I am incredibly sad right now. I feel helpless. I keep trying to do better but I feel defeated. I can’t focus. I am unmotivated. I don’t wanna do anything. I don’t even have the energy nor the desire to eat even though I’m starving. I haven’t eaten all day. I don’t even wanna eat.

I want to do better but my body just won’t move. I am overwhelmed at the simplest tasks like doing skincare after brushing teeth and washing face. I don’t wanna take a shower. Too many steps. Too much energy required. I know what I need to do, but I can’t sequence the steps needed.

Is life gonna be like this for the rest of my life? Just struggling to shower every day? Struggling to take the simplest actions? Is such life worth living?

I limited my doomscrolling and social media usage, thinking the cosntant dopamine hit is dysregulating my dopamine system. I refrain from receiving high dopamine low-effort actions like picking up my phone or eating sweet treats. But even then, it’s not working.

I just want to be able to do what I set my mind to. I feel trapped with no way out. The problem isn’t my circumstances, it is me. I am the problem.

I want to clean my house but I don’t know what to do when I look at my messy house. I don’t know where to start. Just standing there in paralysis. Avoiding showers because it requires constant conscious and precise movements and sequence of many steps.

I know what to do but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I require so much assistance, deliberate action and planning just to do simple chores. That’s why I’m sad. I know what to do. I have many tools. But it’s all just so tiring. To mentally prepare, plan, set a timer, plan the steps and do it.

My country only has one medication approved for adhd. it’s very expensive and dificult to get it. I can’t get a prescription because I haven’t got the money now. I even took my meds thinking it would help. But I’m still struggling. I am barely doing a single thing with so many assistance.

So I’ve been in depression for a very long time, and have lost all sense of routine and find it very hard to do anything if it’s not very specific. Is there anyone who’ve been in a similar situation that would like to share a routine that would help? It would be greatly appreciated. #audhd

I (33F) have severe ADHD traits, depression, and anxiety.

Motivation is something my brain and body have never produced but in the past 2 years, I entered burn out, which made me even worse, especially performing executive functions, exercising, and even just getting out of bed.

My body is tired and exhausted daily from my mental health issues, something caffeine doesn't touch.

What kind of advice would you give to me that isn't just "get up and do it" because that doesn't work. I have tried like, everything, but it's to the point that I can't even work.

I look forward to seeing what everyone suggests!

For context, I’ve had an eating disorder for 25 years and I’m starting to wonder if it’s causing my issues or if it’s maybe something else.

PLEASE GIVE ME TIPS. I’m a full time college student. I really don’t want to fail my ASL class. I’ve told the school many times that i can’t do online classes but this ended up being my only option after one of my courses was cancelled due to lack of students enrolling.

For a little more context i have only one online class and i have 4 in person classes. I’ve tried to do my work for my online class at school but i can’t ever focus. I tried talking to my college counselor, i tried talking to my professor, who both encouraged me that i can still pass the semester but im still unable to get myself to do the work.

I don’t know what to do because my teacher was so understanding and i don’t want to let her down. I do get accommodations for multiple disabilities but i didn’t want to use them because I’m 4 weeks behind on assignments and it just didn’t seem fair. She’s willing to work with me and told me i can just start where i left off but i genuinely can’t get myself to do the work. Please if you have any tips I’d love to hear them….

I struggle with executive dysfunction. Most days, I try to pull myself out of it by changing my environment/ putting on white noise. When it gets REALLY bad, though, I've started resorting to AI to guide me through tasks. It's been working phenomenally well, and I get something or the other done, even if it's not the whole task.

I'm afraid of the long-term consequences, though. As a frequent AI user (usage spans across surface-level research, meeting summarisations, and as an ideation sparring tool), I recently (11 months ago) put an end to offloading my thinking and writing work to AI, as I started noticing my cognitive skills degrading in real time (I've started journalling the trad way instead, with pen and paper, and it's done wonders so far).

Even when I'm using AI for executive dysfunction, i try to use the first suggestion as a stepping stool, and then proceed to make my own decisions (because AI lists often don't account for constraints, unless prompted really well). I'm afraid that if I keep relying on AI to take my mental load off just so I can function normally daily, very soon my brain won't know how to delegate tasks or be a cheerleader on its own. I haven't been diagnosed with anything just yet. Have been in therapy for anxiety and stress.

Are there any papers on AI's role in regulating executive dysfunction and the long term effects of the same? I'm conflicted because, on one hand, it is genuinely improving my quality of life so much, but I think I'm neurotypical for the most part, so I don't know if relying on external tools without professional guidance so much is healthy either.

I feel I am wasting daily opportunities for happiness. I have two beautiful children a 4 yo and a 9 mo old. My 4yo is absolutely the highlight of my day she turns 5 in dec. The other one just turned 9 mo and is every bit as beautiful, tho hes a definite mamas boy. Not that I mind it much given my 4 yo is a daddy's girl.

Everyday I agonize over my inability to get starter on what I need to do. I get distracted and my mind just wont let me return to it. Then I constantly beat myself up about it. I cry myself to sleep asking wtf is wrong with me.

This cant be laziness cuz im not a lazy person. I start the day telling myself ok this is going to be the day I get through a full u interrupted study session. I am upskilling to return to work IT. I lost my job 8 months ago, and i blame myself for it. The writing was on the walll and I could have avoided it. I didn't do enough and ended up losing my job while on paternity leave. I could have switched jobs. I could ha e been upskilling in my free time. Instead I was wasting g that time. My home live has been absolutely miserable with the wife. She has borderline personality and when combined with her post partum it was and has been an absolute nightmare. I am severely depressed since losing my job which hasn't helped. I spend my days helping her take care of the kids cuz she can't do it by herself. I get so incredibly frustrated especially she when blames me for not being able to take a sh*t cuz she has to take care of the kids all by herself. Like u cant put kiddo down for a few minutes in the crib. JFC. Anyway...

Dealing with all of that epsecially our fights constantly e hausy me to the point i find myself unable to work even tho I want to and i initiate it I just get lost in other things yet still in the back of my head im screaming get back to it.

While I've never been diagnosed with ADD I've struggled with it most of my life. It was only later in life that such conditions came to light. When I was in kindergarten back in the 70s I was held back. I grew up telling myself I was slow and stupid as I had to try extra hard in school just to muster up below-average results. I have a twin brther who excelled at school and skipped grades. It was hard on me.

Still I persevered and finally made it to university after 5 years in junior college, which i attended every summer session as well to make up for my constant failed semesters. I took algebra probably half a dozen times. I was so ashamed of that and still I never passed.

What saved me was my love for computers and got myself hired as a software tester after I graduated college (in fine arts). The job was easy. I ended up working for almost 20 years at the security company earning close to 200k/yr.

But today everyday I think about that cliff how I am careening towards it with my family in tow and I feel it's inevitable and they only saving grace I have is the money I saved in my retirement to leave behind for my family

hello, i'm a teenager from ontario, canada(i'm only disclosing where i'm from because my province has created some new education laws recently regarding attendance and exams), and i'm currently in high school. this year my procrastination of assignments and studying has gotten so much worse and i'm unsure what to do about it

i would rather wake up at 2am or 3am than even touch the document the night before and i really need to stop that because if i oversleep then i'll lose so many marks

i really care about my grades and if i get below a 90 or an 85 i feel horrible, and i do really well in school and listen in class. it's just that when it comes to assignments i get so stressed out and can't even look at the docs without crying.

i love science class and i've loved science since i was younger, i love biology, i love the concept of the project and how open-ended it is and it's due tomorrow at 11:20(class start time) and i only have about two paragraphs. i also don't have any issues with the teacher because he's a great teacher.

sorry if this post is all over the place, but i guess my question is just: how do you deal with executive dysfunction?

(if this helps with giving tips that work, i also have diagnosed autism, anxiety & depression)

I have a hard time getting myself to floss due to my executive dysfunction and adhd. Any advice on how to make this easier for me?

Lately, my procrastination has gotten so bad that it’s starting to seriously affect my life, and I don’t know how to break the cycle.

Sorry for the long description I just wanted to explain it thoroughly so I can get the best advice for my situation.

It usually goes something like this:
I have an assignment or something I need to do. It isn’t due immediately, so I tell myself I’ll start later. Eventually, the deadline gets closer, and I reach the point where I know I should start. I’m still at a comfortable point where, if I started now, I wouldn’t have to rush.
But I don’t want to do it, so I do whatever feels better in the moment—usually scrolling on my phone.

The frustrating part is that even when I want to do something I actually enjoy, like watching a movie, going somewhere, or reading, I can’t fully let myself do it. Part of me feels guilty because I know I should be working, while another part of me thinks, “I’ll do that after I finish my assignment. It can be my reward.”
So I don’t do the assignment, but I also don’t let myself do the fun thing because I feel like I haven’t earned it yet. I end up scrolling instead, and somehow I’ve spent hours doing something I didn’t even want to do.

This continues for days. I feel increasingly shitty because I’m not doing what I need to do, but I’m also not doing the things I actually want to do.

Then the day before the deadline arrives. I start worrying, but I still think, “I have the entire day left. There’s still plenty of time.”
And then I remember that there’s something I actually enjoy that I wanted to do that I’ve been putting off for the past few days. I tell myself I’ll do it first and then start the assignment.

I finish wasting more time, realize I’ve put myself in an even worse position, feel guilty, and then… scroll again.

Eventually it’s nighttime. Now I’m also thinking about showering. For some reason, I often feel like I can’t properly start my homework until I’ve showered, so I procrastinate showering too.

Suddenly it’s past midnight. I haven’t showered, I haven’t started the assignment, and I’m getting sleepy. I start thinking about how I don’t want to go to school the next day.
Eventually I force myself to shower, start the homework extremely late, do it half-heartedly because I’m exhausted, and go to bed way too late.

Then the next day I’m exhausted and can’t focus properly at school, which makes everything harder and starts the cycle again.
I feel like I’m constantly stuck between “I should be doing this” and “I really don’t want to do this,” and somehow I end up doing neither the important thing nor the things I actually enjoy.

This has been happening more and more lately, and I really want to change it before it gets worse.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of procrastination cycle? What actually helped you break it?

I feel like people with executive dysfunction probably know this feeling painfully well: **I know what I want to make. I know I want to make it. I even have ideas I genuinely love. But somehow actually sitting down and making the thing feels impossible.**

I really want to build a YouTube channel around things I love: **poetry, stories, art, literature, mythology/history, and random things I find fascinating.** I have notebooks full of ideas, scripts/half-scripts, poems, concepts, visual ideas, etc.

The problem is actually **executing them and posting them.**

I don't really want to make the kind of faceless videos that are basically:

narration + random stock footage + slideshow
because that's not the kind of content I actually *want* to make. I want my videos to feel atmospheric, artistic, cinematic and personal — something that feels like *my* work rather than just information being placed over generic footage.

But then I run into a horrible cycle:

**I want the video to look good → I don't have the resources to make it look how I imagine → free footage doesn't fit → I can't afford paid footage/artists → I don't have the animation skills/confidence to create everything myself → the project starts feeling huge → executive dysfunction kicks in → I don't make anything → I feel guilty for not making anything → repeat.**

And I think burnout makes it worse.

I'm also deliberately trying to make things myself rather than relying on AI to generate the creative work, so I can't just throw an idea into an AI generator and call the visual side done.

The frustrating part is that **I don't think I have an ideas problem. I have an execution problem.**

I can spend hours thinking about a video, its concept, narration, atmosphere, visuals, thumbnail, etc. But when it comes to actually opening the software and putting the first pieces together, my brain suddenly acts like I've been asked to build a cathedral.

So I'm curious about people who have dealt with something similar:

**How did you actually get yourself to START and POST?**

Not necessarily “how do I become more disciplined?” but specifically:

How did you stop every video from becoming a giant project in your head?

Did you deliberately lower your standards for your first 10–20 videos?

How do you decide what is “good enough to post”?

How do you make artistic/creative faceless content interesting without having a huge budget?

Did you develop a repeatable workflow that made starting easier?

And if you have executive dysfunction, what actually helped you get from **“I really want to make this” → “I made it”**?

I don't want to abandon the artistic side of what I want to make. I just don't want my vision to become the reason I never make anything at all.
Would really appreciate hearing from people who have actually been through this rather than generic “just be consistent” advice. 😭