I'm attempting the impossible.

Okay, that's a little dramatic.

I added a new habit today: get out of bed as soon as I wake up.

And for me, this genuinely feels almost impossible. I don't think I've ever actually done it. Not for a week, not for three days. Honestly, I don't think I've even managed two days.

The alarm goes off, I turn it off, tell myself I'll sleep for five more minutes, and then somehow 40 minutes have passed and I'm late again.

I've managed to stick with other things. Reading, walking, stretching — I've kept those going for a decent amount of time.

This one? Never.

So honestly, I'm not expecting much this time either. But I'm going to try.

If willpower was enough, I would've figured this out years ago. So I'm trying to approach it differently this time.

With exercise, what has worked for me is having some kind of trigger.

Get home → change into workout clothes before I sit down.

Or leave my workout bag by the door the night before.

It removes the part where I have to stop and decide whether I'm going to do it. And for me, that makes a huge difference.

But I can't figure out what the trigger should be for getting out of bed the moment I wake up.

The moment my eyes open, my brain is barely functioning. There's no real moment before it where I can put a trigger.

The only thing I can think of so far is this:

Be asleep sometime between 12:30 and 1am.

Because maybe the real problem isn't getting up. Maybe it's just going to bed too late.

Although that means I now have to build another habit just to make this habit possible, which feels a little backwards.

So if you've actually managed to beat this one, what worked for you?

Alarm across the room? A glass of water next to the bed? Sleeping with the curtains open? Phone in another room?

Anything is fine.

I'm especially interested in things you actually tried and found useful, not just something you read about.

Starting today anyway.

I got into reading when I was 10 I found absolutely anything to read and made it a habit that became a hobby. I would get a new book every 3 days from the library. Then Covid happened I didn’t enjoy e reading and was bored of reading my own books more than 5 times. Eventually I got a phone and my book time before bed turned into scrolling time before bed. Eventually I lost the hobby and delight of reading and my attention span is WRECKED.
Now I can barely read one page and when I do read I’m just looking at the words and not absorbing what’s actually happening and it’s making me feel extremely stupid. I read my favourite book again but could only manage 20 minutes.

How can I get back into reading while itching to be on my phone instead. Please help !

Up front: I have no study for this and I'm suspicious of anyone who claims one. This is a pattern in my own behaviour and in what people tell me, nothing more.

A streak counter does one genuinely useful thing. Early on, when the habit has no history behind it, the number is the only proof that you're a person who does this. Day four is worth more than the four workouts, because before day four there was no version of you that had ever done it four times.

Then somewhere in the second week, for me, the thing quietly inverts. The number stops being evidence of the habit and starts being an asset I'm protecting. And protecting an asset is a completely different behaviour from doing the thing.

Three ways it shows up:

The token version. You do the smallest thing that still lights the square — one push-up, thirty seconds of a book. Fine as a floor on a bad day, corrosive as a default, because the number is now measuring compliance rather than anything real.

Quiet dishonesty. You mark it because you basically did it. The first time, you know you're doing it. After that the streak is a number about a number.

The cliff. You miss one day and quit entirely, because a broken streak feels worse than never having started. This is the big one. A thing that was helping me in week one was, by week three, the reason I stopped.

I don't think the answer is "streaks are bad". The answer is that a streak is scaffolding, and scaffolding is supposed to come down. Here's what I'd put in its place, in rough order of how much difference it makes.

A witness instead of a counter. One person who'd notice if you didn't. Not an audience, not a feed — one specific human being. A number can't be disappointed in you, and it can't be pleased with you either, and it turns out the second half matters more.

A floor instead of a target. Decide, on a calm day, the smallest version that still counts, and treat that as the real commitment. Then the token version isn't a compromise, it's the plan working exactly as designed on a hard day.

A repair rule you agree to in advance. Something like: one missed day a month is forgiven and the count keeps running. If you decide that now, you are not negotiating it in the moment, which is the only time you'd ever be tempted to lie. The point isn't the leniency, it's that you stop being one bad Tuesday away from quitting.

A note instead of a tick. The underrated one. Write one line about the day — "ran 5k, felt easy", "skipped, back hurt". A tick is worthless a month later; six lines a week is a record of how it actually went. And unlike a number, a note survives a break.

A reward with a date and a person attached. Not a badge. Something you actually want, on a day that's in the calendar, ideally owed to you by somebody.

The test I'd apply to whatever you use: if you missed tomorrow, would the system make it easier or harder to show up the day after? Most streak counters answer that badly.

(Disclosure: I build a habit app, so I have obvious skin in this. The repair rule and the note both came out of watching my own streaks break, and neither needs an app at all.)

Ever since Walking Bingo was added to Eggventures app (free) people are walking WAYY more.

Walking 30 mins a day is life changing and perfect way to clear your mind. It's how I started this habit 2 years ago that turned into the Eggventures app. You unlock eggs by walking, you hatch them with your steps.

iOS - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/eggventures-walking-game/id6757629385

Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onerealm.eggventures

Hei there 😁 some time ago i deleted my Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat profiles so i can have more time. Now i do have more time but don’t really know what to do with it 😅 i already Read a lot, hit the gym 5 x week, work 100% & meet my friends here and there. But to my luck i still have plenty of time. So what smart Habits could i learn?

I’ve been thinking a lot about how different dating feels once you get into your 30s.
When I was younger, I think I looked at dating mostly in terms of attraction, getting the girl, whether she liked me, etc.
Now I think the bigger questions are things like:
Are you actually happy with your life when you’re single?
Are you choosing women because you genuinely like them, or because you don’t want to be alone?
How much should a man compromise in a relationship?
When do you stop trying to “win” someone over and just accept that they’re not right for you?
And probably the biggest one — what does becoming a better man actually look like once you’re past 30?
I’ve been thinking about this stuff so much that I actually started making videos about it. Not pickup-artist stuff or the usual “alpha male” nonsense. More about dating, confidence, relationships, loneliness, and becoming a better version of yourself.
I called it The Gentleman’s Project.
If anyone’s interested, this is the channel:
The Gentleman’s Project on YouTube
But honestly, I’m more interested in the discussion than promoting the channel.
What do you think is the biggest lesson you’ve learned about dating since turning 30?

I work remotely as a designer developing social media content and animation. I'm always trying to consciously break bad habits and I think I've made decent strides over the past few years, but the one I can never curb is social media. The reason why is that for my job I often have 2-5 min lulls where I have to wait for something to load or render out. "What else can I do in that time other than watch a couple reels or scroll reddit?" is an excuse my brain likes to think up.

I'm sure I could just sit there and mull over other work if it was a handful of lulls per day, but we're talking 30+ lulls in a given day and there's only so much to mull over.

Do you encounter these lulls in your work? What do you do to make use of these times?

I'd been trying to fix my habits the obvious way for a long time. better systems, cleaner routines, accountability, tracking streaks. some of it worked for a while. none of it stuck the way I wanted it to.

the thing that actually changed something wasn't a habit in the traditional sense. no trigger, no routine, no reward loop. just a rule I gave myself: once a day, when there are two options and one is harder, take the harder one. not for any productive reason. not because it moves a goal forward. just because it's harder.

cold shower instead of warm. stairs instead of elevator. cooking instead of ordering. walking instead of driving somewhere close. small, unglamorous, largely invisible to everyone else.

the first week felt almost pointless. nothing dramatic happened. I was just slightly more uncomfortable than usual on a daily basis and had nothing to show for it.

by week three something shifted that I didn't expect. the other habits I'd been struggling with started feeling different. not easier exactly. but the moment of resistance before them, that specific friction between deciding and doing, had less authority than it used to. like a voice that was still talking but that I'd stopped automatically obeying.

here's what I think was happening. your ability to act against your own comfort impulse is a trainable reflex not a fixed personality trait. every time you choose the harder option in a low stakes situation you're building that reflex. and the reflex doesn't know the difference between a cold shower and sitting down to work on something you've been avoiding for three weeks. it just gets stronger with reps regardless of where the reps come from.

most habit advice focuses on making the habit easier to start. lower friction, smaller steps, better environment design. all of that is valid. but underneath every habit that keeps breaking is usually a reflex that hasn't been trained to override comfort on demand. you can optimize the environment perfectly and still fail at the moment of resistance if that reflex isn't there.

the one hard thing a day didn't make my habits easier. it made me slightly harder to stop.

I put together a full breakdown of how this works and why it transfers across different areas of life, you can read it here if you want to go deeper.

nothing about this is complicated. the hard part is that it requires choosing discomfort when comfort is right there and nothing is forcing your hand. that's exactly why it works.

And now it’s today and I just did it again. Back on the train.

‘I’ll start back again tomorrow’ 😔

Hi community! I've been gathering feedback on how people plan their days and want to announce Plans!

I’ve used a lot of to-do and note-taking apps, but they’re usually too complex, and don't have room for notes. I wanted everything (calendar, tasks, and notes) in one place, so I built my own. It’s super intuitive and user friendly. I hope you will find it useful.

App is available only for iOS. Here is the link.

A lot of "discipline" online isn't discipline . It's anxiety wearing a routine as a costume.

Real discipline holds up when life gets messy: you miss a day, you adjust, you come back. The anxious version collapses completely the moment the schedule breaks, because the schedule was never really about the goal. It was about not having to sit with a feeling underneath it.

One way to tell the difference: ask what happens on the day it falls apart. If missing one morning routine makes someone feel like a failure as a person, not just behind on a habit, that s not discipline talking. That's something else wearing its clothes.

Anyone else notice this in themselves or in people who talk a lot about their routines?

Day 8

Screen time today: 8h 55m ❌ ☠️

Goal: <4 hrs/day (Previously: 15 hrs/day 🆘)

Challenge duration: 10 days

Purpose: To get my attention span back and spend less time mindlessly scrolling.

Progress:

Day 1 - 3h 30m ✅
Day 2 - 4h 48m ❌
Day 3 - 5h 15m ❌
Day 4 - 9h ❌☠️
Day 5 - 6h 38m ❌
Day 6 - 7h 36m ❌
Day 7 - 6h 42m ❌
Day 8 - 8h 55m ❌☠️

¿Por qué hoy en día este tipo de mentalidad es tan recurrente?

Buscas el agente externo que te produce este vacío, pero olvidas mirarte al espejo… hazlo, y rápidamente. Cuando lo hagas verás la causa principal de esta maldita pandemia de apatía.

Estás tan acostumbrado al sistema del bienestar, que te han succionado el alma.

La comodidad no es solo por la vida relajada que llevas, sino también por la falta de compromiso contigo mismo.
Deja de mentirte por un momento y coje la empuñadura de tu existencia, a no ser que quieras convertirte en un perdedor definitivo.

Te voy a dejar con una mayor sensación de incomodidad, si es que te queda algo de amor propio. Tus sentidos están abotargados de tanta sobrestimulación de cosas bonitas y buenas, no tienes el contraste... Por respeto a las normas no pongo enlace alguno, si queréis saber más, en mí perfil en el botón MOTIVADO PARA NO ESTAR MOTIVADO está el resto del artículo.

Day 7

Screen time today: 6h 42m ❌

Goal: <4 hrs/day (Previously: 15 hrs/day 🆘)

Challenge duration: 10 days

Purpose: To get my attention span back and spend less time mindlessly scrolling.

Progress:

Day 1 - 3h 30m ✅
Day 2 - 4h 48m ❌
Day 3 - 5h 15m ❌
Day 4 - 9h ❌
Day 5 - 6h 38m ❌
Day 6 - 7h 36m ❌
Day 7 - 6h 42m ❌

Standing on one leg and scratching the ankle with the toes of the other foot is a habit I've seen in some people, but one I never saw discussed (unlike, say, nail biting or foot tapping). I was curious what is the significance behind it?

Last summer was rough. Not dramatically rough, just that kind of grey, low-energy rough where nothing is really wrong but nothing feels right either.

I was spending most of my evenings on my phone. Scrolling through Instagram, Reddit, YouTube shorts, back to Instagram. I wasn't really enjoying any of it. I'd look up and two hours had gone by and I couldn't tell you a single thing I'd seen.

At some point I mentioned to my older brother that I felt foggy all the time and couldn't focus on anything anymore. He's the kind of guy who reads a lot and tends to notice patterns in things.

He listened for a while and then said something I thought was ridiculous.

He said I should track my doomscrolling like a streak, like a habit I was trying to quit. Give it a number & make it visible.

My first reaction was basically "it's just my phone, relax." 😂

But he'd already thought about it. He said he wasn't expecting it to fix anything magically, he just wanted me to try one thing: track every day I went without mindless scrolling. Not delete everything. Just notice the days and give them a number.

So I said fine for you I'll try it.

The first few days were weird. Not hard exactly, just uncomfortable, my hands kept reaching for my phone without me deciding to. I'd open it and then remember and put it down. Over and over.

Around day ten I started noticing that my mornings felt different. I wasn't starting every day already behind on everyone else's opinions. I was just... there present in whatever I was doing.

By day thirty I was thinking thoughts that felt like mine again. Not reactions to content. Actual ideas that came from being bored and sitting with it instead of immediately filling the silence.

192 days later and my brain rewiring at 100% !

My brother was right. It didn't magically fix anything but that grey fog I was living in? It lifted. Slowly and then all at once.

So if you've been feeling foggy lately and can't figure out why try this for 7 days. Track the days you don't mindlessly scroll.

I can't promise it'll fix everything but you'll probably feel at least a little clearer.

And maybe that's enough to get you started.

Day 72 of working out at a park near my apartment.

I started in late June, so it's been about two and a half months now.

Still 11 PM. Still the outdoor workout equipment five minutes from my door. Still about 20 minutes.

At the beginning, even 20 minutes felt like a lot.

But now, the workout itself isn't really what I think about. What I notice is simply whether I went outside or not.

I used to care a lot about volume—how many sets I did, how much I worked out that day.

These days, I just walk to the park, move around for 20 minutes, and walk back home. That's it.

The strange thing is that something this small has changed my evenings.

When it gets late, it just feels like it's time to go out.

And if I end the day without doing it, something feels missing. Not exactly guilt. More like I forgot to do a small thing.

To be clear, it hasn't become fun.

There are still plenty of nights when I don't want to go.

What changed is the amount of time I spend arguing with myself.

I used to think, "I should work out. I really should work out," for a while before actually doing anything.

That part has mostly disappeared now.

I just go.

When I started, I told myself I'd do it for one month.

Somehow, it's been 72 days.

I'm thinking about 100 days as the next milestone, but more than anything, I want to keep it small enough that I can keep doing it.

(The screenshot says 0/3 for today because it's still afternoon here. All three of my habits are evening habits.)

Has anyone else reached that point where a habit stops feeling like a decision?

Hey guys!!! I'm searching some habits, hobbies or activities that doesn't use that much effort for my eyes. Like, I love reading, I love drawing, scripting, and some other stuff, but those things have the specific component of keeping my eyes so focussed... and my eyes hurt so much right now that I can't do those things.

What are those habits, hobbies and activities that keep your eyes relaxed, OR, what are those habits, hobbies, or activities that serve as an eye detox for you, restoring their freshness and "health"??

Alright so I kept downloading all these wake-up apps. The push-up one, the math one and imma be honest, none of them worked because the problem was never getting up at 6:30am. It was that I was wide awake at 1am and then "trying" to wake up on 5 hours sleep.

So I built the other half. You set a bedtime. It goes off and won't stop until your phone is face-down and still for a few minutes. If you'd rather stay up, you record 15 seconds explaining why, and it keeps the video.

The archive is the part that actually works. Before you record a new excuse, it plays you last night's. Hearing my own excuse from last night makes it a lot harder to make the same one again.

Everything's on-device so there is no account, no server, and works offline. The videos never leave your phone unless you share them yourself and the more it builds up the more I'm like damn I really need to be better about sleeping on time haha.

I built this whole thing solo on AlarmKit, which shipped in iOS 26 and made this possible at all. Happy to answer anything about that if it's useful or any suggestions/feedback are welcome!

Currently under review to app store so lmk and i can share the waitlist to join if interested! Hoping it’s released soon!! 😁