How do you cope with maladaptive daydreaming?

[LostSoul99]

So here's the thing. I used to love maladaptive daydreaming because it gave me a safer happier world to rely on. But now I realized, I could've had so much more in life if I didn't spend hours and hours daydreaming. If I'm not listening to music and pacing in the room, I'm zoning out during study time and engaging in scene playing in my head. Either that or I allow myself to sleep for a period of thirty minutes just so I could engage in some sort of fantasy in my head which then turns into 2 hours. The thing is now that I'm in grade 12, I've realized that I've just somehow managed to get acceptable grades and managed to get into some university programs that I applied to. But now I have to keep my grades up and I have all sciences and a hard teacher this semester and I need an 85+ average. I can't fly my way through this semester and I definitely cannot fly my way through university. Any suggestions on how you kept focus through out university/high school while also suffering from maladaptive daydreaming? Sometimes even the thought of being with a textbook in an isolated room makes me depressed. I don't know what I'll do. I also want to lose some pounds before university but I can't get myself to work out. The thing is, I have a good plan, I have every resource possible for me to reach my goals but it's just I have poor time management skills and maladaptive daydreaming! :(

[LostSoul99]

Thank you for the advice everyone. Yes I will definitely try going to a library and study as much as I could. And yes Alta Modren, I think fear does stop me from working hard. I have a lot of anxiety and once I start doing bad, it's hard to pull myself back up. It's like torture because I always think I'm going to fail. 

[Queen Dopamine]

I agree with abber. I can't eliminate it entirely, and honestly, I don't want to. I'm much more successful when I try to integrate daydreaming into my schedule, instead of making myself stop. For instance, when I have an assignment or an article to write, I will do x amount of work, then an hour of daydreaming. Sometimes, I do very little work before daydreaming lol but it gets you moving!

[The1andonlyAbber]

Make a bit of time each day to daydream (it helps if it's a part of your routine). When you feel the urge to daydream while studying, just tell yourself that you'll be able to daydream later at the appointed time. Trying to get rid of Maladaptive Daydreaming completely is almost impossible, but if you only daydream at appropriate times it won't affect you too much.

[Alta Morden]

I am happy that you realize how important this period in your life is and how far your next steps could take you.  Be a little gentle with yourself because on top of MDs you also have all those hard to manage hormonal changes coursing through you!  Understand that but don't give up when you have set-backs. Fear is your enemy, of getting good enough grades, facing university, the lot.  Any trick you can find, like the suggested studying in a public place, will help. If you can, stop them when they first start too.

[Robin]

Yeah, make an effort to always be around people, even if you're just studying or working and not really interacting with them much. In my experience, that makes it a lot easier to stay focused on your work and keep your daydreams at bay. Also, try to stay interested in your work so that you don't get bored and feel the need to start daydreaming. It's not too late for you to try and cut down on your MD to enjoy university more, too. It takes a ridiculous amount of self control to tell your MD to cut it out, but it's definitely possible, and really rewarding. (This is coming from someone who's been working on cutting down on my MD for 2 years after having the same concerns in senior year of high school that you're having)

[Waq]

someone suggested studying in a public place like a library. i think its a good idea. also try group studies. from my experience, i did well in years i studied in groups.