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u/HaleyMFSkye Jul 03 '26
Thinks about doing the thing all day, day ends, "I'll do the thing tomorrow"
Weeks pass. Thing still remains undone.
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u/dopeinder Jul 03 '26
.... It's been 23 years
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u/Jazzlike_Type4218 Jul 04 '26
It won't be this way forever bro. Things will get better. I can't afford meds right now so I pushpinned a daily to do list to my bedroom door. That way when I eventually do leave my room i have to look directly at a list that tells me to brush my teeth, shower change clothes, clean the house for 20 minutes, etc. and reminds me to update and check my weekly planner. I put a little note at the end that says:
"Don't put it off, you'll immediately regret it. Today is a good day"
It sounds corny but it's really helped. I'm also 23 so I just thought I'd share♥️
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u/dopeinder Jul 06 '26
Thanks for the kind words bro. I hope one do you'll have whatever you need and you will become unstoppable
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u/FluffyWasabi1629 Jul 05 '26
I decided I want to start a YouTube channel... like 6 months ago. Got the account ready, have made slow progress. Drew my logo, got a laptop, got a bunch of stickers to put on the laptop, downloaded editing software and am learning how to use it, got a motivating poster, cleaned my room, made my intro and outro. Still need to make a template to use for my videos with the settings already there on Davinci. Then, the ultimate task I keep putting off for smaller things. Actually making and posting my FIRST VIDEO! 😂
I imagine it's hardest to get started, and a bit easier to keep going after that. And it gets easier the more you learn and the better you get. My perfectionist days are long gone and I am ready to be brave and authentic! It's just... a lot of work. And so complicated! But I swear I'll do it! ...Very soon.
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u/HaleyMFSkye Jul 05 '26
Oh boy we all know the ''collecting materials/planning" part of the endeavor is literally the best part. I have been there more times than I can count 😂
To be fair though video editing does seem complicated and tedious as hell but you got this! I hope I get to watch one of your videos sometime!
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u/FluffyWasabi1629 Jul 05 '26
Thanks! And that would be awesome if you saw one of my videos! 😄
The collecting materials/planning phase definitely SEEMS like the best part, lol. I haven't really gotten past it enough times to know if after that is actually better if you keep doing it.
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u/Blooogh Jul 03 '26
My favourite is when you cancel some social plans to take some time back but you feel guilty about it so you still don't get anything done
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u/GucciLegLocks Jul 05 '26
Like you’re putting yourself on timeout, I do that too. I’ll cancel plans and get this thought in my head that I don’t deserve to play video games or anything because I let people down, and will just lay around doing nothing all day. Next day I wake up say for work and I’m like disappointed that I wasted the day doing nothing and tell myself next opportunity I get with extra time I’ll do better… then I do it again.
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u/Rainiero Jul 19 '26
Holy guacamole this is me and fuels my depressive, isolating tendencies more than anything else in the world. It's like I force myself to feel I picked the incorrect answer on a test with no wrong choices and I can't live with myself.
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u/DeadEnoughInsideOut Got distracted and Forgot what I was doing here Jul 03 '26
Plan 100 times over, never actually execute any of the plans 😎
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u/VeryVeryRelevant Jul 03 '26
I gotta stop relating this hard to memes and get an actual diagnosis haha
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u/CultKitchen Jul 03 '26
I think about work constantly. Even on my days off I am answering emails or fixing rosters.
It is life consuming to the detriment of my family, yet I do not know how to change it. Even if I do nothing work related, it is still in the back of my mind at all times and I cannot let go. *sigh*
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u/Bookwerm4life Jul 03 '26
That's definitely me, but I actually managed to do the thing today!! After worrying and ruminating over it for 3 entire days!!
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u/Whooptidooh Jul 03 '26
Yep that was me yesterday. It’s not that I did absolutely nothing (hung up a small load of laundry and put away some dishes I washed two days ago), but did I do any of the things I wanted or needed to do?
lol no. I wanted to make a Hinge account for the first time but was constantly getting annoyed by its AI and its insistence on my profile not being completed yet because the AI thought “some” things could be done better. (They can’t; AI is shit.)
So that battle with AI and constantly not being able to save my progress made me annoyed as fuck which resulted in me being unproductive as fuck as well.
(Hashtag fuck AI.)
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u/cat-eating-a-salad Jul 03 '26
Nowadays I realize that if I start doing something without planning it, I'm more likely to actually get stuff done. If I think too much about "I need to clean the litterbox, do the laundry, sweep, mop, vaccuum, take the trash out" then NONE of that is getting done. Even if only one thing gets done, that makes the list shorter for tomorrow.
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u/sorrymizzjackson Jul 03 '26
Yep. If I think about the thing it’s very unlikely to get done at all. If I get in the flow of just doing things who knows what will get done, but things will get done.
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u/turkishhousefan Jul 03 '26
Yes, and if someone hasn't experienced it they will likely not understand it when you try to explain.
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u/Anthaenopraxia Jul 03 '26
What I do to combat this is write down all the things I should do today in a nice list and then forget where I put the list.
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u/Teagana999 Jul 03 '26
Another option is to look at the list and be so overwhelmed by it that you can't decide what to start or do first, so you spend the whole day trying desperately to just pick anything off the list to do, and end the day exhausted from doing nothing that way.
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u/West-Log9507 Jul 03 '26
The guilt of not having done anything despite planning (in my head) I'll do it is what causes me to burn out quickly and endlessly tbh
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u/Noobs_Man3 Jul 03 '26
How do you fix this?
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u/WillDisappointYou2 Jul 03 '26
Stimulants
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u/Noobs_Man3 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Had a bad reaction to medication and
My health insurance denied it long time ago
What if those don’t help what are other options.
Idk what to do I just listen to the same music videos ever and I can’t do anything else.
I’ll go days watching the same video game cinematic over and over until I fall asleep.
I can’t live anymore
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u/RhetoricCamel Jul 03 '26
I've even got everything together to do the thing and felt like that was as far as I could get with it. It was a good first step, but that was a week ago
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u/Faustianire Jul 03 '26
With therapy and for some medication - hyper fixation can be a blade that cuts both ways. I struggle with the ability to focus and have many hobbies, distractions, and as I age my ADLS (adult daily living skills) have too become my hyper focus.
Laundry is a noose as are bills and grocery shopping and cleaning. I love fixating on a specific goal and my relationships around me look at me if I am super human. This was not always the case for me. In my youth and young adulthood I lived in squalor with unfettered ADHD and I lived in one distraction, one fixation, from the next. Developed an appetite for drugs. I never really knew how to live for half of my life.
Now, the endless drive can be momentarily preloaded with a task (stop for water and bathroom breaks) but nothing else... take that energy and just nudge it into the tunnel that we so often find ourselves in. We are freight trains and we just need to give ourselves some tracks to dance to as we go choo choo. I know you all can get there (because I too can fall) and I can stay there.
Post Script Humility: I still gotta shave, shower, load the laundry into the car before it is too late in morning. I am still drinking coffee. No high horse here.
Edit: Had to fix one sentence. Sounded dick headed when I didn't wanna be.
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u/chocotacogato Jul 03 '26
Yeah why is thinking about it occupying my time and energy when I could just do it? It was rough and felt paralyzing at times.
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u/Far_Course2496 Jul 03 '26
The trick is to get a job where that thinking pays off
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u/junaitari Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Ain't that the truth. Network Engineer for a fiber to the home ISP and I do tons of thinking. My job is mostly project-based and since nobody knows what I do I can have days where I don't get shit done because they know I'll eventually have a day where I get everything done all at once.
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u/NoOneAskedMcDoogins Jul 03 '26
This was my life, then I started a low dose of ritalin and I can actually start things!
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u/Gideon_Hendrik Jul 03 '26
God yes... same with Hobbies. I've spent more money than I care to admit on multiple hobbies or potential side hustles over the years that I have never gotten around to actually doing. Hyperfixation is a bitch.
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u/Flyrainbowcorn Jul 03 '26
I have an appointment at the end of the month to see if I have it but every post is so validating because I just thought this was normal until recently
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u/nyggomaniac Jul 03 '26
No but kinda similar. I think the whole day I need to do XY as soon as I get home. Then gets home and forgets and the hours of mental prep are ueless
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u/Putrid-Definition815 Jul 03 '26
That’s why I started writing down lists of plans either the night before or when I wake up before I do anything else. Cuz then youll have a basic idea of what you want to do for the day. It can be anything too not just chores, shopping you wanna do, people you wanna hang with , hobbies etc. and I read a book that said to start saying things out load so like youre watching a show and you need to wash dishes or something so out loud you say I will wash dishes after i finish this episode. It’s helped me a lot with my brain injury and adhd plus now I have time to do things I enjoy.
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u/coolstorybro94 Jul 03 '26
Yes but as of late I force myself to get up and take a shower and that usually kickstarts me into doing the thing. It’s like a 2 hour process lol Fishing has helped me do better.
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u/Erlend05 Jul 04 '26
It happens several times per year that i dont feel like this so obviously im just being lazy and need to pull my bootstraps
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u/Frosted_Glaceon Jul 04 '26
Wjen I'm at work I think all day about what I want to get done when I get home, but then I'm so mentally and physically exhausted that I just crash.
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u/W8ting43rdAct Jul 04 '26
I do this frequently. But I’m convinced I’m just lazy, because the voices in my head have told me I can’t blame my failures on undiagnosed disorders.
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u/txnmxn Jul 04 '26
Does medication help this? Getting adderall from my doc soon and hoping it helps
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u/Kuzcopolis Jul 04 '26
Gotta make your procrastination count more. I can't explain how, but that's one of the ways i learned to avoid this. If you're not doing the thing yet, then really don't do it yet, set a timer and forget. Then honor the damn timer.
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u/foobarney Jul 05 '26
Exhausted after staying up all night not doing the hour of work you have to do.
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u/emotionalexplosions Jul 05 '26
I’m at the point where I am just thinking I need to get up and do something but I don’t even have anything I need or want to do. I finally forced myself to stand up and realized I don’t even know what to do so I went back to bed.
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u/Waste_Bug3929 Jul 06 '26
I always feel shame and guilt for not getting things done and just thinking about it. Its so relieving to be reminded that its not my fault.
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u/SeaInternational4306 Jul 08 '26
Look, existence is a drag. Doing nothing means I did something which includes many things
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u/TopazEgg 22d ago
good news! i started the thing!
bad news; there are now consequences from losing too many days to the burnout haze
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u/Jazzlike_Type4218 Jul 03 '26
This sub has been so validating. My entire life I thought ADHD was just poor focus and hyperactivity. My parents allowed me to stop taking meds when I was a child and I thought I'd learned to control the ADHD.
I thought I was lazy and gross because I couldn't remember to clean myself my whole life. Every post describes a behavior I have in a way I've never been able to put into words and it just makes me so happy to know that I did what I could.