1. 15 minutes of cleaning, organizing, something task oriented that feels productive and you can SEE. after that timer goes off you’re DONE! Good work.
2. next, it’s outside time. Maybe you walk to get a treat, find a flower, see a nice building, smile at a stranger. This can be a quick trip if you need it to, or find a podcast or album to listen to on a longer walk.
3. Food that makes you feel good nutritionally and food that makes you feel good emotionally. Chocolate cake and an apple. carrots and hummus and twizzlers. Indiana food! Get both.
4. Guilt free SCHEDULED relaxing Of any kind- bed rot, tv time, video games, whatever. its Your job to do it.
This basic formula helps me.
Related Recs
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the work-eat-scroll-sleep-repeat pattern had me in a chokehold for ~3 years after I graduated from college, realized that a large part of the reason I struggled to break the cycle was because I’d want to “rest” after work but eventually do something enriching in the evenings, but didn’t actually have an idea of what I wanted to do so the lift to get off [app] was less willpower and more decision paralysis; the friction of figuring out what to do was what was keeping me in the cycle ~90% of the time.
what has worked for me:
1. going outside immediately after work (especially if working from home) to run an errand or go to a book or record or coffee shop
2. keeping a list of projects i want to / am currently working on or skills i want to develop and making progress on those
3. reading a book
4. (most effective) taking a class (writing, pottery, filmmaking for me) and either going to the sessions or doing the assignments
but also sometimes you literally just wanna rot and that’s cool too!
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i tried a couple different ways to structure my time:
1. daily timeblocking (3*/10): setting 5-6 to wind down; 6-7 for dinner; 7-9 for enrichment; etc… didn’t work at all for me. too structured.
2. theming days: (5*/10): mondays are for reading; tuesdays writing; etc… worked slightly better but sometimes you wanna do a different thing than the theme, introduces decision paralysis of whether to power through to build routine or to follow your instincts and have max fun
3. big list: (7*/10): here are all my projects (and subtasks) or hobbies or chores or errands i want to do; i give them a number score of how urgently i want to do them, then do the one i want to do most thats higher priority. bonus points if at the start of the week or month, you put some activities on a calendar for specific days even randomly to just have a schedule when you don’t have something you’re particularly called to do so that’s your default activity and not scrolling. works the best*!
(*for me)
Jan 16, 2025
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i usually start with ordering delivery food. that way i don't need to cook and i also need to get out of bed to take it from the courier.
in the waiting time i take a quick shower, brush my teeth and thinking about what tasks and deadlines i have at the moment and which of them are more important.
then i have breakfast and put something on the background to watch, usually it is "The Big Bang Theory" or "Brooklyn 99". I've watched them a million times so i won't be deeply interested but i also have something that kills the silence and don't make me go back into my head. I also take my meds and mark this in my tracker
Then i open my work tools, starting with Notion and Figma. I'm planning the day, all tasks that have to be done on laptop and another that require to go outside. If i can't make myself do any work, i turn on Britney Spears — Work Bitch. It usually helps but if i still can't do work, I'm doing anything else. I'm finding references for projects, planning the rest of the week, sending CV to different positions, all that kind of stuff. Or if i have time, i put on some nice clothes and go to work outside at the cafe or library.
In the evening i have supper, clean up the mess i little bit and go to bed.
The trick is to do everything like a robot, just get into routine with the empty head. It always helps me to get things done
Aug 24, 2024
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figuring out the small things i can do that i know will make me feel at least 5% better has been so helpful to build momentum throughout my day.
some of mine:
groggy -> coffee, go outside and walk around, or a mini nap
lethargic/irritable -> taking a shower and deep breaths, opening a window
sad -> get sunlight, stand outside for ten minutes, hug my cat
anxious/unable to focus -> writing a brain dump of everything that’s on mind or cbt journaling
unable to sleep -> reading a book
bored -> create/output something (input(watching/listening to/reading something, scrolling on my phone) vs output(making something, writing my thoughts on something i watched, trying something new))
bloated -> ginger tea, activating pressure points, yoga
uninspired -> revisiting something formative, figuring out the unexplored territories in my taste and going into them, looking through my collection of art books
Oct 19, 2024
Top Recs from @lyssdri
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Yeah severance is the best tv show on right now and I will watch it and discuss the nuances and the shots and coloring and the writing!! like That’s art, that’s critiquing culture, that’s bringing something new to the table
I will ALSO sit my ass down with wine and popcorn and watch the new love is blind episodes(and love island this summer!!!) because tv can also serve the purpose of shutting my brain O-F-F !!
Feb 15, 2025
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I like working out and when I leave a workout class and I feel sore and then I take an epsom salt bath and I get in bed and my body just feels like YEAH you USED ME TODAY YAY. I love that.
Feb 4, 2025
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You can always redownload it. If I keep opening Pinterest during work, just delete it for a while!! I can download it again.
Also we all know I mean Twitter and that I can’t go on it bc it will depress me .
Nov 7, 2024