Has anyone found any success in developing a new habit. Like a new cleaning routine or something like that? While it is true that for some OCD causes them to excessively clean, mine does the exact opposite. It makes it nearly impossible for me to get started bc my anxiety is so bad. I have low energy and even the smallest tasks cause me to feel overwhelmed. And then when I think of the sheer magnitude of all that needs to be done in my house I feel hopeless and paralyzed, which causes me to feel even more tired. It feels impossible

I haven’t really been very successful in making it a new habit but sometimes I’ll just set a timer for 5 minutes and so as much cleaning or picking up as I can. I always feel better after! But it’s hard to get started. It’s overwhelming to think of all I need to clean - I agree.

One of the things that I often teach people that I work with is that feelings often catch up to our behavior- what I mean by that is that the more we behave the way we want and value (example: cleaning house) the more we "feel" like doing it. It is like they say with exercise- you don't feel like it often but once you do it you start to enjoy it and feel like doing it more. The worse thing someone who is depressed/anxious can do is to stay in bed and not get up and do the things they know they need to do. But it is also one of the hardest. Don't base what you do on how you feel in that moment, I think that is the key.

I did start going to the gym about 3 weeks ago to do something for myself. I will sometimes get a lot of anxiety and start thing "what if this because a new obsession" "what if I become a person that always watched what they eat" & blah blah blah and when thoughts like that come I do ERP BUT I try not to let my OCD get the best of me when I know I'm only going to the gym to better myself mentally and physically,