Scientifically, how do I get my shit together?

Bump.
3rd year EE here. My life is actually starting to fall apart this semester. I've always felt different, sometimes depressed, sometimes manic, but this semester has done something to me without even realizing it.
I'm taking on debt if I stay here any longer, but I can't take more hours per semester without breaking mentally and/or getting poor grades.
My physical health has been the greatest indication. Over the summer and this semester I've probably gained 40 pounds.
I know I'm not special in this, but I really want to give up.
I switched majors to follow my passion and I'm just getting my teeth kicked in and want to kill myself.
I'm watching all of my friends blaze past me, scoring well on tests, finishing all homeworks completely and on time, getting internships, money, and I feel like I'm trying to survive.
I don't really expect Veeky Forums to be an empathetic board, but if someone has made it and has some sage advice please share.

Were you always getting poor grades? Has there been any recent significant changes in your life that may be causing you to perform so poorly in your academics?

I so relate it's unbelievable, it's just the tip of my nose above water right now. It might be worth it just to take on debt and then work it off before you move on in your career. You're an engineer so 300k starting right? lol.

Get a healthy cycle going. A pattern that shapes your life.

Get your sleep scheduled on track and do some regular mild exercise like swimming or going for a morning walk. (nothing intense, the point is to get you moving at a regular time more than anything else).

You need a healthy cycle to act as a foundation of stability to build upon. A steady job can help.

For better advice I need better intel.

Been in a similar place.

I had good habits going with regular healthy eating, exercise and so on. Then I hit College and the class schedule fucked my schedule.

You need some stability but I bet your situation and the shit stressing you has you boxed in and feeling trapped.

Stressed out students is not a new thing. There(usually) are resources available such as counseling and talking to instructors about such problems, most of the time they are willing to try to cut you some slack to make things more manageable.

Can you give an example of what you do over a week now compared to what you did before you started classes?

How do I learn to like reading? I've read maybe 1 book fully (not including kids picture book) in my life, but feel that I am missing out. Even in english classes I typically just took enough notes and googled the rest to do well.

I am applying to PhD programs next year (EE) and have heard self studying books and reading in general is necessary to do well. It's not that I am bad at english, reading, or writing as those scores were my highest on the SAT/ACT and my comprehension has always been above average+, but I just can't get into it even if I like the subject. Help please

You can try a text to speech program if you have better luck with the spoken word than the written.

If your just looking to read for pleasure, just go to the library find some books that seem relevant to your interest and try a few pages.

If that gives you trouble, try a few decent non English movies with subtitles.

Are some people physically unable to ever get their shit together? I spend several years reading about self-help advice but never applied it for more than a day. I don't think there is any advice I haven't heard yet. But I just lack the strength to apply it consistently. Maybe I will manage it for one day but then the next day I wake up and just go straight to the computer and spend the rest of the day there. Then the next day is the same until some unpleasant event reminds me again that I have to get my shit together. Only for me to read some self-help advice and not apply it...

I am ultra sensitive to discomfort and pain. And somehow the fear of the future just makes me scared and leads to me trying to suppress these unpleasant thoughts with compulsive internet browsing instead of taking actions to making the future more pleasant. Also I keep deluding myself. I will not go to college telling myself I will just study at home but then of course I don't. But I keep repeating this mistake. Then once I fall behind in college I get too anxious to face the reality of how far behind I am and I end up procrastinating by browsing the internet again.

People just call me lazy and even people with mental illness aren't as bad as me. Maybe there is just something fundamentally wrong with my brain and current technology can't find out what it is. Maybe it's because I have no friends so I can let myself go without anyone telling me that I let myself go. Maybe it's because I see myself as inferior: stupid, uncreative, weak, low energy, socially retarded, ugly, poor... so I don't have any trust in myself being able to reach any of my goals. Maybe I just lack the voice of reason that would tell me that if I miss this day of college I will fall behind. Or maybe the problem is that I get the unreasonable thoughts to skip college in the first place...

Well the first step is to construct a noose.

>inconsistent goal setting
ADHD?
>sensitive to discomfort and pain
autism?
rejection sensitive dysphoria?
>writes well, is expressive and intelligble; is down on self
Dunning-Kruger?

> tell your family and friends that you're going pseduo-off-the-grid for half a year
> cancel phone service
> delete social accounts
> print business cards, even if youre a shmuck
> network on campus, even if youre not a student
> find something youre sort of good at and dive in

I'm serious. This sounds like somewhere between ADHD and autism spectrum.

>periods of hyperfocus then total lack of fucks to give
Also ADHD symptoms.

>any advice I haven't heard yet
Most people don't suggest ADHD because it's a "normie" disorder.

Eat more fiber and less greasy foods

>less greasy foods
Protein and fat > carbs

Enjoy your clogged arteries.

>fat is filling
>protein is filling
>meat has all essential amino acids and vitamin B
>meat is delicious
>L-tyrosine is a precursor to dopamine
>carbs cause blood glucose spike and crash, facilitating poor mood
GREASY FOOD FOREVER. Hold the bun.

My triglycerides are half what they used to be, bb. Thanks, keto.

I have ADHD and you sound just like me. I saw a counselor and take Adderall and nothing helped me much

Learn to love to learn. The most intelligent people thoroughly enjoy whatever discipline they are gifted in.

Is that even possible to learn? Or is curiosity just something you are born with or can only aquire when you are young?

not scientific but something that really helped me build habits that are in line with my goals.

don't try to change too much at once, start with something easy and do that for a month (like making your bed, or studying 30min). It's meme advice but it really worked for me.

Also don't aim for 100%. eating healthy form now on until you die is a stupidly unrealistic goal. If you aim for 90% you'll be less inclined to throw everything away after falling off the wagon once

It's about how you think, OP.
youtu.be/6Nv0Nc33-28?t=5m8s
Skip to 6:20
>what I realized successful people do, is they don't go with the days, they go with the hours.
What you have to realize OP, and I mean really realize it, is that every hour of the day matters. If you sit in bed chilling, if you watch football games, play vidya, etc. you lose hours of your time, and efficient use of these hours is what separates successful people from mediocre people and failures. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't ever relax and enjoy yourself (I mean, I'm doing that right now) but just be aware of how many hours you are using.
Don't say "I have 3 days to finish X", say "I have 72 hours", this mindset keeps you from leaking hours without realizing it. That simple shift in thinking turned me from a horrible procrastinator into someone who gets shit done way ahead of time, and I'm not only ahead in classes, I've also made big leaps in my hobbies.
Also get a good pomodoro app (I use clockwork tomato)

This. If you think of them as fun puzzles, you can essentially train your brain to genuinely enjoy doing said problems

>My advice is to throw away all vidya and tv's and just study atleast 4 hours a day. Try to get into your head that solving problems is akin to a crossword puzzle or board game.

What are your study habits like, and how did you get them to how they are?

>I had good habits going with regular healthy eating, exercise and so on. Then I hit College and the class schedule fucked my schedule.

This describes me to a T. I made extra effort to work on my shit during the summer so that I'd have good habits, and be able to manage the semester and I was actually thriving and content for a good couple months, but as soon as Uni started again it all went to shit.

How do you get consistent at this to where life, and schedule changes don't completely wreck your progress?

Will power is like a muscle. You can over do it and harm yourself.

You need to build it up.

Everybody goes for the quick fixes, get burnt then repeat.

Also, that sounds like you may have other issues compounding the problem.

>Suggestion: try something mildly hard before going online, like make a rule for yourself. Must do 3 squats before touching PC. Then give it some time and try to build on it.

This

dude you've learned enough, those people u talk about have a deeper hell in front of them

its time for you to quit and become a butcher

Sleep ten hours a day, eat less carbs and sugar, and exercise. Do all of these one at a time, develop your will power.

>I've read maybe 1 book fully
Why are you even on this board?

>Family and friends
>Social accounts
>Implying implications

Are you in college / uni , and if so what year? I'm in a similar situation as you, and second year CE

Adderall prescription + schedule + long term plan + text books and internet
Mostly Adderall tho

Science and math are nice so why not?

Read the growth mindset book

It will not solve all your problems, but help in the way you face them

>Gained 40 lbs
>Stressed
>Depressed
Deadass, unironically raise your heart rate every day for about 90 minutes. Easy on the sugar, bugs, apparently depression in males correlates with high sugar intake.

If you think your life is consumed by chaos, bring in some order. It's really as easy as that. For example:
>Im having problems
>Why am I having problems
>How can I fix this?
If you really break it down, it's lack of sleep, unhealthy eating habits, and too much stress in the vein of "all work and no play." Go the fuck to bed, eat some spinach, go for a run, get some friends.
If you won't put the effort in, just kill yourself for whinging over something so trivial. Everybody and their sister has had a similar experience to you. You look at your friends externally and compare it to yourself internally, what a joke. They're probably just as mentally ill.
Anyway, go get medical leave and talk to a psychiatrist because you're a suicidal wreck. Chill out.

yeh this

i stopped being depressed one day when i didn't want to be depressed anymore.

I can't tell if this is a serious post or not

>Will power is like a muscle. You can over do it and harm yourself.

Fuck, that's good shit user, i'll save it