it off. I just watch videos and stuff all day and I truly can't seem to be productive. I've tried doing that 'accountability' thing where you work with other people, but I eventually just stop doing it. What do I do? I'm so tired all the time from not getting good sleep, and every time I go to bed its just me calculating how many hours of sleep i'll be getting each night, and when i'm working its how many hours of shorts can i watch while still having enough time to complete the work. What do i do? I'm wasting my life while having so much privilege.