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Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#201

Post by orblivion »

endymi0n wrote: post #59

I can relate a lot. I'm still burning through self-motivation hacks at 35, some of which are helping while most don't. Eventually, the hack with by far the largest impact (which brought me to currently being cofounder and CTO of one of the more successful German startups) was realizing that while I simply suck at self-motivating, I never had a problem getting stuff done when working for others. I effortlessly produce…

So here's a question - what if I am of this disposition but I have a lot of ideas? And I would not be satisfied with life unless I'm pursuing them? Is there a way to reach out to find people to be in charge of me to execute on my ideas? Does anybody want to do that? (These are not necessarily businesses)

Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#203

Post by bitL »

sschueller wrote: post #185
bitL wrote: post #178

What can help: - visualize yourself as a homeless in your late 40s, abandoned by your wife and kids, no longer recognized/avoided by your friends, destitute, in bad health. It's a likely outcome if you don't learn how to finish things, work on your own projects and make it. Think about it as your default future state you want to avoid - remove distractions while you are working on something. If distractions are your…

Working out of fear of losing everything will make you miserable and can actually block you from getting things done. I would try to find positive outlooks not negative ones. Reward, not punishment. Your other points however are very helpful.

Maybe in the beginning. I've gotten the impression that OP is already beyond this stage where positive reinforcement was necessary and did the first steps, struggling with the subsequent ones.

If you studied (natural) reinforcement learning, negative reward seems to be working as well, even in case if all you get are negative rewards (which some researchers/philosophers actually consider as accurate description of life). Even historically, religions used it profoundly, e.g. by default you end up in hell and you have to do much better (up to the point of becoming a hero) to escape - easy coasting won't do it. It's quite fascinating to think this tells us what motivation approaches work on humans as they persisted through evolutionary selection to this day and how one can use them to improve one's condition.

Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#204

Post by garmaine »

zinckiwi wrote: post #5

I'm familiar with this. There's no magic solution, sadly, but I'll share one thing that has helped me and may apply at least to some of your situations. I realised a while ago that my main issue was with nebulous tasks -- that is, the more concrete, defined, and _meetable_ a task was, the less trouble I had with it. So I started to break down large tasks, which never got started much less finished, into smaller ones,…

> There's no magic solution

In cases where it is medically necessary, there is: Adderall.

http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mor...

Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#205

Post by jdavis703 »

I would advise you start talking with a therapist who specializes in mindfulness training. Meditition and mindfulness can help you learn how to focus, while at the same time being less judgemental of yourself. I recently did about 6 months of online chat therapy for my anxiety (which was hindering my work productivity), and applying the mindfulness techniques that I learned has been really good for my well being and productivity.

Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#207

Post by garmaine »

Tepix wrote: post #177
moduspol wrote: post #157

I'd recommend talking to your doctor about Adderall. I have the exact same kind of issues focusing and basically have all my life. Sometime in college I talked to my doctor about it and it's single-handedly one of the best decisions I've made. With it, I can multi-task and stay focused on even tedious tasks. I'd say I'm easily 4x as productive, which has helped my career tremendously. Seriously--I don't want to come…

Adderall is an illegal drug in many countries. Be careful.

That’s why the recommendation was to see a doctor (and ideally a psychiatrist not a general practitioner). There are many legally prescribed medications to treat ADHD and most jurisdictions allow at least one of them.

Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#208

Post by garmaine »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #39

I suffer the same as you, but at a younger age. I have also been wondering if I suffer from ADHD too. Even at university I really struggled to sit there and do one thing for an extended period. I stopped going to lectures because I couldn't handle sitting in the lecture theater for an hour, I could never do homework either. The only work that I've ever really managed to focus on and stick at for hours is physical wor…

That sounds like ADHD. You should see a psychiatrist.

Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#209

Post by bluejekyll »

orblivion wrote: post #201
endymi0n wrote: post #59

I can relate a lot. I'm still burning through self-motivation hacks at 35, some of which are helping while most don't. Eventually, the hack with by far the largest impact (which brought me to currently being cofounder and CTO of one of the more successful German startups) was realizing that while I simply suck at self-motivating, I never had a problem getting stuff done when working for others. I effortlessly produce…

So here's a question - what if I am of this disposition but I have a lot of ideas? And I would not be satisfied with life unless I'm pursuing them? Is there a way to reach out to find people to be in charge of me to execute on my ideas? Does anybody want to do that? (These are not necessarily businesses)

> Is there a way to reach out to find people to be in charge of me to execute on my ideas?

If it were a business, these would probably be your customers, you usually reach out to them via sales. If instead these are ideas (software) that you want to explore, open-source is a great avenue. As you gain users, issues filed for new features or against bugs become your motivation. To gain users in OSS, you generally need to publicize through a blog or something.

> Does anybody want to do that?

Just find users, and they’ll do it organically.

Re: Ask HN: Is it 'normal' to struggle so hard with work?

#210

Post by dnate »

orblivion wrote: post #201
endymi0n wrote: post #59

I can relate a lot. I'm still burning through self-motivation hacks at 35, some of which are helping while most don't. Eventually, the hack with by far the largest impact (which brought me to currently being cofounder and CTO of one of the more successful German startups) was realizing that while I simply suck at self-motivating, I never had a problem getting stuff done when working for others. I effortlessly produce…

So here's a question - what if I am of this disposition but I have a lot of ideas? And I would not be satisfied with life unless I'm pursuing them? Is there a way to reach out to find people to be in charge of me to execute on my ideas? Does anybody want to do that? (These are not necessarily businesses)

Sure, if you can pay a CEO salary.

That is literally the job of a CEO. He executes.

People argue that money is never as good a motivator as true passion is. I am not taking sides on that matter, it is just something to consider.

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