How can I take care of myself better?

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Taking care of myself is a challenge. I procrastinate and I forget a lot. I have been forgetting to brush my teeth. My parents are concerned.

I dont shower enough and it stresses me out. I sleep too much and I smoke a lot of pot. I have horrible feelings that will take over if I dont smoke weed. I dont know how to be responsible.

Have you tried setting alarms for specific times to do things, like brush your teeth, shower, etc.?

I find doing that and then telling myself that I need to just get it over with helps me get it done, then once I get used to it and do that consistently I've developed a habit and don't need the alarm any more.

By the way, how often do you smoke pot? Do you "sleep a lot" as in you just sleep longer than you'd like to? I'm only asking because pot messes with REM sleep, so it can make you feel more tired if you smoke a lot of it or if you smoke it before bed.

I've noticed that if I've smoked pot or drank alcohol close to bedtime I want to sleep longer to try to "make up" the energy I'm not getting from REM sleep.

There's a movie called "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" about St. Francis of Assisi. When he was pretty much a lone nut, unwelcome at home, he decided to rebuild a ruined church. The chorus of the theme music is "Step by step, stone by stone." He didn't get overwhelmed by the vast gulf between what he wanted to see and what he could do, he just did as much as he could each day.
Can you establish small goals and rewards for yourself? Even keeping track of things can help. Have you tried CBD oil, to see if it can control your anxiety without the impairment?

Convince yourself it's a priority and then treat it like it is. I'm not exactly one to preach on this stuff, I'm not exactly the best at maintaining myself either but if you convince yourself it's important and that you deserve it you'll probably be better at staying on top of it.

Would a text message reminder help?

St. Francis of Assisi was an eccentric man of his time----an oddball, if you will.

But he managed to create one of the greatest Christian institutions of all time: the Franciscans.

Some of the greatest people in history were "oddballs." It does seem like, in a considerable amount of cases, that a person must be eccentric, odd, off the rocker, whatever in order to do something noteworthy.

One of the reasons why I haven't done anything of note----is because I'm too conventional.

Brush teeth earlier in the day . Wash up earlier ,, make it a schedule , if you wanna relax do these things first .
It might’ve a good habit to get into ?

Idk if you've tried it or not, and obviously you don't have to listen to the opinion of a rando online, but have you tried therapy? If you're using pot to avoid negative feelings, they must be very painful for you. I'm all for weed myself, but if you're using it as a coping mechanism that's a recipe for substance abuse. Addressing them might make it easier to be sober during the day. I found therapy very helpful personally.

Another thing: I also noticed that I spent a lot of my day, and I think a lot of people do this, just sort of coasting and not thinking or structuring what I do. Nowadays I wake up, have breakfast and a cup of tea. Shower and brush my teeth. Work if I'm scheduled. Then before I relax, I set a timer where I have to do productive things. One timer for my film studies, then another timer for housework/other chores. Once those are done I have the rest of the day free. I've been slowly increasing the length of the timers so I have less free time. I've been coming out of a pretty lengthy depression so I don't want to rush into things in case it causes burnout.

So long as you're doing better than you were yesterday, that's good. You don't need to transform overnight, or compare yourself to others. Also, I found that a lot of the time I am "multitasking." I have twenty tabs open or am playing a game while also having the TV on, whatever. I end up not really enjoying any of it. Try and stop, think critically, and focus on what you're currently doing whether it be for work or pleasure. I think you will get more out of it when you focus on one thing at a time.

Keep lists

Get a job

It might be worth you looking up Pathalogical Demand Avoidance. I'm not saying it's a definite or anything, but have a look and see what you think.

Pot is known for making people lazy, forgetful, and eventually paranoid. If you can't quit entirely I would at least try to ease off a bit. Maybe swap every other smoke for a cup of tea or coffee?

Sunshine and exercise are great for lifting your mood. No need to be a superhero about it, just get outside and go for a walk. Eating healthily and at regular times will help, too.

Things like showering and brushing your teeth aren't primarily for anyone else's benefit, they're to make you feel nice. Take the opportunity to relax. Showers are great because no-one else can bother you, and the water is like a gentle massage. I tend to regard a nice shower or bath as a bit of a luxury, even though it's an everyday thing. Despite what the adverts will tell you, there's no need to make a big deal out of it with 10,001 different soaps, shampoos, conditioners, moisturisers etc. One or two basic products are all you need. And the more often you shower, the quicker and easier it is to get clean.

I used to struggle to remember to clean my teeth sometimes. I've had two teeth removed, I've got two long term fillings, one short term filling that'll be a root canal job eventually, and I've just cracked another tooth. Toothache is painfully unpleasant and dental work costs a fortune. Again, you don't brush your teeth to please others, you do it to avoid all that. And trust me, you want to avoid all that. Get into a routine, brush your teeth after breakfast and again before bed. If necessary set alarms.

Talking of alarms, I absolutely hate being shocked awake in the morning, it does me no good at all. A good trick I've learned is to bump my head into the pillow for the time I want to wake up. So bump (gently) eight times for a natural 8am wake up. It isn't spot on, but it's surprisingly accurate.

You also sound to me like you're lacking purpose. Can you find a hobby? Something creative, maybe?

Two Shampoo + One Conditioner = One Shampoo.

Maybe the OP, or others, would like to commit to a daily progress chart here? Today, I did a monthly chore in the kitchen just one day late, and also trimmed my beard, but I made no progress on tidy-up. I did do all the regular items - exercise, getting some sun, and a weekly Zoom meeting.

I went for a walk. Only a mile but that's further than I've been in ages. Also only had one beer tonight which is very unusual for me. After a day of procrastination I managed to complete some more of the horrible Tribunal form I'm working on, too. Bearing in mind it took me a fortnight to even start the thing, that's good.

Yesterday, I was getting over the frustrations of that Zoom meeting, and some dizziness from watching too much action on screens the day before. Motion sickness really lingers on me.
Today went better. There was another Zoom meeting, and I talked more than usual for that one. I use them to break my isolation here. Also, it was the first day of riding a bike outside this year. Even getting it out of the shed was a chore in itself, and there was a lot of doing things differently this year too. And, I got in a shower and laundry. Some recent innovations in fast meal prep are still pleasing me with dividends.

Today, I answered a query in just a few minutes that I'd been putting off for a week - very rude. I also re-kindled a debate that makes me nervous, so I did the older chore before getting re-absorbed. Still no progress on tidying the place up, though.

Good on the older chore getting done. My executive function only seems to allow for most urgent and direct issues
Or urgent financial stuff..or food and some moderation of personal maintenence . Avoiding a lot of interpersonal interaction . Less some internet interaction . Am scared to lose ability to sleep altogether, but am struggling through sleep , and of course the was a spring time shift, which is of no help .By the way got one very large older task done aswell recently . Hooray

In my words: Make it a routine.

My morning schedule is very predictable...until I get through it. Then my day becomes unpredictable. But brushing my teeth is part of going to bed.

A catch is medications. I'm old enough that I have several daily medications. While it is not optimum, I take them all in the morning during my morning routine (my doctors know this) because later in the day I cannot be relied on to take them.

Wise words from a friend: find reasons to do it, instead of to not. Worked for me, sometimes.

Self care is essential to all relationships and directly builds self esteem. This is something that sometimes helps.

I need to get mentally ready for a while and keep processing it before I actually do it.

Psychology says there must be a push and personal will. Such as pushed by another it's not good.