The Laziest Person In The World Tries a Two Week Experiment

[CosmiKitten]

I’ve been trying to just remind myself that I tend to be very hard and critical of myself, which is the reason why I loved adderall in the first place, it helped me meet my high expectations of myself (as it would anybody!). Even on adderall though I was not satisfied with my level of productivity, especially after the "magic" of it wore off. Right now I am just trying to take pride in my small accomplishments.. very small accomplishments.

Here is a little story that highlights just how bad I am with getting stuff done nowadays:

One day last week I loathingly cleaned my way-too-full bathroom cabinets to make room for a box of toiletries my mom got me for Christmas. She does this every year for me, because she knows I am absent minded when it comes to remembering to buy those kinds of things when I am at the grocery store. It's very sweet. Once she hilariously used the word "condiment" instead of "toiletry", so it is a tradition now that every year for Christmas I receive a Condiment Box, full of a years worth of shampoo, soap, toothpaste, lotions, loofahs, razors etc.

If anyone hasn't noticed (because I certainly didn't), It is now March, and this box had been sitting in my livingroom since Christmas. I quit adderall on New Years Day, so it should be of no surprise to me or anyone else that it has taken this long to put a box of 20 or so items where they belong. So anyway, I finally forced myself to start cleaning out these cabinets, angrily and depressedly. I even wanted to quit halfway through, with bottles and stuff all over the toilet and the sink. If I lived by myself, I might have just done that and left it a mess for another week. But I kept at it, eventualy forgot how painful it was, began to get excited at how much space I had once I got rid of all the empty containers, and now it looks really nice. The clutter doesn't hurt my brain.

Once when I was complaining to my fiancee that I couldn't get myself to be consistent about anything, 1. Because I despise routines and 2. Because I'm so absent minded, he suggested that if there is something I would like to do every day, I commit to doing it every day for Just Two Weeks. After that, if I don't want to do it every day, I don't have to.

So my current two week commitment is this:

-Know what date is, every day.

-Drink 16 oz of water when I wake up.

-Take a multi-vitamin.

-Use mouthwash after I brush my teeth.

I do this very quickly and easily in my now-clean bathroom with a mini desk calendar, 16 oz bottle, multi-vitamin, and mouthwash all lined up in a row. I like having the calendar there cause its bright and it doesn't really fit into the whole bathroom scheme, and it reminds me to do the routine, whereas everything else by itself wouldn't. Plus it has a different quote about peace on it every day that I can read (once I find my glasses... which I usually don't before I do the bathroom routine, haha).

I've been doing this tiny routine for about a week now, and while I don't do the dishes every day, or fold and put away my laundry, or eat very healthily, I can say that I feel very accomplished that I have stuck to this dumb little plan. Even though its such a simple thing to achieve, it has really helped me feel better every day.

-Knowing what day it is: makes me feel more like I am not just letting time pass me by

-Chugging 16 oz of water right after waking: curbs my ridiculous appetite for excessive sugar in the morning, and makes me feel healthier overall.

-Taking a multi-vitamin: hasn't made me feel any different just yet, but at least gives me kind of a placebo effect, knowing that I am taking this easy step to a healthier body/mind

-Using mouthwash daily: wakes me up a little more, and has already noticeably made my teeth whiter. I know I really need to take care of my teeth now after all the damage adderall has done, and I've been slacking on that since depression hit after I stopped using. I feel a lot better about myself now that this routine is in place... I will add flossing to the equation very soon!

So in the small ways that this tiny routine makes me feel better every day, I often feel more apt to do other things that I would normally be very resistant to doing. And even on days that I don't, I forgive myself, because I KNOW how critical and demanding of myself I am, and I know it is hindering me, and never caused me to become better. Rather, it caused me to give up, to wallow and feel hopeless in my situation. Bad strategy, doesn't work. So this new plan is to build small habits, very slowly, until they become a part of me and bring me to a place of better health. And to forgive myself for not being perfect, and not letting my mistakes bring me down.

At the end of next week I'm going to add a new two week plan, which may go something like this:

-Wake up NO LATER than 6:30 on work days (usually I wake up at 6:50 every day to be out the door by 7:05... this causes me great stress. I'll in such a rush that I forget things I need to bring to work, or I won't take the time to look my best. I'm usually late once a week too.)

-Limit myself to ONE coffee per day, to save money and not be a slave to caffine

-Do not drop dirty laundry ANYWHERE except the hamper. How much time to I waste every week trying to fish clothes out from under the bed, pulling socks out of the couch or gathering up entire outfits from behind the bathroom door? Too much, thats how much.

I'll let you guys know how this is all going

[Mike]

That made me laugh several times.

I remember that box of condiments! I remember thinking "Why is it labeled condiments?" Now it makes adorable sense.

my ridiculous appetite for excessive sugar in the morning

You too? Wow I totally thought that sugarlust thing was just me having a sweet tooth. I wonder if the rest of us have this...

Wake up NO LATER than 6:30 (on work days usually I wake up at 6:50 every day to be out the door by 7:05)

To me, this is no small accomplishment...this is the Mt. Everest of self improvements....a peak I fear I will never reach. If you figure out how to do this, tell me. I swear that half of my mental disorders and stress would dissipate if I could just start every day like a man and get up with the alarm, rather than rationalizing a few more minutes and waking up stressed and feeling like a shameful failure from minute one of my day.

Anyhow, good luck!