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Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#231

Post by jpdus »

austincheney wrote: post #201
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #179

"Lazy" is just another way of saying that you're not doing something somebody else thinks you should be doing. Nobody is lazy at playing video games or eating a favorite food. If you like doing it, you do it. You can't be lazy. You can only be lazy in some kind of context where you or others judge you and find you wanting. So two pieces of advice. First, stop judging so much. Do what you love doing and don't feel the…

> Nobody is lazy at playing video games or eating a favorite food. I cannot disagree more. You can be lazy about something that brings enjoyment. Laziness is stagnation without regard for enjoyment or perceptions. In other words it is the opposite of ambition or progression. For example you can enjoy playing video games and yet become lazy about it through a lack of effort in that a decline of related goals does not…

Very good point. You can be ambitious playing video games (e.g. put a lot of practice into it, get to the top of the ladder in a competitive game or organize a big clan/guild/tournament) or lazy playing video games (download some free to play game or "idle" game and just click away without putting mental effort in it).

And from personal experience, people who are ambitious in video games are mostly able to transfer that ambition to other areas of life. There was even a paper [1] that compares managing a successful WoW raid guild to managing a company. I had many meetings with both, guild/raid leaders and managers of multinational companies and would confirm that many personality traits are similar.

However, the average gamer probably tends a bit more to the "lazy" side of things but probably the area of application (e.g. job/computer games) is not the right category to explore/define mental laziness.

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228773214_Leadershi...

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#232

Post by InvisibleUp »

apostacy wrote: post #111
toomanybeersies wrote: post #18

There is the potential that you have ADHD, because what you're describing sounds similar to my situation. I eventually ended up on stimulant medication to help, but there's non-stimulant medication available (if you're opposed to eating amphetamines for breakfast), as well as counselling and other treatment options that don't involve medication. Even if you don't want to seek professional treatment, you could look up…

I highly recommend checking out this thread about stimulant medications: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16033574 As someone who has ADHD and has taken stimulant medications for a long time, I would like to share my experience. There is a very faustian aspect of taking these medications. Don't think that you can change your brain chemistry and not change who you are. I would not have the career I have today with…

I'm obviously not a doctor, so take my words with a healthy dosage of salt, but do understand that different medications can have different effects on you. There's multiple types of ADHD medication (the two most common families are Adderall and Ritalin/Concerta), and because they're composed differently, it's possible that one can help more than the other.

For me personally (YMMV!!!), I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and was offered stimulant medication for it. I first tried Adderall, which did in fact work, but after a while it made me quite moody and depressed and miserable. I later switched to Concerta and I'm doing quite a bit better.

That said, definitely don't feel pressured to stay on and medication that isn't helping you, or that you feel is hurting you. It's ultimately your choice what you put in your body.

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#233

Post by InvisibleUp »

throwaway392938 wrote: post #192
throwaway392938 wrote: post #181

I'm using a throwaway account for this because I don't want to be this candid with any account that can be traced back to me. After reading some of the response mentioning ADHD and the issues people have, I wanted to talk about my issues and see if it resonates with anyone else and if others relates to it. It's not something I ever really discussed with anyone and I do think it would be good for me to hear from other…

For some reason, when I try to edit this post, it doesn't update it correctly, there's a paragraph missing: On the other hand, whenever my mind find something interesting, I can have a lot of focus. I'm able to spend a couple of week only thinking about that issue, during that time, nothing else really matters, and I can't really get interested in anything else. I have difficulty talking about anything else with my p…

That sounds exactly like what the ADHD community calls a "hyperfixation". If you do want to look down the ADHD path more, here's some articles and such that might be helpful. Obviously, see a therapist about all of this and get diagnosed too if this all seriously resonates with you.

- "Why I Procrastinate" - https://invisibleup.com/articles/27/ (disclaimer: i wrote this one)

- "ADHD: A Lifelong Struggle" - https://gekk.info/articles/adhd.html

- ADHD Alien comics - https://adhd-alien.tumblr.com/

- Dani Donovan's ADHD infographics - https://twitter.com/i/events/808796572716765185

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#234

Post by arkanciscan »

taylorlunt wrote: post #102
arkanciscan wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD can be exacerbated by low energy. Some psychiatrists recommend eating sugar to help maintain focus. As for the other stuff, if I cut those out I get miserable and more easily bored. Better to use them as carrots; "if I do 45 minutes of coding I can play 1 game of Rocket League."

> As for the other stuff, if I cut those out I get miserable and more easily bored. In my experience this is temporary. It takes about 1-2 weeks for my brain to adjust to the "new normal" of not playing video games or binging youtube. These 1-2 weeks are quite boring, but after that I am able to find things I would normally be bored by interesting. It's as if there is a "boredness set point", and once you cut out the…

I don't want my "normal" life to not include anything that gives me joy.

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#235

Post by ribtoks »

You can try pomodoro timers technique. You try to focus for only 25 minutes at a time and then give yourself some slack. Hopefully after you will see what you achieved in those 25 focused minutes will motivate you to repeat that exercise. I use FocusBit app for that, but there're plenty of pomodoro timers, you name it. The main trick is to get a ticking timer in front of you if nothing else can motivate you.

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#236

Post by sershe »

Interesting, I feel like I have the same problem for the opposite reason - things I cared about came easy to me in HS and college, so I never learned to put in effort as much as others had to; if the task is daunting I am likely to just give up.

I found that what works well for me is breaking the task iteratively into (sometimes, ridiculously) small steps, writing them down (that is important for the approach to work, at least for me) and forcing myself to just do one small step at a time.

Interestingly, this approach affected my skillset for software development too... for example, on my current team I have a reputation for being good at debugging difficult issues, even though I dislike debugging and I'd rather never do it. I dislike it so much I always narrow down and break down the problem into very small parts, which apparently is a great approach to debugging.

Btw, another thing that helps me is playing challenging videogames. There was this article I can't find now about CRPG and action games, where you are either often rewarded for just sitting there, or actually have to learn a physical skill. I found that forcing myself to suck and improve a little bit in RTS and action games, instead of playing (awesome) CRPGs all the time, is a nice low stress way to learn to make effort :)

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#237

Post by kleer001 »

You're suffering from a low trait conscientiousness. It's going to get you in a lot of trouble and drive the main line of suffering in your life on so many levels.

There's nothing else as important in your life as fixing this. It's going to be difficult. Probably the hardest thing you've ever done in your life.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/raising-your-...

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#238

Post by superfreek »

austincheney wrote: post #201
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #179

"Lazy" is just another way of saying that you're not doing something somebody else thinks you should be doing. Nobody is lazy at playing video games or eating a favorite food. If you like doing it, you do it. You can't be lazy. You can only be lazy in some kind of context where you or others judge you and find you wanting. So two pieces of advice. First, stop judging so much. Do what you love doing and don't feel the…

> Nobody is lazy at playing video games or eating a favorite food. I cannot disagree more. You can be lazy about something that brings enjoyment. Laziness is stagnation without regard for enjoyment or perceptions. In other words it is the opposite of ambition or progression. For example you can enjoy playing video games and yet become lazy about it through a lack of effort in that a decline of related goals does not…

I read the top comment and I was like, WOW - I never thought of it that way, this is it! But then I read your reply to the top comment and again I was like: WOW - I never thought of it that way, this is it!

I'm going to read some of the other comments as well. I must confess, I'm a little bit scared now.

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#239

Post by apostacy »

mycelium wrote: post #153
eru wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago when I was 30. I tried a few medications. When I as on Vyvanse, I noticed similar personality changes as what you described. Most notably, my sense of humour suffered. (And before on dexamphetamine, I was really grumpy when it wore off. So I did get into fights.) Things got better after I changed to methylphenidate. For me, it's milder in the side effects. Modafinil and nicot…

What was the diagnosis process like? I'm in my early 30s and have been putting off trying to get an ADHD diagnosis (and medication) even though the symptoms clearly resonate, because I'm concerned that I'll be dismissed as just seeking pills. In college I tried to get diagnosed and was dismissed as lazy and just seeking a prescription. Did you have to deal with any of that skepticism?

In the United States, there are controlled substances, and federal law requires that a psychiatrist write a new prescription every month, with no automatic refills.

However, it is heavily streamlined. My university medical center and on campus pharmacy had me in and out with a week supply of adderall in about two hours. There were weekly followups for about four weeks, then monthly followups every three months, and then it was just five mins with a psychiatrist for minor adjustments thereafter. After graduation, most psychiatrists will do monthly followups over the phone, and may only require you to come in a few times a year.

I have however heard it can be much harder if they suspect that you are unstable or "drug seeking". But if you don't appear to be a risk, and you can clearly explain your situation, then they will usually offer you a week supply and you report if it helps you. I think a big factor is just what your life situation is.

Private psychiatrists are much more likely to help you. Make an appointment with an "ADHD specialist". As long as you don't have any red flags, they are likely to give you a test prescription"

Re: Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness?

#240

Post by kharak »

eru wrote: post #215
kharak wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Went through the list. I'd say at least 50% matches me completely, but some items are situational or are not even close. - Keeping still? As a kid, I had always a problem keeping my leg still. - Excessive talking? Nope, I was the quite kid. Also never interrupted anyone and still don't. - Acting without thinking? The polar opposite. I didn't act because of all the thinking. That problem remains to this very day. - No…

Not everyone has all the symptoms. For example, I don't really display hyperactivity nor mood swings, nor do I have trouble dealing with most kinds of stress. > - Short attention span? Well, depends on the situation. In gaming, I can stay focused all day long. I can read a book for hours. No problem staying focused doing physical activities (sport). Staying focused on coding is really difficult and I constantly zone…

Maybe I should I give it a go. I really don't want to. But this has been frustrating for a long time. Thanks for the effort!
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