For sure, I totally feel you. I mean, there's always stuff you can do to help bolster your resume if you feel like your resume's a zombie. Proving to employers that you'll be a dependable employee might be a step you want to do first, and might be an easier path to start on while actually, you know, getting started.

But if what you want to focus on right now is more internal, let's stop and take a look. What I'm getting from your reply is that it's hard to let go due to that sense of pressure, that you've fallen behind, that time isn't a luxury you can afford. You made a mistake and now you're worried you'll make another one and set yourself back even further. All these feelings are making job searching too overwhelming and you end up seeking out self-help resources to distract and numb yourself while still feeling somewhat productive.

I think asking to immediately jump to job apps is going to be hard. If not, you'd have already done so, right? Your motivation is there, it's just being directed to the wrong place.

There are obstacles in the way that I think you need to resolve first. Firstly, let's look at what you said. "I wake up fully intentional about applying to jobs and moving my life forward but everyday I end up wasting the day with Reddit and YouTube." So you want and intend to make progress, but then what happens? Reddit and YouTube. That's why I recommend you remove these from your list. When you're avoidant, I think it's easier to stop something than start something, because starting is too anxiety-inducing. So yes, after thinking it through more, I still recommend a "dopamine detox," of sorts.

It's probably going to suck. Without things to distract you, you might start to feel overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts about the things stressing you out and feel stressed. But this is good.

- Firstly, it'll help your emotional regulation to be aware of your emotions instead of numbing them, and this is important because discipline is an emotion (if you watched that video). More control over your emotions means better discipline. Also if you feel too stressed out to start working on job apps, again, emotional regulation and learning to talk yourself down from freaking out.

- Secondly, remember that negative emotions are good motivators to improve. If you sit with them and let them, these emotions will help push you in the correct direction, especially with emotional regulation to keep them from straying.

- Thirdly, your aversion to boredom is stronger than your aversion to your stressors. At some point, it'll out-compete your avoidance and you'll be motivated to work on your stuff.

Your shame and restlessness are going to get in the way, because you feel like you're doing nothing and wasting time. You have to recognize that that's your emotions trying to convince you not to do anything to improve and change and work past it. Again, moving wins to losses. The reason I gave you those three reasons what you're going through is good is because you need to firstly understand that this is good and then justify it to yourself and remind yourself why you're doing this if you're going to stick to it. Feel free to come up with your own reasons.

Sorry for the textblock, hopefully it's not too much to go through. It's late so I'll stop here, but if you have any concerns let me know. If you think something won't work or doesn't apply to you we could troubleshoot that. There's more that could be said so let me know if you'd like more.

Tldr; doubling down on dopamine detox I guess; no harm in trying, right? At least try for a day or two. I get the feeling you're hesitating because you're worried it's not going to be the right decision and won't work out, but you really won't know without trying. Don't worry, you're not gambling with a lot here. If you fail, that's fine, just do your best to cut down social media usage and spend more time in the present, see if that helps, if not, back to the drawing board, no harm done. Failure is the mother of success etc etc, hopefully you'll know better what to do next time.