r/productivity

It just started and i already hate it, honestly i wish summer break was over, at least during school i had some routine and stuff to do, unfortunetly i dont have any friends, and all i do during the day is eat. i think i gained like 10 lb already. i literally wake up at like 7am, and watch yt or netflix or just play on my phone until like 5pm when my mom gets home from work, and then i eat more. Its a nightmare, honestly, the only thing that helps me pass time and makes me feel good is eating.

I seriously feel like napping has been ruining my life, but I genuinely don’t know how to stop. This has been an on and off issue for almost two years now. I am a student and I typically get enough sleep (7-8) hours, and especially more now since I’m on summer break. However I don’t think the amount of sleep I’m getting is the issue.

Here is my daily routine these past few weeks:

Wake up at 10AM, scroll on phone until 11AM, get out of bed. Make brunch, eat brunch. Feel sleepy after eating, take nap at 2PM. Nap until 4-5PM, half of the day is gone. Feel guilty about napping. Be productive for a few hours. Do something for entertainment until 12AM. Get into bed and sleep at 1-2AM.

I waste so much time by napping 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. I think it’s also been leading to weight gain since I nap after eating. It also messes with my sleep schedule if I start the nap at 4-5PM and wake up at 7-8PM.

I feel like it may also be a form of procrastination for me. When I have a lot on my plate J always tell myself the excuse “i’ll do it after a quick power nap” and then end up napping for three hours. Even though I get stuff done, I wish I could do it all before 5PM.

I know this is so unhealthy but I physically don’t know how to stop. If i start feeling tired it’s like I’m magnetized to my bed.

I sometimes start feeling uneasy on Sunday even though work doesn’t start until Monday.

It’s not intense anxiety, just a low-level uncomfortable feeling that the weekend is ending and I have to go back to work soon.

The annoying part is that Sunday is still free time, but mentally it already feels partly taken over by Monday.

For people who get this, what actually helps?

Do you prepare for the week, avoid thinking about work completely, make Sunday evening relaxing, or something else?

Not while working but before working with questions like: where is that file or what was I supposed to do next or which app was I using for this?
Every one of those tiny pauses is friction and individually they're nothing but collectively they're exhausting.
I've found removing those moments has improved my productivity more than trying to optimize how I actually work.
Has anyone else noticed this?

Ive been looking everywhere. what i need is:

RELIABLE sync between laptop and mobile [obsidian git is just not working for me and the syncthing thing doesnt look reliable]

version history just incase something happens
end to end encryption [goodbye notion]

UNLIMITED storage and note capacity

can handle long notes with no lag, im using it to write a novel

has folders

all features stated above being FREE

Dont recomend google docs, its horrendous too as its very buggy for me.

If anyone can help id really appreciate it. what do you guys use?

M19 here

i’m ready to lock in, i am obsessed to my phone and it’s affecting everything. i am unable to get out of bed immediately when i wake up (spend around 20-30 mins scrolling), work out, sometimes shower, meditate or do anything productive. however im going to make a change, im sick of living like this.

i need an app that can help lower my screen time by blocking CERTAIN apps (need some to communicate), making me earn points to get some screen time like work out/go for a work for 10 minutes of scrolling, allowing me to set a time later in the day for the app to end and i can have proper relaxing time yk

i would really appreciate if anyone has app recommendations

Hey, on the last few months, I've trying to fix my productivity problems (procrastination, avoiding doing things I would find really hard, overall lazyness), and I have done some progress! Last month I delivered some important tasks for a college project, without the quality being the usual trashy, last minute garbage I usually deliver. This month, I started a two-people-paper, and my partner is *extremelly* competent and one of the best students in my class.

The pressure to not let them down (they invited me to do the work! both of our usual pairings were taken), and do a job on pair with theirs made me power through angst and procrastination, despite the paper being a really hard one to write. It's not like it wasnt challenging, but I actually locked in for once, and I am pretty proud of the first part of the paper.

My problem is, now that I proved to myself that the paper "is not that hard" and that I could, in fact, do a good work just like my colleague, I just... stopped. I once again started to get lazy, or frozen in front of my phone watching YT shorts, or just sitting in front of the computer opening and closing google tabs, watching the hours pass by. I think I might only find will to do this kinds of hard tasks if I feel like Im up against a huge monster, if im the underdog trying to prove myself, in a epic battle fighting for my life or something, but when Im confortable with the situation, my work comes out... extremely wonky, if it even comes out.

One time, with a solo project (no one counting on me) and with an easy topic, I procrastinated so much that I wrote the first line of text with 45 minutes until I had to send the document to my professor. That project from last month, I also was under enormous pressure, because it was a hard and *extremely* important project I was sharing with our whole class. From this and other cases, I think its clearly a pattern

Do you have any tips I can use to lock in even if the sky isnt falling down on my head? It would really help! I don't think it would be healthy to lead a worklife based uppon stress and high stakes scenarios lol

I’m trying to understand phone habits.

When you open apps like instagram, linkedIn or whatsApp or any addictive app, do you usually know why you opened them, or is it natural?

Is it boredom, entertainment, connection, checking someone, avoiding something, feeling low, feeling behind, or just muscle memory?

Also, would a 5 second pause before opening the app help you make a more conscious choice, or would it annoy you?

Not promoting anything, Just trying to understand whether the real problem is screen time itself, or unconscious app opening

I was very productive at the beginning of the year. And these past 2 months I started noticing that I’ve been slacking.

I just noticed that when I’m always doing some chore, etc. I’m always putting something in the background relates to useless content. Even for things that won’t take long. A few examples:

1. Time to fold clothes after laundry? Tv.

2. Building furniture I ordered? Tv.

3. Unbox Amazon deliveries? Tv.

4. Drill holes to hang pictures? Tv.

5. Lunch? Dinner? Tv.

Basically, I am always trying to watch something which likely caused me to keep doing that even when I’m done with those chores (scrolling videos on my phone).

I started listening to audiobooks again instead of putting on mindless content. At least that way I can work towards completing something at the same time I’m working on something else. It’s odd that I had this habit just fine at the beginning of the year - but I think I fell off this habit when I finished a book and didn’t have any audiobooks next.

I have always been a very light sleeper, even the faintest footsteps woke me up. And i also did function well with limited sleep, but off late, maybe from the last 3 days I’m very very sleepy. For instance, i sleep at 10:30pm and wake up at 9am. And then again manage to take a nap in the afternoon from 2pm to 6pm.
What might be the cause of this, is it possible i’m coming down with something, or is it because my stress levels reduced (i’m done with HS and college starts in a few months) any insight will be helpful tia :))

Which 3 productivity books would you recommend from this list, and why?

• Atomic Habits
• Deep Work
• Rework
• The 5 AM Club
• The ONE Thing
• Make Time
• Win the Day
• Getting Things Done
• The 80/20 Principle
• Ultralearning
• Getting Sh*t Done

You can only pick 3.

I have tired almost all productivity tools from Todoist to Notion, Obsidian to Asana. From simple task manager/habit trackers to complex project management tools. But nothing worked for me. Either I find it too simple and lacking what I want or too complex and I end up spending more time building the system than improving productivity.

Every time I try a new tool I think this it will be different, but again in a few days or maximum in a few weeks I will reach back to my notebook.

I'm I alone? has anyone else been through this?

I’ve looked into what a productive weekend is and try to apply it to my life as much as possible, but no matter what I still feel as though I didn’t do anything.

For example this weekend I:

Saturday: played basketball with a friend, read, worked out, went out for drinks at night.

Sunday: I plan on working out, reading, and maybe cleaning a bit.

I'm a 20-year-old guy, and I feel like I'm stuck in a cycle that I can't escape.

I'm an extreme introvert and I've been struggling with a p*** ad**cted for a long time. Even the smallest problems or tasks make me feel overwhelmed and anxious. Sometimes I wonder if I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), although I've never been diagnosed.

The biggest issue is that I don't have any useful skills or a source of income. Seeing people my age making progress while I'm standing still makes me feel insecure about my future.

Because of all this, I've become depressed, lazy, and completely unmotivated. I know I should be learning new skills, exercising, or improving my life, but I just can't seem to get started. Even when I do, I quit quickly.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation and managed to turn their life around? What were the first practical steps you took? I'm not looking for a magic solution—I just want to know where to begin and how to finally break out of this lifestyle.

Any advice or personal experiences would mean a lot. Thank you.

I need to travel about 2.5 / 3 hours to university by mostly train, to and fro for a grand total of about 6 hours. I feel quite despondent about it all. Travelling 6 hours every day it such a time waste. It embitters me that I wasn't born in a more fortunate location, or was rich.

I am trying to re-think the whole thing as "forced study time", though I am not joyed.

I will need to do this for about 2 years.

I have a picture in mind of everything i want to do and it's really easy to do theoretically but i don't. (going to the gym, buying some things, taking my supplement, going to sleep at a good time consistently, making more efforts at my internship. etc)

I have a mindset where nothing is ever enough and I want more..and more..and more..and perfection

I don't know how to fix this mindset or if it even needs fixing.

It's like this, I may decorate a room but I'm never satisfied because I feel I could do more with it, and get more and more etc. And can't be content or satisfied with how it looks.

Or I could see myself in the mirror and pick out every little flaw and want to change it, and can't be content or satisfied with myself.

What do I do? Is this a good mindset because I'm constantly striving for perfection? Or is it not? And how do I fix this?

As conveyed in the title, there are just so many things i would like to try or to excel in. I could name at least 10 things i could make a hobby out of, and i just know it'll burn me out, but i also fear that if i focus on just one or two hobbies, I'll feel like I should've started one of the other hobbies earlier.

I'm really lost, so is there anyone in the same boat, or someone who has found their way around this?

i kept tracking the thirty-second scroll breaks but not the restart cost after. that's the part that wrecked my sessions without feeling like a big deal.

the research is old but the pattern still shows up: phone visible on the desk, even silent, reduces what's actually available in your head. the brain keeps one thread waiting.

here's what seems to actually move the needle:

• turn off app notifications first, before any new system
• put the phone in another room during serious study blocks
• use airplane mode if distance isn't an option
• keep your browser to only study-related tabs
• use a separate browser profile for school so it stays boring
• clean your desktop and close old files before a study block

what's yours? the one tiny thing that actually stuck.

Personally in the apps ive used and abandoned (finch, fabulous) the gamification and visuals didnt much for me, nor did the visual progress trackers/dashboard for other apps ive tried (like notion templates n stuff)

To me it feels like a feature thats optimize for a billboard or a screenshot to show off, rather than something that feels meaningfully useful to me

Wanted to know if others felt the same sentiment