I keep doing something that doesn’t require much effort, out of inertia; typically, reading, browsing the web, listening to the radio, washing a dish. Or I just sit or lie there letting my mind wander and periodically trying to get myself to start doing something. If I’m trying to do something that requires thinking (typically homework) when my brain stops working, I keep doing it but I can’t make much progress.
MixedNuts
Karma: 7,216
Thanks. I’ll try the morning light thing; from experience it seems to help somewhat, but I can’t keep it going for long.
If nothing else works, I’ll ask you for the book. I’m skeptical since they tend to recommend unbootstrapable things such as exercise, but it could help.
I’ve tried all that (they’re on LW already).
That wouldn’t work. I do these things by default, because I can’t do the things I want. I don’t even have a problem with standard akrasia anymore, because I immediately act on any impulse I have to do something, given how rare they are. Also, I can expend willpower do stop doing something, whereas “I need to do this but I can’t” seems impervious to it, at least in the amounts I have.
There are plenty of things to be done here, but they’re too hard to bootstrap. The easy ones helped somewhat.
That helped me most. In the grey area between things I can do and things I can’t (currently, cleaning, homework, most phone calls), pressure helps. But no amount of ass-kicking has made me do the things I’ve been trying to do for a while.
The worst are semi-routine activities; the kind of things you need to do sometimes but not frequently enough to mesh with the daily routine. Going to the bank, making most appointments, looking for an apartment, buying clothes (don’t ask me why food is okay but clothes aren’t). That list is expanding.
Other factors that hurt are:
need to do in one setting, no way of doing a small part at a time
need to go out
social situations
new situations
being watched while I do it (I can’t cook because I share the kitchen with other students, but I could if I didn’t)
having to do it quickly once I start
Most of these cause me fear, which makes it harder to do things, rather than make it harder directly.
Yes, I’ve considered that. There are people who can and do help, but not to the extent I’d need. I believe they help me as much as they can while still having a life that isn’t me. I shouldn’t ask for more, should I?
If you have tips for getting more efficient help out of them, suggestions of people who’d help though I don’t expect them to, or ways to get help from other people (professional caretakers?), by all means please shoot.
What do you mean by “cognitive load”? I read the Wikipedia article on cognitive load theory, but I don’t see the connection.
For me, the being-watched part is about embarrassment. I often need to stop and examine a situation and explicitly model it, when most people would just go ahead naturally. Awkward looks cause anxiety.
This sounds like a great idea. I have a strong impulse to answer phones, so if I put the phone far enough from my bed I had to get up to answer it, I’d get past the biggest obstacle.
There are two minor problems: None of the people I know have free time early in the morning, but two minutes is manageable. When outside, I’m not sure what to do so there’s a risk I’d get anxious and default to going home.
I’ll try it, thanks.
Yes! It does feel like running out of a scarce resource most people have in heaps. I don’t know exactly how that resource is generated and how to tell how much I have left before I run out, though.
I promise to give this a honest try, but I expect it to result in panic more than anything.
I see quite a lot of faces in the morning already. Maybe not early enough? Though I’m pretty skeptical; it looks like it’d work best for extroverted neurotypicals, and I’m neither. I added it to the list of tricks, but I’ll try others first.
Definitely. So that’s why I can’t do the stuff I should have done a while ago! Thanks for the insight. What works for you?
I can’t do that, but thanks anyway. A good deal of the reminders happen in a (semi-)professional context where the top priority is pretending to be normal (yes, my priorities are screwed up). Most others come from a person who doesn’t react to “this thing you do is causing me physical pain”, so forget it.
They’re family. I planned to be as independent from the family ASAP, but couldn’t due to my worsening problems.
I’m desperate enough to ask on LW. Of course I’ve Googled everything I could think of.
The link is decent, combining two good tricks and a valuable insight, but all three have been on LW before so I knew them.
Pointing out Alicorn in particular may be useful, but isn’t it sort of forcing her to offer help? She already did, though, which makes this point moot.
Thanks, but it gets worse. I can’t order anything online, because I need to see my bank about checks or debit cards first. I can imagine asking a friend to do it for me, though it’s terrifying; I could probably do it on a good day. Also, I doubt the thing modafinil boosts is the same thing I lack, but it could help, if only through placebo effect.
I’ve considered that. There are changes in circumstances that would effect positive changes in my mental state, like hopping on the first train to a faraway town or just stop pretending I’m normal in public. I’d be much happier, until I run out of money.
I’ve sort of considered that, though not framed that way. It might be useful later, but not at my current level. Thanks.
I have, for a few months, about a year and a half ago. It was slightly effective. I stopped when I moved and couldn’t get myself to call again.
Nothing that looks like it should matter.
Not much. I had a routine blood test some years ago. Everything was normal, though they probably only measured a few things.
No prescription drugs.
When I’m on campus I eat mostly vegetables, fresh or canned, and some canned fish or meat, and generic cafeteria food (balanced diet plus a heap of French fries); nothing that requires a lot of effort. At my parents’, I eat, um, traditional wholesome food. I eat a lot between meals for comfort, mostly apples. I think my diet is fine in quality but terrible in quantity; I eat way too much and skip meals at random.
That’s an amusing idea, but disincentives don’t work well, and paying money is too Far a disincentive to work (now, if you followed me around and punched me, that might do the trick).
This reminds me of the joke about a beggar who asks Rothschild for money. Rothschild thinks and says “A janitor is retiring next week, you can have their job and I’ll double the pay.”, and the beggar replies “Don’t bother, I have a cousin who can do it for the original wage, just give me the difference!”
TL;DR: Help me go less crazy and I’ll give you $100 after six months.
I’m a long-time lurker and signed up to ask this. I have a whole lot of mental issues, the worst being lack of mental energy (similar to laziness, procrastination, etc., but turned up to eleven and almost not influenced by will). Because of it, I can’t pick myself up and do things I need to (like calling a shrink); I’m not sure why I can do certain things and not others. If this goes on, I won’t be able to go out and buy food, let alone get a job. Or sign up for cryonics or donate to SIAI.
I’ve tried every trick I could bootstrap; the only one that helped was “count backwards then start”, for things I can do but have trouble getting started on. I offer $100 to anyone who suggests a trick that significantly improves my life for at least six months. By “significant improvement” I mean being able to do things like going to the bank (if I can’t, I won’t be able to give you the money anyway), and having ways to keep myself stable or better (most likely, by seeing a therapist).
One-time tricks to do one important thing are also welcome, but I’d offer less.