Need advice to stay consistent and stop procrastinating, assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum. TL;DR: I need tips to stop procrastinating and to handle dissociation. I wrote a lot below, sorry for the ramble, and JazakAllah khair if you read it. Around my birthday last September I [28] set two big goals - one personal (I won’t go into details) and the other is to get my bachelor’s degree. After high school I struggled with depression for about five years and didn’t go to college. Ironically, after the start of COVID I began feeling better and trying to improve my life. I’ve made a lot of progress over the years. Honestly I feel mentally and physically better now than I did in my late teens and early 20s, so I believed these goals were doable if I put in the work. I’m planning to apply next year, but I know I need to brush up academically since I’ve been out of school for nearly 10 years. It’s partly relearning and partly a test to see if I can keep up with studying. For most of September I did well - I was excited and motivated. Then after about three weeks I suddenly lost all motivation. I didn’t want to turn on my laptop or even do my daily exercise. This isn’t new; since middle school I’ve tended to hyperfocus on something for a while and then lose interest after a few weeks. But this is the first time I’m truly passionate about a goal and really want to reach it, so I thought it would be different. I tried making schedules, removing distractions like my phone for an hour, and even forcing myself to study for just 10 minutes. Still, I start dissociating and it’s hard to continue. Now it’s November and I’m losing confidence, but I don’t want to give up. I know it’s not too late for a mental reset. I just want practical advice to stop procrastinating, manage dissociation, and get back on track so I can prepare for applying next year. Any tips that fit within Islamic values - like routines after salah, community accountability, or small habits that have worked for you - would be really helpful. Thank you.