Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

IMHO, this relates to your own personal way of attributing value.

Future happiness holds more value for you personally for whatever reason - this is great! i am happy for you.

an alternative view point which is also sometimes correct is that future happiness holds zero value as you may never get it.

I don't know whats really going on but i basically agree that laziness is not a thing. whether its explained by different weighting of future values or different weighting of the value of doing nothing (also highly rewarding) i think is a moot point.

The advice given by the original comment to me holds true regardless. Also the way it is stated is especially important (as i think anyone who has benefited from such advice would see): step 1: beating yourself up doesn't work, you need a logical argument against that to help your brain adjust, step 2: find a way into doing things without a set end goal in mind, this is to learn the pleasure of doing the thing, not getting to the goal.. that way you are triggering different value / reward calculations in the brain.

Please note i firmly believe there is no one explanation that will work for everyone, you have to factor in their view points and biases while finding the specific language that will fire the right neurons for that person... we are all hear to share perspectives in the hope that they are of value to someone else.

Adderall

Sorry, had to crack the joke.

On a serious note, my answer would be: take an individualized approach. Here are some examples:

- Was your motivation damaged by decades of forced boring school? You need time to relearn enjoyment of learning

- Are you a nihilist? Seek therapy and a real reason to live with passion.

- Are you depressed, PTSD, etc? Seek help.

- Are you unhealthy? Change it.

- Do you genuinely have ADD or something that neurologically explains it? Seek help.

- Are your friends unmotivated like you? Seek different friends.

- Do you sleep poorly? Improve that.

- Do you have an addiction that messes your dopamine (or NE, 5-HT) levels (porn, cocaine, etc)? Get help.

I completely agree, as someone who was diagnosed at about the same time in my life. It was one of the best and worst days in my life the first time I took medication: best because a mental fog had lifted for the first time ever, worst because how different would my life be if I'd been diagnosed sooner?

Fifteen years later, I am still stably medicated, and life is what I had always wanted it to be: productive and fulfilling. I hope anyone reading this does not let a stigma of medication bar them from talking to somebody about it if they've faced years of frustration over not being able to do what others seem to do easily: just getting shit done.

It's interesting you mention sugar. There's also a biological component here--diet plays a huge role in how your brain works.

For example, on a ketogenic diet (no sugar and limited carbs) your brain produces ketones and many people report far less lethargy.

Sugar helps in the short-term, but if you get past the keto-flu, you no longer become glycogen dependent. Long-term ketogenic diets are now finally being studied, with many people reporting tremendous success.

Psychiatrists love giving you sugar and drugs though. Any drugs, any sugar!

Maybe it's not clear to you the possible reward you can get from exploring your idea, solving the problem, delivering what is expected etc. So the task itself becomes meaningless or purposeless. I think this topic has a lot of touchpoints with procrastination, even though they are different things.