90% of willpower is preparation. Arrange your life to make the things you should do easier and the things you should avoid less convenient.

Example: To avoid sleeping in, or worse, dicking around on my phone instead of sleeping or getting up, I put my phone to charge on the other side of the bedroom.

Another: I put a speaker in my kitchen to listen to music when I wash dishes. A lot easier to wash just those last few pots, even if I feel like I'm ready for a break, if I want to finish the song.

For me, it’s 100% about positive self talk and mini goals. Instead of trying to motivate myself to run 5 miles, it’s one 100ft section at a time. Fix a goal I can see, then run there and give myself a mental high five for getting there. Then do it again one more time. And then one more time and on and on til I get to the end.

Get tested for ADHD. If you have it, start working with a therapist who specializes in ADHD and can prescribe medication if necessary.

Or the cheaper option drink a coffee. Did it make it easier to focus? Yes? Then ADHD, so drink lots of coffee. Lol, but seriously just get tested.

There is some good advice in this thread, but if you do have ADHD, then the advice is only as good as your ability to carry it out, and saying "just do the thing" will only end up demoralising you.

From my perspective (42, diagnosed with ADHD four years ago), it's been damn near impossible for me to noticeably improve myself. It's only when I reflect on my progress that I begin to notice positive changes.

Ultimately, it's about training your perspective on a task. Are you failing to do things, or are you choosing to prioritise other tasks instead. Do those other tasks have positive outcomes (however tenuous they may be)? If this is the case, then you could work on choosing to prioritise the tasks that are expected of you.

In terms of my working day, my job is an issue for me, as it doesn't really have a set form, and is almost entirely self-led. If I don't do what's expected of me, no one really notices, and that's actually a problem for me, because left to my own devices I'll gladly spend all day fucking about online, then feel like shit because I've not been productive*. So I've learned to tackle this by physically writing myself a To Do list first thing in the morning, that I then input into a daily timetable spreadsheet. Then I use an app called Cold Turkey to block access to websites of my choosing for a period of time. Only then am I able to focus on the tasks at hand.

In time, your brain will (hopefully) begin to mould itself around a different way of being, and while it will not likely become second nature to you, it will become easier to recognise when your distraction has taken control.

*of course, almost all of the problems we face are as a result of being forced to exist in a capitalist society, where we're all trained to assign our personal worth to the worth of the work we produce. If we neurodivergents were able to live outside that paradigm, we'd be fine.

In most cases it is not a lack of willpower but rather an exhaustion of the same. Try to arrange your daily routine around things you WANT to do and limit the things that burn attention and mental energy (doom-scrolling social media, ….).

It’s all about managing your (dopamine) resources economically.

I would say first and foremost be kind to yourself, @SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml. Strengthening your willpower begins with good self-care techniques. Set regular, realistic, and achievable goals and when you achieve them, do something positive for yourself. Too often we are our own worst enemies and by beating yourself up you actually make it harder to achieve what you really want. This is something I struggle with even though I do not have ADHD. Will-power comes not from negative reinforcement but from the positive kind. 😀

If you have ADHD, forget combating it with willpower. You need to reduce distractions.

But most of all, get diagnosed properly and then a psychotherapist can help you further, as might the appropriate meds.

This is exactly what you said. Workout and cold showers.
Even if a cold shower is once a day, it is enough. Willpower is like a muscle, you don't have to exert it constantly, but regularly.
As for working out, you don't have to like it, to make it. This is the hard pill to swallow, but struggling is part of it, at least in the beginning.
What I find helpful personally, is to watch a coaching video. You follow the moves of the vlogger at the same pace, and only pause when you can absolutely not take it anymore. I end up cursing at the video and hating my life on the spot.

I recon that it helped me have more control on myself (like pain tolerance). But as for the ADHD you describe, I am not sure I saw any improvement personally.

Dr K at Healthy Gamer has a tonne of really great advice for dealing with this and especially for ADHD sufferers. He talks about urge-surfing and how to develop and strengthen the parts of your brain that end up giving you back control in terms of decision making, willpower and responding to habits. Here’s a short on urge-surfing but have a dig thru the rest of the channel https://youtube.com/shorts/SUgJdsTCs0E?feature=share

“Just do it” is such easy advice to give but I feel your pain OP. There are things I want to accomplish that I CANNOT get myself up to do. I can’t execute plans or schedules for things that don’t immediately threaten my livelihood. It’s a real PITA. Executive dysfunction is a term I’ve read about recently that describes this.

I’m convinced the way we think about things is the driving force. For example, I’ve always struggled to work out regularly. What’s really been helping me the last month is the mantra “I’ll never regret working out but I absolutely will regret not working out”. So try to critically evaluate your thought processes behind the things you want to accomplish and see if there is another way of thinking about it that makes doing it easier.

Well, the research says that therapy is great, but only after you're on meds. You don't lack willpower, it's a physiological problem that needs to be addressed by medical care.

A good morning routine is perfect for building momentum. I wake up at 6 AM and walk to my bathroom where I keep a bottle of water, as I am always thirsty in the morning. I brush my teeth, meditate, and engage in some light cardio, (literally something like 50 jumping jacks. It's nothing too serious) Afterward, I take a warm shower, gradually lowering the temperature until it's cold. Finally, I eat breakfast.

That's a morning routine that works for me and is (mostly) copied from a Youtube video I watched on how to stay motivated. This is what works for me so I think it may be a good watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOEfDcGbbXo&t=362

Meditation. It's scientifically proven to help with ADHD.

I've always felt that my willpower is the only thing I have any strength in. The trouble is, that in order to exercise my will, I must concentrate on doing so. With ADHD focusing on anything can be hard as fuck if there's too many distractions. So I eliminate the distractions (or as many as I possibly can).

I have found it useful, even healthy in stressfulness work situations, to allow myself the distraction - but only for a little while. This works fairly well for me.

Do one other thing. Play only one round of Minesweeper (yes, that's me). Read only one thing on Lemmy. Pick one of those. Then get back to work. For a while, anyway.

Delayed gratification.

Not exactly what you’re asking but possibly helpful-

I’ve found that ‘pairing’ the item of resistance to another established habit has been helpful. A decent example is putting my gym stuff on the bathroom counter. I have the habit of brushing my teeth in the morning and now I have my exercise clothes where I’m guaranteed to see them. It’s harder to make excuses and at this point you just gotta commit.

This might be more what you’re asking about-

I got the pairing idea from a great series on procrastination, Solving the Procrastination Puzzle by Tim Pychyl. The speaker takes the approach that resistance is not a matter of will power but a matter of emotional regulation. I recommend checking it out!

I listened to it on Waking Up but you might be able to find it elsewhere. Here’s a link to where I listened, free 30 days no credit card needed. (There is no incentive for me, just sharing what helped me) https://dynamic.wakingup.com/pack/PK0AA14?source=content%20share&share_id=0FEBBC65&code=SC112CD68

The Science of Self Control is an excellent book about willpower and, well, self control. It goes into the science of it and how to use that to your advantage.

One thing I do is to reduce friction. You are more likely to do something if you make whatever it is easier to do. Conversely, if you want to stop doing something, increase friction (make it harder to do). Two examples:

You want to go to the gym in the mornings? Go to bed a bit earlier, get everything ready the night before, and maybe even sleep in your gym clothes.

Your want to stop eating cookies? Put them somewhere you're less likely to walk past them or see them.

In your case, maybe try removing things that are distractions, e.g. put your phone on the other side of the room.

I always get myself to do things I don't want to by thinking "Future-me is going to be much happier when he finds that present-me did this already."

Helps me find the motivation to exercise, make myself a good cup of coffee instead of a kcup, do the dishes after dinner, lots of things. And past me is such a bro, saved me from present-me having to do those things.

What is it you are distracting yourself from? The low motivation could also be that you are not really believing in a goal or you are not enjoying a task because you would rather do something else with your time. As others already said if you "suspect" you have ADHD you could also try therapy.

Hold in your poop for 3 days.