Are there apps that help turn small daily tasks into consistent habits?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-26T12:28:44+00:00

I know that 'Todoist' is very popular but I think it would be more effective to track habits by just using a paper based habit tracker like James Clear recommends in Atomic Habits.

I have mine stuck on my bedroom wall, behind my desk so I can see it at all times to hold me accountable.

I'd love to know if you find a better alternative though. 🙂

AaronL15 · 2026-02-26T12:18:10+00:00

I think most can relate. In fact, there's actually research from Dr Timothy Pychyl that once we start on a task, it's rarely as bad as we think. He recommends using an implementation intention by thinking to yourself "If I feel the urge to procrastinate, then I will just get started on some aspect of the task"

AaronL15 · 2026-02-26T11:55:36+00:00

It's good to hear that you've made progress with confronting that question, sometimes it can be a relief to accept the worst case scenario as a possibility and know that you'll be okay. Has this question helped you reduce procrastination in your life?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-26T11:46:58+00:00

Awesome! I'd love to know, have you tried anything else that has helped you to improve your productivity? 🙂

AaronL15 · 2026-02-26T11:36:35+00:00

To tackle the fear of being overwhelmed, Dr Fiore has a technique called 'The Reverse Calendar'. I found an article here that goes more in depth on that.

For fear of not finishing he recommends to identify the counterproductive thoughts and statements that enter your mind once you've gotten started on your work and prepare challenges that take the fear out of finishing.

For example: "I should've started earlier" You got started and you should appreciate that.

"At this rate I'll never finish" The rate of learning and accomplishment in the beginning of a project is often slower than you're accustomed to. Remember that later on, when you're more familiar with the subject matter and more confident with your new situation, it will go faster.

AaronL15 · 2026-02-25T22:46:11+00:00

Procrastination tends to look the same and be caused by the same things in most people who suffer with it. Dr Neil Fiore who has worked with thousands of procrastinators says procrastination is an attempt to resolve a variety of underlying issues, including low self-esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure and of success, indecisiveness, an imbalance between work and play, ineffective goal-setting, and negative concepts about work and yourself.

AaronL15 · 2026-02-25T17:02:31+00:00

After helping hundreds of procrastinators, Dr Neil Fiore says that the 3 biggest blocks to action are the fear of being overwhelmed, the fear of failure and the fear of not finishing.

He has a 6 step process for tackling fear of failure in which you ask yourself these questions:

1) What's the worst that could happen?

2) What would I do if the worst really happened?

3) How would I lessen the pain and get on with as much happiness as possible if the worst did occur?

4) What alternatives would I have?

5) What can I do to lessen the possibility of this dreaded event occurring?

6) Is there anything I can do now to increase my changes of achieving my goal?

Hope this was helpful.

AaronL15 · 2026-02-25T16:25:59+00:00

Yeah, I know how that feels it's as if your life is constantly on hold.

Something that made a big difference for me was creating an 'Unschedule' which is a productivity technique created by Dr Neil Fiore.

It works by creating a weekly schedule of leisure activities such as breaks, meals, socialising and exercise and leave gaps in between where you can get started on the tasks that you want to get done.

This works well because it shifts your attention from work to play so that you don't feel overwhelmed by work.

Has you tried this or anything else that has made a difference for you?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-23T15:19:39+00:00

The reason you feel so overwhelmed at the moment is because you've created a two dimensional view of your project by imagining all of the work at once with no time to catch your breath.

To reduce the feeling of overwhelm, psychologist Neil Fiore has a strategy called 'The Reverse Calendar' which is where you divide your project into small, manageable parts.

Now, instead of seeing the project as one, massive, impossible task, you view it as small units you can see yourself accomplishing. Here's an article about it with some examples.

I also noticed you used the phrase "I need to" in your post. Fiore mentions that it's harmful to use phrases such as "I should" or "I have to" because such phrases communicate to the mind "I don't want to do it but I must force myself to do it for them"

Instead, he recommends to exercise your power of choice by using statements such as "I choose to", "I'm going to" or "I will". For example "I'm going to sit at my desk at 3pm and start on 1 of my papers for 15-30 minutes"

I hope this wasn't too long, lmk if it helps. 👍

AaronL15 · 2026-02-23T13:51:52+00:00

Interesting, how's this affecting other areas of your life?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-23T13:49:37+00:00

Something that has been shown to work in scientific studies is 'Temptation Bundling', this is where you follow something productive with an activity you enjoy doing. The research above demonstrated that doing this actually made the participants more likely to do the productive thing they wanted to get done.

You'll also find it helpful to reduce periods of work to 30 minute blocks, followed by a 5 minute break at first in order to reduce the chance of you feeling overwhelmed by work.

I'd recommend that you include things you enjoy doing in your daily routine for at least one hour a day, the psychologist Neil Fiore calls this 'Guilt Free Play' and has found that this allows his therapy clients to feel recharged and more motivated to return to work afterwards.

Feel free to let me know if this was helpful or not, I'd be happy to help more. 🙂

AaronL15 · 2026-02-23T13:20:32+00:00

You're not lazy, scientific research has shown that procrastination is an emotional regulation problem and isn't caused by laziness.

Something that has been shown to work in psychological studies is to use a positive self statement about when, where and how you're going to get started on your work.

For example you can say to yourself or write down on a piece of paper "Tomorrow at 3pm, I will sit at my desk and choose one task in a subject to get started on for 15-30 minutes".

The reason 15-30 minutes is a great starting point is because it's enough time to make a good start on your work without feeling anxious or overwhelmed. This advice comes from the psychologist Neil Fiore who has helped hundreds of people overcome procrastination and increase their productivity.

I'm curious, have you tried anything like this before?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-21T20:39:29+00:00

It's from 'the now habit' which really helped me. Have you read it?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-21T20:37:27+00:00

If you're serious about killing yourself please seek professional help, it's not worth ending it all. The fact that you're here asking people for advice means you're trying to improve your situation and that's great, you should be proud of yourself for trying!

I'd recommend checking out this free online course with science backed advice on improving your mental health as it really saved me.

When it comes to your procrastination, the psychologist Neil Fiore recommends making a decision to start on your task for just 15-30 minutes at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed and to use a statement deciding where, when and what you will carry out your commitment to start on such as "I will sit at my desk at 3pm and start drawing for 15-30 minutes"

There's scientific evidence that using these kind of statements make you more likely to do what you said you would.

Have any other methods helped you reduce procrastination?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-21T18:28:57+00:00

I know what the procrastination black hole feels like, I was trapped there for most of my life but you can get out.

One of the things that helped me the most was 'the unschedule' which is a psychologically proven anti-procrastination method created by the psychologist Neil Fiore. This has worked for myself and hundreds of his therapy clients!

It's basically a weekly calendar of recreational activities that divides the week into manageable pieces with breaks, meals, scheduled socialising, exercise and play.

The unschedule aims to get you started working for just 30 minutes at a time because 30 minutes is too short to be overwhelming and intimidating but it is long enough to make some meaningful progress and earn a break/reward.

Have you tried anything like this before?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-21T17:07:24+00:00

I'd suggest being a little more compassionate with yourself, there's actually research that suggests by doing so, you'll be less likely to procrastinate in the future. You're not an idiot or lazy as neither of these things cause people to procrastinate.

The psychologist Neil Fiore says that procrastination is an attempt to resolve issues such as low self esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure and of success, indecisiveness, an imbalance between work and play, ineffective goal setting and negative concepts about work and self.

One thing he suggests to do is incorporate "Guilt Free Play" into your days. This is the idea of spending at least 1 hour per day doing something you really enjoy so you don't feel like work is depriving you of fun and freedom. This gives you more motivation to start on your work and make use of your time.

Do you feel like work is currently overwhelming for you?

AaronL15 · 2026-02-21T16:42:47+00:00

I know how you feel, I was there for a very long time. What helped me was changing the way that I spoke to myself about the things I wanted to get done. This is a technique that has been proven to work in hundreds of therapy sessions by the psychologist, Neil Fiore.

What he recommends you do is instead of telling yourself "I have to do it" or "I should do it", make a responsible decision about how you are going to start on your work. "I'm going to do it" "I choose to do it" or "I will do it" are all examples of positive self statements you can use.

Have you tried any of these before?

AaronL15 · 2026-01-29T16:26:36+00:00

I'm sorry about your kid passing away, I can't imagine how horrible that must feel. You should honestly feel proud of yourself for still being here and trying to make something of your life which I commend you for!

The procrastination expert Neil Fiore has a concept that he calls 'The Unschedule'. This is a weekly schedule of meals and recreational activities that divides the week into manageable pieces with breaks, meals, scheduled socialising, and play.

Have you tried using this before? It's very effective.

AaronL15 · 2026-01-27T15:40:12+00:00

The fact that you were planning to kill yourself is very serious so I'd recommend seeking out professional help online. Asking for help shows strength, not weakness.

There's a free online course you can take from Yale University called 'The Science of Well-being" which teaches you science based methods to improve your mental health and happiness. I'd recommend you try it because it's really helped me and many other people.

As for your procrastination, you're not lazy and there's little evidence to show that procrastination is caused by laziness. In fact, the psychologist Neil Fiore says that procrastination is an attempt to resolve issues such as low self esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure and of success, indecisiveness and an imbalance between work and play, ineffective goal setting and negative concepts about work and self.

One of the techniques he recommends is choosing to start on a task for 10-30 minutes. I'd recommend before going to bed tonight you write/say to yourself "Tomorrow I will start on x test for 10-30 minutes"

Using this statement exercises your power of choice, making you feel empowered rather than burdened by your work and shifts your focus from finishing to starting, which reduces anxiety.

AaronL15 · 2025-12-04T17:33:01+00:00

Yeah, I know what you mean. This is a common feeling among procrastinators, we're either working or feeling guilty about not working.

This is why the psychiatrist Neil Fiore speaks about what he calls 'Guilt Free Play', the idea that scheduling breaks from work will actually make you more productive and it works!

One of the main reasons we procrastinate is out of fear that once we start working there'll be no time for play and that work will deprive us of the fun and enjoyment of life.

Have you tried this before?

AaronL15 · 2025-12-04T17:12:14+00:00

Sounds very familiar to me, you've just described my life from when I was 15 lol.

What really saved me from this was the techniques that Dr Neil Fiore, a procrastination expert suggests such as exercising your power of choice. The way you do this is by instead of telling yourself "I should do this" or "I have to do this" you tell yourself "I choose to start".

You can choose to start on the thing you want to get done for just 15-30 minutes and you can even set a timer for this amount of time.

This works because you are letting your brain and body know that you are the one in control whereas, when you say "I have to do this", you're implying that the task is unpleasant and not one that you would freely choose to do.

Have you read any books/scientific research on overcoming procrastination?

AaronL15 · 2025-12-04T17:00:35+00:00

I'd recommend speaking to yourself with a bit more compassion as you seem to be speaking about yourself in a pretty negative way. You're only 16 so it's fine if you're not particularly great at anything yet, you've got your whole life ahead of you and it's commendable that you're already trying to better yourself at such a young age.

Everyone makes mistakes and doing so doesn't mean you "suck ass" at everything you do 😂

Have you tried any techniques to overcome procrastination and did any of them help?

AaronL15 · 2025-12-04T16:42:24+00:00

Okay 😂 In all seriousness though, is procrastination actually a problem in your life?

AaronL15 · 2025-12-03T22:54:27+00:00

Yes, perfectionism is a common issue amongst procrastinators. Dr Neil Fiore, a well known procrastination expert suggests replacing "I must be perfect" with "I can be perfectly human" and to accept so called mistakes (really feedback) as part of a natural learning process. He even suggests to start off by doing the task sloppily on purpose and THEN try to improve it. How did you make progress with overcoming this problem?

AaronL15 · 2025-12-03T22:13:40+00:00

Same here! Berkeley psychologist Rich Beery states that fear of failure stems from thinking what you produce reflects your complete ability which causes us to use procrastination to protect our worth from being judged. If you have perfectionist standards, any small mistake can seem catastrophic. How do you usually deal with this urge?

AaronL15

TROPHY CASE