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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?

#291

Post by moduspol »

sebnap wrote: post #282
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…

Yeah, and resolve your issues with life like this. You are a human being, with a very complex psyche, on top of it, you are to unaware to be aware of most of it. So, the thing that drives you, is a program written into you, maybe you should change something in your life, than just take a pill and transform into a robot. Maybe you enjoy, drawing, making art, being closer to your children, doing something in nature, me…

Do you feel the same way about people using inhalers to treat Asthma?

There's no basis for believing I am fundamentally "the way I should be" struggling to focus on tasks, or that I should be at a disadvantage relative to my peers simply because they were born with more efficient brain chemistry.

What I enjoy is building things, and Adderall helps me do that. Neither myself nor society is made better by my spending days scrolling through HN or Reddit instead of building the things I want to build, or doing things I want to do.

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

#292

Post by dreeves »

davidjnelson wrote: post #284
orblivion wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

You might like something like this: https://www.commitaction.com/

Ooh, I hadn't known about that one! Here's a similar one whose founder I can vouch for: https://bossasaservice.life/

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

#293

Post by sebnap »

moduspol wrote: post #291
sebnap wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and resolve your issues with life like this. You are a human being, with a very complex psyche, on top of it, you are to unaware to be aware of most of it. So, the thing that drives you, is a program written into you, maybe you should change something in your life, than just take a pill and transform into a robot. Maybe you enjoy, drawing, making art, being closer to your children, doing something in nature, me…

Do you feel the same way about people using inhalers to treat Asthma? There's no basis for believing I am fundamentally "the way I should be" struggling to focus on tasks, or that I should be at a disadvantage relative to my peers simply because they were born with more efficient brain chemistry. What I enjoy is building things, and Adderall helps me do that. Neither myself nor society is made better by my spending d…

If you believe you are brain chemistry induced, sure. But maybe it's the other way around. And this is what "the-searching-in-life" could be about, or not?

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

#294

Post by xchaotic »

I think very few in the Western culture will encourage that, but if it's your nature, don't fight it too much, you don't have to be the hero that ships app number 1000000021 in the app store. Get or keep a comfy '9 to 5' corporate job, get a gym membership and enjoy life the way you enjoy it and not the way is trendy in 2018. Humans are not built to be systematic.

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

#296

Post by moduspol »

sebnap wrote: post #293
moduspol wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you feel the same way about people using inhalers to treat Asthma? There's no basis for believing I am fundamentally "the way I should be" struggling to focus on tasks, or that I should be at a disadvantage relative to my peers simply because they were born with more efficient brain chemistry. What I enjoy is building things, and Adderall helps me do that. Neither myself nor society is made better by my spending d…

If you believe you are brain chemistry induced, sure. But maybe it's the other way around. And this is what "the-searching-in-life" could be about, or not?

I honestly don't know how far I am from "normal," but why do you believe there is a kind of implied sacredness even in the "normal" human condition?

Even if, for the sake of argument, we accepted all humans have trouble concentrating to the same degree, why is struggling with that a desirable goal? A lot of us get wisdom teeth, too. Am I missing out on important parts of the human experience by having them removed?

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

#297

Post by herbst »

My theorie is that while we as humanity accepted the differences in human pretty far so far we still expect a pretty standardised human in terms of work environments.

However I think the trick is essentially to give up trying to act normal and finding your own way. Something that fits your style of life.

Edit:// I am certain any doctor would agree its ADHD. However you'd still have to question if amphetamines really present a final answer then.

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

#298

Post by baby »

teekert wrote: post #214

You mention playing video games as a rewards and I immediately wonder: how much of your problem is the fact that video games made you get used to fast and easy rewards? How much did you desensitize your innate reward system by video games? I'm probably going to get down voted for this remark but I encourage every gamer feeling the urge to down vote to take a critical look at themselves before doing so, be honest, my…

I think it's not just a gaming problem. The social networking fastfoods and TV is also about short instant busts of reward.

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

#299

Post by herbst »

raducu wrote: post #150
endymi0n wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Went through Ritalin (normal & XR), amphetamine, SSRI and tricyclic antidepressants, but in hindsight none of those gave me much leverage... just left me with holes in my short term memory I'm still regularly annoyed by. YMMV of course, I'm not a doctor and results in this space vary wildly. The really large improvements came from external structure and therapy. BTW I experienced pretty much the same as you did in th…

Ritalin and amphetamine did not improve your focus/motivation? Not even the first couple of times you tried them?

Not OP. But when my doc said I have ADHD I gave it a try and it doesn't for me. I tried several dosages and settings but it does never improve my focus and especially not my motivation. If anything the wrong dosage made it just worse.

I still don't see the use for these pills out of last resort party add on.

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

#300

Post by baby »

mikekchar wrote: post #40

I don't know exactly what your "success" or "failure" looks like to you, but I will say that working in an unstructured environment (which is what you normally do when freelancing) is super hard. I'm willing to bet that if you were to get a 9-5 job you'd discover that you're actually outperforming most other people -- because the 8 years of experience you have pushing yourself. Being "self-driven" is both a talent an…

This. I know many scientists who've been claiming that their SO was the reason for their success. I know I've personally started working a lot more since I've been caught.
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