I created a new twitter account to track my habits and goals. Thought it'd be a good idea to use social media posts for accountability. Even if no one sees my posts, it adds that extra little bit of pressure that might just help me get things done by making it public.

I'm surprised that isn't more of a thing on social media, but then again, I might just be looking at the wrong places. If anyone knows any open platform/ social media account for this sort of thing I'd love to know.

Here's the account, you're welcome to interact with or follow! https://twitter.com/kl85810147

Sunday comes and I wake up with dread and overwhelm. How do you comb through it all to try to day yourself up for success for the week?

Hey all,
What are your thoughts on self image? Have you heard of this idea of letting go of the self image in order to feel more free? I recently created a film highlighting this concept. Take a watch and let me know your thoughts. Maybe it will help someone out there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JQGFRztFX0&t=57s
Happy Journeys!

Hi there! I need some help and I’m hoping you do, too.

I’m a coach who helps people to break their phone addiction (or change phone habits, put their phone down more … however you might say it), and I’d like to transfer some of my business away from in-person calls and over to email-based support.
And so.. I’m looking for helpers who would help me practice. You’d get 4 weeks of free support from a coach with proven results, in exchange for your candid feedback at the end. (win-win!)

Do you fit this description?
>> You have been wanting to break a phone addiction, change your phone habits or put your phone down more...
>> You know exactly what you NEED to do, and you just need to do more of it OR actually START doing it. (Like keep your phone out of the bedroom and not scroll on it first thing in the morning or delete apps that are such a big time suck..or start exercising instead of doom scrolling..)
>> You know you could be focusing more of your time and energy on the things that truly matter to you.
>> You might have tried things like app timers/blockers, putting your phone away in another room etc.. but none of it seemed to work.
>> You believe that having an accountability partner could be the thing that would help you see results, but you haven’t got to try it out yet.

If so, this is for YOU. PM me with your details (name + email) by Monday 22 Jan if you want to help me out!

What you will get (full disclosure):

• A free, non-judgmental and supportive accountability partner for 4 weeks.
• A Hello/Welcome sort of email from me prior to 26 Jan.
• An email every Friday (first one on 26 Jan and last one on 16 Feb), with 3 questions that will help you create success in the week ahead. (They take 5-10 minutes to answer.)
• The ability to ask me anything.
• 100% confidentiality. I will not share your answers and email address with anyone else.
• Weekly, personalized responses: I will reply to your email by the following Tuesday.

At the end of our time together, I will ask for your feedback.
That’s it! Zero pressure. 🙂
Why might this work?

• Firstly, free information is readily available. But not accountability. Combining accountability with the new year's energy could make this extremely effective!

• Secondly, as you reply to the emails, you’re making a series of micro-commitments that become tougher to break since you’re making them known to another human being. (I can vouch on this from personal experience. Test this out for yourself if you’re curious ;))
  (Note: I will absolutely NOT judge you for what you did or did not do. Because at the end of the day, you’re only accountable to yourself, not me. And this also means that I will not chase you to reply to the emails, if you choose not to.)

• Thirdly, you get to do a “brain dump” at the end of every week, reflect, evaluate, and then set goals for the following week.

• At the end of it, you get to look back at the emails, and review your progress - all on your own terms.
  And, of course, you’d be doing me a big service, too!

A little more about me:
I’m Geraldine, and I’m also a wife, and a working mother with two young kids. After joining the workforce, I realized how much time I, and the people around me, were spending on our phones – for both work and personal reasons. Determined to live differently, I began researching how to break the negative cycle and have spent over a decade testing my discoveries on myself and helping others to do the same.

Here’re some of the results that I have helped my 1-to-1 clients with:

• Reducing phone usage by 25-50% within the first week of working together
• Actually being present when around their loved ones (like having a conversation with your child or partner without always looking down at the phone and really noticing their expression and voice as they speak...)
• Create more moments of calm, and downtime as they go about their daily routine (like peacefully grinding their morning coffee and delighting in the smell instead of multitasking with your phone and kicking up anxiety, annoyance and stress)

Interested? Or curious about how this will work out?
Simply PM me with your name (or how you’d like to be addressed) and email address by Monday 22 Jan, and I will see you over at your inbox! We start on 26 Jan.
PS: Spots are limited, obviously :)
PPS: If this is for you, you’d probably know by now. Therefore I’ll be prioritizing PMs. So definitely PM me if you’re interested in doing this together. Thank you so much!

The way that most of us approach goal-seeking and life in general is not only counterproductive but actually drains us of motivation, purpose, and enjoyment in life. This is due to the Paradox of Goal-Seeking, which has a lot to do with how we manage and leverage our dopamine system.

It is common to see our struggles to reach goals as simply annoying actions we must bear to get what we want. The only thing that matters is the pleasure of achieving our goal, the pleasure of winning. This is very problematic and often sets us up for failure. How so? First of all, this deprives us of cherishing all the pleasure that we could obtain on our way to the goal. And it can far exceed the total enjoyment that one can get from reaching the goal, as it is spread widely in time. But there is an even more sinister aspect to all of this. We know that dopamine is about reward prediction error. What this means, is that we always compare our past expectations to the actual results, to what we got. And our feelings are always tied to that comparison. That’s why failing feels so horrible. But not only that, even good outcomes can suck. When you expect your reward to be great, and it’s good but not great, your dopamine baseline actually lowers. Even though your outcome is good, it doesn’t feel good. It feels almost like a loss. That sucks, but unfortunately it gets even worse. Dopamine governs our motivation, so lower levels of dopamine mean that we are less motivated to do the same activity again. That is why we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Sounds horrible? Well, it is. That is the Paradox of Goal- Seeking and it is powerful. That’s why you have to understand it well.

In goal seeking, it’s not about the goal, but pursuit or seeking the goal. You don’t have to suspend your happiness until you achieve X. That X will always be in the future, it will never be achieved, as your goalposts will always move and be outside of your reach. No, instead, you’re focusing on the process, not on the outcome. Your aim is to be constantly seeking because the seeking is the reward. Dopamine is released when we’re headed towards a milestone, we can sense a win. So when you are pursuing a goal, and consistently getting out of bed in the morning, showing up for your session, you can already start experiencing the win and reaping your rewards. That means that if you are seeking a challenging goal that takes weeks, months, or even years to accomplish, you will receive many times more pleasure during your pursuit than when reaching the goal. So if you think about it, the joy of seeking, striving, and pursuing is more important than the goal. Moreover, by detaching yourself from the outcomes and focusing on the process and pursuit, you’re protecting yourself from the negative effects of expectations. That’s a paradigm change, the single most successful dopamine loop that will transform your life. The state of wanting can be in itself a pleasurable act. The craving and challenge can make you feel alive. So set ambitious goals that are slightly outside of your comfort zone, but still achievable. Make sure they’re long-term and can be broken into smaller pieces that you can track daily, weekly, or monthly. And enjoy and love the process of getting there, of tiny wins, of improving daily. Set up a life of self-improvement, filled with seeking, pursuit, struggle, discomfort, learning, and effort. It will be a powerful formula for a satisfying, energized, accomplished, and fulfilled life.

This was a summary of how the Paradox of Goal Seeking works. If you want to learn more, click here.

Moreover, I highly recommend learning about its twin effects the Paradox of Pleasure and the Paradox of Pain.

References:

Schultz W. Dopamine reward prediction error coding. Dialogues Clinical Neuroscience. 2016 Mar;18(1):23-32. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2016.18.1/wschultz. PMID: 27069377; PMCID: PMC4826767.

Liu C, Goel P, Kaeser PS. Spatial and temporal scales of dopamine transmission. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2021 Jun;22(6):345-358. doi: 10.1038/s41583-021-00455-7. Epub 2021 Apr 9. PMID: 33837376; PMCID: PMC8220193.

Wise RA, Robble MA. Dopamine and Addiction. Annu Rev Psychol. 2020 Jan 4;71:79-106. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103337. PMID: 31905114.

Lembke, A. Dopamine nation: finding balance in the age of indulgence. 2021. [New York, New York], Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Lieberman, DZ, Long, ME. The Molecule of More : How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love Sex and Creativity-And Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race. 2018. Dallas TX: BenBella Books.

Hi all, I am in desperate need of a reality check. I feel so lost in the sauce and unmotivated to do anything besides nanny a baby. I graduated from an Ivy League university in May 2022 and worked a great job, was studying for med school, and overall making progress towards my goals. Then, the depression hit. I started smoking weed a ton and eventually left my job to move back home. Ive been stuck ever since. I don't feel passionate about anything besides my family and dogs. I want to be a productive person but I am stuck in a horrendous pattern. I smoke, eat, and watch tv on the days when I can. I have a nannying job 2-3 days a week and thats been good for me but I need to be doing more. Im not trying to be a spoiled brat, I know how blessed I am to be able to even be in this position. I genuinely feel so stuck and do not know what to do. I am not sure about anything aside from the fact that my family is everything. Should I just find someone who can provide for me and be a homemaker ? Should I push myself and go to med school? Should I drop everything and move abroad ? Should I do something entirely unrelated to medicine ? Please someone, tell me what I should do.

This is advice for overthinkers like myself. A lot of people have this image of themselves as a perfect productivity machine. So when your day is going perfectly but then you slip up once, say you take a bite of chocolate or you start scrolling on social media. All of a sudden that perfect image of yourself gets destroyed and now you have no reason to not just eat the rest of the chocolate or keep scrolling the rest of your day away. This happens because of an "all or nothing" mindset. You're either perfect or not with no in between. You categorise your days as successes or failures.

I say, change that "all or nothing" mindset into a "something or nothing" mindset. Turn those 0% days into 50% days. Or 20% or even 5%. Anything is better than nothing. You took a bite of chocolate, it's not the end of the world just put it away and get on with your day. No you're not a failure of a human just because you've been scrolling for the past 20 mins. Close the app, put your phone on airplane mode and keep it far away from you.

Don't expect to never mess up again cause you will. But by getting rid of that all or nothing mindset you can get better at damage control. If you can cut your losses early then you'll eliminate serious bad habits like doom scrolling and binge eating before they have a chance to get to that stage.

At the time I’m writing this, it’s 5:24 PM and my phone screen time for the day is 38 minutes, mostly from calls, some texts, music, and GPS.

Like many people (maybe you?), I got addicted to my phone in the past few years and I was losing a lot of time mindlessly scrolling through stupid and random content on social media.

I wanted to get this time back and use it for work (I’m a solo-entrepreneur, working online from home).

I spent a lot of time researching tools and methods and found a solution that, I believe, could work for anybody, only using free apps and easy-to-set-up systems.

You’ll notice that I mention having an Apple Watch and an iPad because I’m lucky enough to have these, but if you don’t, it will work too.

1. One Sec App

One Sec App is an app blocking app that adds friction by adding a few seconds delay before you try to open your favorite apps.

I purchased the pro plan (only $29.90 for a one-time payment lifetime), but you can use the free plan to start.

Intervention Schedule (adding a delay and confirmation before opening the app):

• Here I added all my favorite time-wasting apps, any day of the week at any hour.

Blocking Schedule (totally blocking the app):

• Same apps, all blocked from 10 PM at night until 10 AM the day after.

Morning Countdown (totally blocking the app, synced on your phone wake up alarm):

• Also the same apps, blocked for at least 1 hour after I wake up.

2. Beeper

Beeper is a chat app that allows you to chat with friends on 15 different chat networks (Instagram, Facebook, Discord, Twitter, etc…) without having to open the related app.

It’s totally free, but there’s a waitlist. If you need access codes you can comment below and I'll send you some.

This one is helping me a lot because I was used to opening Instagram to answer a message, but then ended up watching stories, posts, etc… and losing a lot of time. With Beeper, that’s not happening anymore because there are only chats,.

You could even delete apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, etc… from your phone to have it all in one place. There's also a desktop version, if, like me, you use it for work, so you don’t even have to touch your smartphone.

3. Work Focus mode on iOS

If you have an iPhone with iOS you can set up different focus modes to block notifications. I don’t know about Android devices but I guess you could do the same.

I’ve set a schedule for Work Focus to be activated from 7:00 AM until 12 PM and then 1:00 PM until 5:00 PM during weekdays.

What it does is that it simply blocks any notifications, except calls.

4. Sleep Focus mode on iOS

This is the same as the Work Focus mode but for Sleep.

I’ve set it up from 2 hours before my sleep time, until my wake-up time.

5. Entertainment and Social Media

I still go on Instagram to check my friends and family stories, on 𝕏 or Reddit to follow some business news, etc… but I do it exclusively on my iPad (or on my laptop), after I finished work. But no TikToks, Reels or Shorts though, that's too much dopamine and brain-damaging content for me.

This adds enough friction for me because using an iPad (or a laptop) isn’t that convenient, it’s big, I don’t always have it next to me, it doesn’t feel as natural as using a phone so I’m not tempted to use it that much.

6. Daily Schedule

I usually go to sleep at 12 AM and wake up at 8 AM, so not that late but not that early.

At 10 PM, I put my phone in my office downstairs so I can’t use it anymore (everything is blocked by the One-Sec app anyway). Then I usually watch a movie with my girlfriend or read.

I sleep with my Apple Watch that acts as a sleep tracker and as a wake-up alarm.

When I wake up, I get breakfast and meditate using the Headspace app on my Watch and then start working on my laptop.

Around 11 AM I go to the gym, and I use my Apple Watch (it’s a cellular model that I can use without my iPhone) to listen to music or podcasts so I don’t have to bring my phone.

I then go back home to eat, and that’s when I touch my phone for the first time of the day, to check my messages on Beeper (sometimes I’ve done it before in the morning on the desktop app to make sure I don’t miss something important that happened overnight).

I then eat and go back to work for the afternoon.

When I’m done working around 6 PM, I usually watch some YouTube on TV, spend time with my girlfriend, browse social media for a bit, play with my dogs, meet some friends, read, … etc.

That’s my planning during the week, I don’t work on Sundays so it’s a free schedule, and I usually spend Saturday doing some 'shallow' work on my couch or researching and learning marketing/business stuff.

Conclusion

And that’s it!

As you can see, it’s not that strict and it doesn’t require totally cutting away social media from your life or waking up at 5 AM like most productivity gurus would teach, but it’s really working.

I think that it’s all about balance, and totally switching to monk mode would either be really hard to start or maintain in the long term (at least for me). That's probably beneficial for elite high-performance athletes or entrepreneurs dedicating their entire lives to their sport / work, but it may not suit most people, even if you have high productivity goals that can still be achieved with an organized and balanced lifestyle.

And if that approach seems interesting to you, join r/n0glitch, a new community where we share and exchange ideas about living a better life and performing to reach our goals. It's still new, but everyone is welcome! Join to be among the first so you don't miss out on future free guides and posts.

BONUS

If you’re interested in productivity and deep focus work, I also create my own tools like my free Chrome Extension called ABF (Audio Brain Focus): chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ohlfpeiaekgemgbffdkahiljfemoifcl

Feel free to install and try it, there’s nothing to pay - it’s just a little and fun side project of mine.

Maybe you’ll like it and I hope it will help you! I’m also really happy anytime I get user feedback to improve it, so let me know if you find bugs or have ideas for new features. 🙂

TL;DR

To fight my phone addiction and increase productivity, I use a combination of tools and strategies: One Sec App for delaying access to time-wasting apps, Beeper for consolidating all chat apps and avoiding distractions, and iOS Work and Sleep Focus modes to hide notifications. I also restrict social media usage to my iPad or my laptop post-work for added friction, and maintain a balanced daily schedule with designated tech-free times.

Note: I’m not affiliated with any of these apps or companies.

Pre covid, I was strong, I weighed in around 85-90 ish with some pretty decent muscle mass. I did powerlifting, really loved it and I was very close to squatting 250kg. Yes it’s a rookie number compared to others but I felt like I was on top of the world.

Then covid came, lockdown came afterwards and all the gym closed and I had to rely on home workout. I was only motivated for the first month. I stopped after a while because I thought this lockdown thing will only last a few months and then 1 month became 2,3,4 and suddenly a year passes by in a blink of an eye. So I have stopped working out for almost 2 years by 2022.

I kept blaming lockdown for my weight gain but it’s 2024, I’m 110kg, feeling disgusted looking in the mirror. A lot of my clothes don’t fit and I just can’t find the motivation to go to the gym.

To those who felt like this before and managed to turn your life around, how did you guys do it?

tl;dr

pre covid stong boi stopped working out after gym closed thinking I’ll just start over when the gym reopened 2024 sad fat boi, what do?

Hey everyone,

I am looking for a discipline coach who can help me fix my habits, achieve my fitness, nutrition, health, career and life goals. Do you guys know anyone who could make me accountable and be the best version of myself? Please dm me or reply to this thread.

Hey Reddit!My name is Nik and like all of you, I've been struggling with accountability and self-discipline for years. I've tried lots of things but found that group accountability works the best: you can't fail on your commitments in front of people you respect

But many times, my friends were busy, and when it happened, I got back into a "procrastination hole" because I couldn't keep myself accountable.

My first attempts with trying AI chatbots

To solve that, I've tried Chatgpt to motivate me by describing how I feel and what I'm currently doing. For example, once I said "I feel like I don't want to do anything and so I'm watching youtube"And I got a super helpful response "If you don't want to do anything, try actually to NOT DO anything by staring at the wall for 10 minutes." - I tried it and it worked really well.

It worked so well, that now whenever I'm procrastinating or spending by scrolling stupid apps, I stop doing that and just stare at the wall for 10+ minutes. My dopamine cycle calms down and then I easily get back to work.

Trying Personalized Chatbot coaches

In some cases, AI was so helpful for me that I decided to create my own personalized "coaches" for myself based on people I respect. For example, I deeply respect Paul Graham (founder of top-1 startup accelerator Ycombinator) and I built my own "coach" Paul Graham who motivated me.

Even more, you can make your coach "integrated" into your life. For that, you can add a "listening" feature and just have it listen to your surroundings. You can build it yourself or use a publicly available chatGPT bot (not sending the link here because of rules, so let me know in the comments and I can DM)

I've been talking to my coach whenever I felt "down" or "demotivated" and it worked really well, but then my brain "figured that out", and I started to procrastinate even on opening my "coach chatbot"

I got into a "procrastination hole" once again for some time until I decided to try creating a "proactive" coach that would send me proactive notifications even when I am too lazy to "motivate myself".

Proactive AI Coach

So I built a very simple iOS app that would listen to whatever is happening around me and then send me a proactive relevant feedback like

• "hey I noticed you talked to much, how about we do some work"
• "It seems you are procrastinating again and watching something irrelevant, let's pause that for a minute and get some fresh air"
• "Yesterday you mentioned that you want to accomplish {X} today. How about we start the day with that?"

I gave it many specific prompts with a "mentor/coach personality" and uploaded motivational content. Also, I made this coach "educate itself" based on the things I say. The more I use the app, the more useful it becomes => After few days of use, some of the feedback was really good - I have been using it non-stop.

To summarize, here is a step-by-step plan I'd suggest if you want to try my method:

1. Choose a person you deeply respect and are fascinated by. It can be someone like Usain Bolt if you are in sports or Steve Jobs if you are in business
2. Play with "AI chatbot apps" that allow you to create your own customized chatbots and create your own coach! Or use one that already exists.
3. You can personalize your AI coach by uploading quotes of the person you choose. Simply Google "{person name} motivational quotes" and put them into the Prompt of your chatbot
4. If you want to go beyond like I did, try to make a proactive AI coach that would send you notifications. You can send them either via messages or any messenger you use. You can start with "scheduled notifications" and then make it understand when to send notifications by itself
5. Even more beyound, you can make your coach "integrated" into your life. For that, you can add a "listening" feature and just have it listen your surroundings
6. Finally, you can buy a wearable hardware like a microphone or similar, connect it to your app and have it always with you => that would be a peak performance

I'd love to hear about your experience with AI coaches! And also greatly appreciate any feedback to my method and how to improve it. Thank you for any insights you can provide!

I am trying to build software that will save lives. Would you mind to try out our app and give me some feedback? I've worked very hard (and spent a lot of money) trying to figure this out and I just need help figuring out market fit so we can keep going. ***Everyone who gives me constructive feedback will get AT LEAST ONE YEAR FREE USE of our highest level available.
The idea behind Juggle is simple. People need to stay connected because we are becoming more isolated in the real world. Social media creates this. Remote working, etc. All of it contributes to isolation which we are learning causes major health problems. I'm trying to get people to discover "common ground" with their networks so they can connect doing those things. Think bowling, happy hour, concerts, whatever. If you like to do it, tell us and we'll help you do that with your network.
Anyway - I'm happy to answer questions, and would really appreciate the feedback. I truly believe that if we can create enough connections we will save lives.
In the app stores, search "Juggle Inc" or click here:
IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/juggle-inc/id1479691556
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.juggle.juggleApps
You can read about our "why" at www.juggletribe.com I'd love your feedback on that too!
Huge thanks in advance!

I’ve been “abused” my entire life. Oldest of 10, homeschooled at 14. My mom started to get more controlling, then physically abusive, manipulated us against each other and our father, made me feel like scum, I could never measure up to her standards, nothing was ever good enough. I could not have a voice. I couldn’t stand up for myself. I had zero self esteem. I was suicidal. She didn’t want me to have friends. Controlled me a lot. I got into a bad habit of leaving things to finish last second. I never really had a child hold.

I got married to get away. I was abused in the marriage too, because of a mistake I made before I got married. Come April it will be 5 years of marriage. Husband was sometimes physical, but it was mostly emotional, verbal, mental… it damaged me even more. I couldn’t stand up for myself, I thought I deserved the awful treatment

I am now out of the marriage. But struggling at a womens shelter. My dilemma is my own mind feeling like I’m unable to make it on my own. It’s hard for me to get anything started and to keep going. I feel lazy. But I’m scared at the same time. Someone please help me, I need advise on how to break free from this and be able to pursue goals and dreams and not have to depend on anyone.

Spending time in nature and engaging in outdoor activities has been shown to have numerous benefits for our physical and mental well-being.
We'll explore the science behind nature’s healing powers and the surprising benefits of activities such as hiking, forest bathing, and outdoor exercise.
So, put down your phone, step outside, and let’s explore the wonders of nature!
The Theory is that spending our time in nature can help reduce rumination, or repetitive negative thoughts, which can contribute to anxiety and depression.

Whatever the mechanism, the evidence is clear: nature is good for us.

The Surprising Benefits of Hiking and Walking in Nature

Hiking and walking in nature are some of the simplest and most accessible ways to reap the benefits of spending time outdoors.

For starters, hiking and walking in nature can help reduce stress and anxiety.

​

• Walking in nature can boost creativity and improve cognitive function.
• It is a low-impact exercise that can improve cardiovascular health, strengthen muscles, and improve balance and coordination.

The Practice of Forest Bathing

Forest bathing is a practice that originated in Japan and involves spending time in a natural environment while engaging all of your senses.
Forest bathing has shown numerous benefits such as:

• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Boost mood and happiness
• Strengthen the immune system
• Improving sleep quality

Benefits of Outdoor Activities

Engaging in outdoor pursuits fosters profound well-being, enriching life with vitality and joy.

Activities like hiking, cycling, camping, wildlife observation, gardening, picnicking, nature photography, and team sports are beloved choices.

The vast array of options ensures tailored experiences, that align with personal passions and preferences.

Embracing the beauty of nature is not just a visual delight but also a powerful tonic for your overall well-being.

From reducing stress to improving mental clarity, the great outdoors offers various health benefits.
To delve deeper into the connection between nature and good health head over to our full article:

https://blog.justly.life/how-a-nature-can-promote-you-a-good-health-409c67b60249

Hey there! Hope y’all are having a great time of your life…. I’d like to share a very revolutionising idea that changed my life into so much more productive and happier in general.

Sleep is a fundamental aspect of our lives that often goes unnoticed until we experience sleep problems . Here are the things that I fixed that helped me improve quality of my life-

1. One of the most important things to remember is that your night's sleep begins the morning before. According to Shawn Stevenson, author of "Sleep Smarter," getting direct sun exposure into your eyes and on your skin first thing in the morning helps to set your circadian rhythms, which are responsible for regulating your sleep cycle.

2. Eating and drinking habits can also significantly impact our sleep quality. According to Matthew Walker, author of "Why We Sleep," it's essential to pay attention to what and when we consume. Walker recommends having your last meal at least three hours before bedtime to allow for proper digestion

3. Creating a sleep-friendly environment is crucial for improving sleep quality. One of the key factors is managing light exposure. In today's modern world, our reliance on technology exposes us to high amounts of blue light, which can suppress melatonin production, the hormone responsible for regulating sleep. To combat this, dimming your computer screen and using blue light-blocking glasses can help reduce the negative effects of artificial light on your sleep.

I hope this post was helpful to you. Ive been learning and sharing these experiences as much as i can to help people grow and spread awareness… I’ve been using my newsletter as the main source of doing that so if you really like the content then consider taking a look at it- https://ascension.beehiiv.com
I hope this post was helpful to you!

Even though we all know single-tasking is the most helpful hack to productivity, we still end up juggling a dozen things at once, trying to multitask. Our brains are in constant rebellion against what works best until there's a disaster.

One day I was making a presentation with a podcast playing in the background, and I missed two key slides that made everything else very confusing. That's when I decided — only one thing at a time, no multi-tasking.

Here's why you should also try it:

🎯 When you focus on one thing, the quality of your work skyrockets.
⏰ You finish tasks faster, which means more time for yourself.
🛑 Less multitasking = fewer mistakes.
💆 Prevents burnout from doing too much in too little time.

Single-tasking shines in situations like:

- Solving complex problems (like coding)
- Creative endeavors (like writing a novel or personal blog)
- Any task that requires your full, undivided attention (like proofreading)

If you're nodding along but thinking, "Easier said than done," here's a quick 5-step guide to get you started:

1. Choose your top 2-3 tasks for the day.
2. Tackle them when you're most alert and your surroundings are least distracting. I use Sunsama to enter ‘Focus mode’ and it hides my task list while showing me the only task I'm supposed to work on.
3. Put your phone on DND mode, or better… keep it in another room.
4. Find a quiet spot where you can zone in.
5. Don't forget to take short breaks - your brain needs it.

I'm curious… are we just wired to multitask even when it's not effective, or are we just addicted to the chaos? What's your take?

I’m a 25-year-old recent graduate with a BA in marketing, and I’m finding myself caught in the web of distractions – social media, music, weed, and pornography. I feel like it’s taking a toll on my focus and dopamine receptors, hindering my ability to excel in my new job.

I’ve set some ambitious goals for this year to prove myself in my marketing career, but these distractions are holding me back. I’m reaching out to the community for advice on rewiring my dopamine receptors and breaking free from these habits.

Have any of you been through a similar struggle and successfully overcome it? What strategies worked for you in reclaiming focus and achieving your career goals? I’m open to any tips, tricks, or personal experiences you can share.

Let’s help each other kick these distractions to the curb and make 2024 a year of focus, growth, and professional success. Thanks in advance for your insights!

Saw a scientific article, summarized in the blog below

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/finding-a-new-home/202301/a-powerful-way-of-increasing-your-self-control

Original journal article here:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/01461672221109664

I found it helpful, as I struggle with self-control. And I thought might be helpful for people in this sub, as I was posting it in a few science subs just now.

The short of it is that when self-concept is not clear, people tend to struggle with self-control. Self-concept clarity means having self-related beliefs that are not clear, consistent, or stable. Sort of like not being sure about who you are or changing your self-views often. If you gain more certainty about yourself, maybe having self-control can be easier.

Looking for someone to video chat with me and sit through the process of making a Youtube/Tik Tok/IG channel and make content. I would like to video chat and sit through each step learning and watching youtube videos. Also grow my social media presence on other platforms and build a networking group.

It's basically a accountability partner,so i can be focused and consistent daily with the growing process, of a online presence and network circle of like minded people.I am available from Tuesday-Friday and would like to make this a 2hr a day to 4hr process. We can chat/talk, but would like to video chat with whatapp/Telegram if possible. I also would like someone willing to learn UX, Graphic Design, and A.I tools for free to learn the process of using tools better learn the platform.

For a long time, I struggled to get things done.

I was a chronic procrastinator. This behavior impacted my life in many ways. My grades, relationships, and even my mental health suffered a lot.

Luckily, I overcame this problem with a combination of 3 things. Whenever I had these 3 things, it was almost impossible to procrastinate.

I think this strategy can help some of you as well, so I want to share it here.

Here are the 3 things you need:

​

1. A deadline.
2. An accountability partner.
3. A painful consequence of not doing the thing.

​

I would tell a friend something like this:

"If I don't go the gym at least 3 times this week, I will go everywhere by bike for the rest of the month. Please hold me accountable."

If you want to make it even more effective, you can set up a contract between yourself and your accountability partner that both of you sign.

We tend to procrastinate because of negative emotions around a task. We believe the task will be painful in some way. So we avoid it.

The strategy I just described works so well because it leverages urgency, social pressure, and your aversion to the consequences to make procrastination more painful than doing the thing.

So you take action.

I hope this strategy helps. You got this.

​

P.S. If you want to learn more about how to overcome procrastination and become more productive, check out this free newsletter.

​

​

Step 1: Know Your Endgame - Think about what you want to achieve. It could be anything from getting fit, improving at work, or learning a new skill. Understand why this goal matters to you because that 'why' is going to keep you going when things get tough.

​

Step 2: Break It Down - Big goals can be overwhelming. The key is to chop them up into smaller tasks that feel more doable. Want to get fit? Start with committing to a 10-minute workout each day. Want to write a book? Write a page a day, not a chapter.

​

Step 3: Find Your Rhythm - Discipline isn't about going full throttle all the time; it's about finding a pace you can sustain. Set challenges that push you a bit but are still achievable. It's better to consistently hit small targets than to burn out trying to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

​

Step 4: Keep a Log - Write down what you're doing and track your progress. It's amazing how motivating it can be to see how far you've come. Plus, it helps you catch patterns and figure out what works best for you.

​

Step 5: Make It Fun - If you dread doing something, it's going to be a hundred times harder to stay disciplined. So, find ways to make your tasks more enjoyable. Study with friends, turn your workouts into a dance party, or reward yourself after a solid week of sticking to your plan.

My Favorite Discipline Resource

sSelf Development Snack Newsletter: https://selfdevelopmentsnack.beehiiv.com/subscribeChris Willx Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisWillxMatt Graham: https://www.youtube.com/@notmattgrahamMel Robbins: https://www.youtube.com/@melrobbins

We are hardwired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. But what if I told you that this approach yields poor results, as it deprives you of something critical. It deprives you of feeling truly alive. That is due to the Paradox of Pain Avoidance. So how does this work?

If you consistently try to avoid physical and mental discomfort and pain, you will feel more pain in life. Physically painful stimuli, for example, regular exercise, have been demonstrated to lower levels of pain, including chronic pain. This happens through repeated activation of the endogenous opioid system. Dynorphins are released by your exposure to discomfort and pain, and they sensitize your opioid systems with endorphins, your natural painkillers.

Moreover, painful hormetic experiences can bring pleasure, by raising dopamine levels for hours, without being followed by subsequent dopamine crashes. The best way to raise your happiness, energy, and motivation is by using such approaches, by paying for these elevated levels of dopamine upfront.

Finally, it has been demonstrated, that an effort to eliminate pain from life, for example by chronic use of painkillers, not only could lead to tolerance to those painkillers, but also, in extreme cases, to conditions like opioid-induced analgesia, increased sensitivity to pain. So avoidance of pain, leads to more pain, while embracing pain, can lead to more pleasure. That’s why it is extremely valuable to develop a love for struggle, challenge, and discomfort.

This was just a short summary of how the Paradox of Pain Avoidance works. If you want to learn more, check out this content here.

And finally, I would highly recommend learning about its twin effect – The Paradox of Pleasure. You can check it out here, or read about it here

References:

Wise RA, Robble MA. Dopamine and Addiction. Annu Rev Psychol. 2020 Jan 4;71:79-106. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103337. PMID: 31905114.

Lima LV, Abner TSS, Sluka KA. Does exercise increase or decrease pain? Central mechanisms underlying these two phenomena. J Physiol. 2017 Jul 1;595(13):4141-4150. doi: 10.1113/JP273355. Epub 2017 May 26. PMID: 28369946; PMCID: PMC5491894.

Knoll AT, Carlezon WA Jr. Dynorphin, stress, and depression. Brain Res. 2010 Feb 16;1314:56-73. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.09.074. Epub 2009 Sep 24. PMID: 19782055; PMCID: PMC2819644.

Corder G, Castro DC, Bruchas MR, Scherrer G. Endogenous and Exogenous Opioids in Pain. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2018 Jul 8;41:453-473. doi: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-080317-061522. Epub 2018 May 31. PMID: 29852083; PMCID: PMC6428583.

Srámek P, Simecková M, Janský L, Savlíková J, Vybíral S. Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2000 Mar;81(5):436-42. doi: 10.1007/s004210050065. PMID: 10751106.

Lembke, A. Dopamine nation: finding balance in the age of indulgence. 2021. [New York, New York], Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Easter, M. The comfort crisis: embrace discomfort to reclaim your wild, happy, healthy self. 2021. New York: Rodale Books.

Lieberman, DZ, Long, ME. The Molecule of More : How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love Sex and Creativity-And Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race. 2018. Dallas TX: BenBella Books.

Liu C, Goel P, Kaeser PS. Spatial and temporal scales of dopamine transmission. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2021 Jun;22(6):345-358. doi: 10.1038/s41583-021-00455-7. Epub 2021 Apr 9. PMID: 33837376; PMCID: PMC8220193.

Here's a method that is often overlooked that helps me keep my habits and discipline in check. We're all not perfect and we live busy lives. With these busy lives sometimes comes missing a day of our well-intentioned routines. It's easy to fall into the trap of "well, I already missed yesterday, so what's one more day?" But that's where the Two-Day Rule has been a game-changer for me.
The Two-Day Rule is simple: never miss your habit twice. Life happens, and missing a day is not the end of the world, but the key is to not let it spill into the next day. This approach has helped me maintain consistency in my routines, from exercise to learning new skills, without the guilt that often comes with a streak lost.

Here's how I do it. The first thing I do is bullet journal on a daily basis. I pint point 4-5 of the most important tasks of my day....At the end of the day, I'll review my journal. If I don't get every task done I'll put an arrow in the box... that means it has to go over to the next page.

The tasks that I happen to miss will be first on my list the following day with an asterisk added. This means I missed it the day before and it's a high priority task.

Hope this helps.

My favorite Discipline Resources
Self Development Snack Newsletter: https://selfdevelopmentsnack.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Chris Willx Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisWillx
Matt Graham: https://www.youtube.com/@notmattgraham
Mel Robbins: https://www.youtube.com/@melrobbins

​

Happy new year everyone! 🚀

Hi, I’m Ryan 👋🏼 I am passionate about lifestyle gamification 🎮 and I am obsesssssssss with learning things that can help me live a happy and fulfilling life.

Did you know that around 80% of people fail to keep their New Year's resolutions by February.

People struggle to stick to their new habits.

Let’s change that 💥

❌ Why Resolutions Fail:

1. Identity Crisis: Uncover the "why" behind your goals. It's not about generic aims; it's about becoming someone you admire. Example: Ditch the "healthy" reason for quitting alcohol; focus on being a good parent
2. Consistency Struggles: Three macro reasons why people fail to stay consistent: people are overwhelmed and uncomfortable; people are not setting goals properly; people don’t have a daily action and value system

✅ Two Steps to Make 2024 Your Best Year:

1. Define Your Identity: Study those you admire, list their values, and craft your identity
2. Turn abstract identities into concrete daily actions: Focus on quarterly resets, not yearly goals
   1. List out all the areas in life that matter to you
   2. For each area in life, list out 1 - 3 OUTCOME / OUTPUT goals that align with your identity
   3. For each outcome / output goal, set 2 things: a) checkpoints and b) input goals
   4. Organise all your input goals into weekly, monthly, and quarterly
   5. Take out your calendar and map out all the daily and weekly input goals
   6. Monitor your checkpoints at the end of each week to see if you are on track or not. If not, what changes should you make next week to get back on track
   7. Repeat step 1 - 6

Here’s one of my goals for Q1 2024:
Area: Character Building
One of the outcome / output goals: Read 15 non-fiction books
Checkpoint(s): Read around 1 - 2 non-fiction books per week
Input goal(s): Read an hour per day
Calendar view: I read 5:30am - 6:30am everyday. If this doesn’t happen, I will shift the reading block to another time in the day
Weekly reflection: How many books have I read this week? Any changes for next week?

You can find more information at this week’s newsletter: https://ryanocm.substack.com/p/098-i-have-read-100-productivity

Happy learning,

Ryan

Let me tell you something that has helped me tremendously. Process goals > outcome goals

Focusing on process goals, as opposed to outcome goals, actually helps build discipline for a few reasons. Process goals are all about the steps you take to reach an outcome, like committing to a daily exercise routine rather than just aiming to lose weight.

Firstly, they keep you grounded in the present. By concentrating on the daily or weekly actions, you’re constantly engaged in the habit of doing, which naturally strengthens your discipline. It’s less about waiting for a future result and more about what you can do right now.

The next reason process goals are better is because process goals are usually within your control. You can’t always control the outcome, but you can control your actions. This makes it easier to stay consistent and less discouraged by factors outside your control.

Lastly focusing on the process encourages continuous improvement and learning. Instead of being fixated on a single result, you’re adapting and refining your methods, which is a core aspect of discipline. Over time, this focus on the process leads to better overall performance and the achievement of long-term objectives.

Discipline Resources

Self Development Snack Newsletter: https://selfdevelopmentsnack.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Chris Willx Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisWillx

Matt Graham: https://www.youtube.com/@notmattgraham

Mel Robbins: https://www.youtube.com/@melrobbins