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u/RandomGaMeRj14 1d ago
I am in this post and this is my current struggle, wanting a form to daily life but every system I make falling down like a house of cards.
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u/Mcreesus 1d ago
You gotta keep plugging it in everyday. It’s going to suck and feel useless until u do it so many times u do it on auto pilot
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u/RandomGaMeRj14 1d ago
I did, multiple times, but 1 day of disturbance or some thing that brekas it, and I am out of the loop, completely. 1 day I accidentally went late night coz binged too much (yes, I have protocols to prevent it, but somedays nothing works, and yes, I am prescribed meds but can't have them now coz me stupid) and then wake up late and whole system overflows. 1 day I have to go soemwhere, can't follow the format, and boom, it is end of the line....
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u/Mcreesus 1d ago
Last fall I had to start taking blood pressure meds. I need a stint in my right kidney. In general taking blood pressure meds should be at the same time every day. I’ve got one I take three times a day, two I take once. Then I throw a vitamin in the mix for fun. I have fucked up this shit in every way possible. One morning I forgot altogether. Got about 30 min into my commute before I realized my error. Another morning I had my slippers on. It’s completely fucked my whole deal up, but I just keep pushing. And sucking. And sucking. It never stops, but I think that’s the point. Our brains aren’t wired for a regimented life on a schedule.
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u/RandomGaMeRj14 1d ago
It really sucks, to the point that I just physically stop doing it. I got so tired of studying that I could not even read a paragraph without yawning. At present I am so sucked out of making a routine that I am just doomscrolling and binging movies. It just really fucking sucks. I have read at many places that consistency and regularity ain't our suit, but, my parents raised me teaching that only the consistent human being who does the same things daily and walks on the safe path can achieve anything, and now brain just can't accept the opposite, so it either hyper plans for proper routine, or just shuts down and does stuff it deems safe, passive stuff like binging and all. I have so many, I mean so many plans in my head, but they are all, like always, getting buried. It fucking sucks.
Thanks for replying mate, I got a place to blow off some steam that had been accumulating.
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u/IcyTransportation961 1d ago
Not sure auto pilot will ever happen for me, nearly 40. Always have to just make myself do it
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u/Gimetulkathmir 22h ago
Here's what is (so far) working for me. I have basically the same routine, but I change it up. For example, for one week I'll do the dishes first thing when I wake up. The next week, I do them after lunch. Another week and I'll do them every other day instead of every day.
Things are getting done, I get the dopamine hit of getting stuff done, but it's not in such a predictable pattern that I get bored or annoyed.
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u/Eusocial_sloth3 1d ago
A week? My longest record is 3 days.
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u/greenearrow 1d ago
I did six months of guitar lessons and was actually practicing regularly. And then I didn’t.
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u/PhoenixDwnElixir 1d ago
Ask me how high my Duolingo streak was!
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u/Just-Charge-3428 11h ago
How long? And what language?
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u/PhoenixDwnElixir 11h ago
I once had a 400 day streak, first in spanish, then korean! Not sure how much I retained though 🤪
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1d ago
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u/IcyTransportation961 1d ago
Are lift numbers going up though?
Are you taking enough rest time?
Diets going to impact look and feel a whole lot more typically
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1d ago
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u/ThePhantomHorseman 1d ago
Wow, 3 legs days week how's that working I'm curious? I usually do push day ,leg day, pull day, glute day, and a optional touch-up day
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1d ago
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u/ThePhantomHorseman 1d ago
Your workout sounds brutal. Here is my workout. I run a 5-day machine split with a 2-week alternating periodization so my central nervous system actually has time to recover. Periodization Setup:
Week A (Volume & Joint Relief): Lighter weight, 12–15 reps, 60–90 seconds rest.
Week B (Strength & Tension): Heavier weight, 6–8 reps, 2–3 minutes rest (8–10 reps for arms/shoulders).
The Weekly Split:
Day 1: Upper Body Push (Machine Chest Press, Machine Shoulder Press, Pec Deck Fly, Cable Triceps Pushdown)
Day 2: Lower Body Power (Leg Press Machine, Seated Leg Curl, Seated Calf Raise, Ab Crunch Machine)
Day 3: Upper Body Pull (Lat Pulldown, Seated Cable Row, Reverse Pec Fly, Cable Bicep Curl)
Day 4: Lower Body Glute & Core Focus (Glute Drive/Hip Thrusts, Hip Abductor Machine, Vertical Knee Raises, 45° Back Extensions, Standing Ab Twists)
Day 5: Upper Body Touch-Up (Standing Cable Incline Press, Underhand Lat Pulldown, Machine Lateral Raise)
Day 6: Active Recovery (30–45 minutes of relaxed swimming)
Day 7: Deep Rest (No lifting or intense cardio)
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u/AiringOGrievances 16h ago
3 leg days is killing your recovery. I’d swap and try 2 leg days and 3 upper body days.
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u/paegus 20h ago
Abandoning before you even started it because you already sucked all potential dopamine out of it in the "imagining how nice it would be to do" phase.
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u/Hidden_Explorer 8h ago
This! I hate how much I love myself making my weekly plans lying on bed at 2:37 at night, where the whole plan depends on me waking up at 08:00 in the morning!
Hmmm…
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u/nameless-manager 1d ago
I gave up on a life routine. Instead I have a collection of subroutines. That way I don't have to remember everything at once. If I'm in the car, I don't need to think about the laundry or dishes subroutines. If I'm in the bedroom and see the laundry basket getting full I start to load the laundry subroutine which could take from 1 minutes to a few days to actually execute.
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u/tehweave 1d ago
I also fall into this problem from time to time:
- Make big mistake at work
- Get chewed out by boss for making the same mistake again
- Next several days I am 100% on it. Every procedure followed exactly. No mistakes. No problems. Stressed TF out, but a model employee.
- Weeks pass
- Start relaxing on rules due to boredom
- Small mistakes happen, but nothing world shattering
- Repeat step 1
I hate that I'm like this. I worry it will get me fired one day.
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u/MaximusGladius24 23h ago
I cannot emphasize enough on how much I relate to this. This same cycle has been repeating for almost 2 years now! My boss got fed up of me and sent me an official warning letter few weeks back. I don’t blame him
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u/uberfission 5h ago
I'm closer to
Make big mistake
Fix big mistake, vow not to make mistakes again
Weeks go by, relax
Make another big mistake
Boss realizes I made first big mistake
Discovered I made another big mistake such that it looks like a pattern
Get chewed out for both
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u/Unholy_mess169 1d ago
I made my life routine into an aesthetic knick knack and I actully follow it better than any other lists or planners.
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u/pwillia7 1d ago
Say more
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u/Unholy_mess169 1d ago
I got a big antiquy frame from salvation army and scrapbook paper and spent a weekend writing my skincare routine in glitter pen cursive and it takes up 1/4 of my sink/vanity but I've been brushing my teeth and moisturizing regularly for a few months because I like looking at it.
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u/Fooknotsees 1d ago
Telling us isn't going to ruin it for you? I always find that I can keep a new healthy routine right up until I feel comfortable enough to talk about it like it's a real permanent part of my life and then my brain is like "no that's boring we've already finished that side quest and gotten the reward of talking about it" 🙄
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u/Unholy_mess169 18h ago
Not really, its an ongoing project (yes i am procrastinating it). I have frames and more paper for a smaller sub list that has a sticky note for a place holder for now. I want to make more for a morning routine, but I am stugging on where to put them so I see them often enough to work. I said in another comment the first one really works because I pace back forth past it every morning and night.
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u/pwillia7 1d ago
I love that -- I overengineer my own todo apps and change all the time for similar reasons lol
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u/Unholy_mess169 1d ago edited 13h ago
Happy cake day
Will qualify it with i do pace and back past the sink where it sits atleasta few times morning and night so I keep seeing it.
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u/Draco-REX 1d ago
I wish. I don't attempt notes because my brain turns it into background noise in less than a day.
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u/post_break 1d ago
The dopamine hit of thinking about the routine, planning it out, getting the gear, all for it to just fall apart. I hate this cycle so much.
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u/Just-Charge-3428 11h ago
Yes! But then I get burned out making and formatting the plan in Excel. Bold here? Underline here? Add colors? Rearrange the the thing? Use outline? Add Excel VBA automation?
Aahh, crap, I'll just go take a nap.
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u/Comfortable-Maybe183 1d ago
That “again” at the end sure hits home.
🫤
Been doing this long enough I see the cycles. Nothing sticks. It’s a motivation killer.
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u/bigredgwj 1d ago
Just created a new nightly routine like cleaning up dishes, picking up glasses throughout house, dealing with recycling, and so on.
Night 1: this is amazing! I’m getting my life together
Night 2: eh. Doing most is fine.
Tonight, night 3: combination of annoyance for coming up with this and shame for not wanting to do it anymore.
Repeat the cycle in a week
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u/No_Cut5297 1d ago
I made it two weeks, everybody clap (please, pretty please, it's been a month since I quit and I need the dopamine).
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u/MoonCoin1660 18h ago
I've managed to stick to a "routine" for over a year now, by paring it down to more like the skeleton of a routine - "scaffolding" my daily activities, if you like. Coffee and journaling first thing, then a one hour activity block after breakfast, where I have to get all my chores done. One day it might be laundry and dishes, another day it might be picking up a parcel or grocery shopping or whatever. Then I get to relax with my projects or hobbies. So by now my brain knows "we only have this one hour, get this done NOW!!" So the activities change from day to day, but the structure doesn't. If you have a job, you might say it's the hour before or after dinner, and of course some may need more or less than one hour. For me, it's a nice balance between structure and variation.
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u/SaltManagement42 1d ago
It's like dieting. A reasonable diet you'll actually follow is better than a great diet you can't keep up and will inevitably start cheating on.
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u/Just-Charge-3428 11h ago
I once followed a diet for a whole year. I lost about 35 pounds and kept it off. Did a lot of exercising, was able to run 10+ miles. Don't remember why I fell off the wagon.
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u/RithmFluffderg 1d ago
For me the loop goes
-Creating a new life routine for myself
-Dopamine machine go brrrrrrr
-Motivation gone
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u/Just-Charge-3428 11h ago
Same. Especially at the start of a new year. Yeah, sure, I'll read 4 books this year (actual paper books). Yeah, no. All it takes is one crappy, distracted day, and boom. I am out.
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u/PatienceSpecial5289 1d ago
Man, I keep seeing posts like this and I’m consistently reminded that I am not alone with this affliction lol
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u/chubbycatchaser 17h ago edited 16h ago
For an extra miserable time, combine this with the autistic need for routine 🫠
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u/TalkAutomatic8225 1d ago
I made an app to track my stuff 200+ hours. Used it for a week. Good times.
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u/Adamsandla 1d ago
Girl, after a week? I sit down, make a routine and then.. nothing. Or I abandon it. 😬
I'll be honest, I even procrastinate making the routine/list.
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u/Oxenthre_19 1d ago
Im studying for my licensure exam and this exactly what ive been doing for the last 3 months
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u/RefrigeratorNo1160 1d ago
The part where you forget about it entirely for months after abandoning it is what gets me
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u/ginger_minge 1d ago
I've done so many different kinds of jobs, in my career and then just all kinds of random stuff. Once I master everything at a place, it's only a matter of time before I quit. I've even left a job without having another lined up (I wasn't in any place to do that financially, but the monotony was just so painful).
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u/Not_Smuggle 1d ago
Step 4: Wait a few months and repeat the entire cycle with a brand new notebook or app, fully convinced that this time it will stick.
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u/Chunkycheesesteak 1d ago
Yes me with money, cleaning around the house, deciding what to cook thru the week n etc.. Now I'm just like fuck it, I'ma just wing it with these things. And I've felt better since that decision.
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u/Thick-Worker-4475 1d ago
I don’t fall apart I usually end up derailed from friends and family thinking the sudden change means something bad. 🤦🏻♂️
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u/Bearspoole 1d ago
Or be like me. Just literally forget about it one day. One day you’ll just stop doing it because it’s not in your brain anymore
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u/Thepuppeteer777777 19h ago
I absolutely hate this about adhd. It's gotten to the point where I hardly try anymore because I keep giving up on shit and I don't know how to change this vicious loop
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u/PaymentPotential7653 11h ago
Last year i tried to do challenges each month that would seriously shake up my routine (no sugar, exercise daily etc), and as soon as i got over the initial challenge of how do I do this, and i saw myself succeeding and it becoming a routine (2 weeks tops), thats when i lost interest and started to find loopholes. Like once i realised i literally was capable of doing it, the question/challenge wasn't there and i pretty much dropped it at that point.
Would love to know how to steadily achieve a goal even if it's a bit boring because it's literally ruining my life that I can't.
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u/deciduououoeye 1d ago
Last July 2026, I started tracking my expenses to know where my money went because I keep forgetting if I have some money. I finished the whole July, but after a week in August, I just lacked motivation to monitor it. Until today, I am still planning to continue it, but never had the chance to start it again 😂
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u/elegantbrew 1d ago
Knowing this will happen doesn’t help! I have a half-finished live-edge pedalboard and custom speaker cab in progress going on a year.
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u/RentIsThePoint 23h ago
Every single night I get a handle on my life. I know exactly what I need to do to improve myself and my lot in life. Then morning comes.
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u/purplereuben 18h ago
Me and exercise.
No I can't just 'make it a habit'. No, I do not get a dopamine hit from exercise that makes it doable long term.
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u/Foreign-Awareness-72 9h ago
Hah! I feel this way about keyboards apparently! I have way too many because I get bored with them and want to change up the routine.
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u/Point-Express 2h ago
This feeling is why New Years is my favorite holiday. I don't make resolutions anymore, but somehow that feeling of being renewed and all the burdens of the previous year still feel like they've been lifted and everything will be better forever, and I don't even have to do the bullshit work of making a fake routine
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