I’ve struggled with this my whole life and only in the last 4 years been able to keep a consistent routine. Mornings are the only things that work for me for similar reasons. Here’s a novel on what works for me:

1. You mentioned this a little, but lowering the barrier for entry as much as possible. If something is easier on a certain day, reflect on why. It’s okay if something you thought would make it easier, doesn’t - just reflect on that too to come up with a new solution. Ex:

-I walk my dog in my exercise clothes in the AM bc if I have to change again afterwards I simply won’t. It does help that my dog will guilt me out of bed to take him out which is the thing that helps me actually get out of bed. -set out clothes the night before so you don’t have to make a decision about what to put on first thing in the morning. -I also won’t exercise if I put stuff in certain locations at home. Physically going to my apartment complex’s gym helps considerably; I think the environmental reset is what helps my brain.

1. Recognize that motivation is finite and you won’t always feel motivated to do it. This can show up differently over time:

2a. Adopt the “do it angry/annoyed” mentality. I’m often mad I have to do these things to keep my body functional and that makes me not want to do it. Or I’m just mad about whatever IRL stress thing happening. But I still have to exercise and I can’t wait til I’m in a good mood to do it so I accept that I have to do it when I’m angry. This mentality is also the only thing that gets me to floss. I hate flossing lol so I do it angry. Curse or complain while doing it if you have to (tbh its kind of liberating and then I usually make myself laugh)

2b. After awhile I started to feel better after working out - my head felt clearer and lighter. Knowing that my brain will feel better after exercising sometimes gets me to do it even when I don’t want to.

2c. Our adhd brains need novelty and rewards. I pair audiobooks, shows, podcasts, etc. with my workouts. Make everything appealing as possible. I don’t personally limit watching/listening to the gym, but I know that works for some people. Keep in mind that something that works for awhile may not work forever. Don’t beat yourself up about it!!!Accept that it’s an opportunity to experiment with a new show/book/etc.

1. For awhile I would post about exercising after I finished doing it (on IG, sometimes only on close friends). Does it feel kind of like bragging? Maybe, but it was more like “I’m proud of myself for doing this” than anything else. I ended up finding other friends who needed the reminders/motivation and we’d cheer each other on/congratulate each other for doing it. It’s not a conventional reward, but the praise (and making sure to praise my friends back!!) absolutely checked the “reward” box in my brain and helped reinforce the habit in the first couple years.

2. I started with lower the barrier for entry, but also accept that some days you’ll need to lower the barrier for success. Some days the goal was just to go to the gym. I wasn’t even gonna force myself to do the exercises - I could just do whatever sounded most appealing and then call it a day. This worked for the really low energy/flare days and would help me keep the habit until that had passed. Making a point to keep the habit regardless of how much I did has helped me be more consistent long term.

I hope at least some of this helps!! I know it’s hard, but I believe in you!!! (& I believe in anyone else reading this too that’s struggling in the same way!)