OK, so I’m commenting my own question, now… Weird.
Anyway. In my case at least, it seems like a lot of the most intractable akrasia comes down to something like anxiety. Just to give the worst example of all: a while back, I started a project, that required me to spend about six hours a day browsing Google Scholar, with zero accountability to anyone. So… it did not start out too well. Then, the second day, I decided I would be able to get sh*t done for f**k’s sake, damn*t. Or words to that effect. Strict schedule, pomodoros, all the works. I started at 8am. Kept it up relatively well until 11am. By 11:30, I was literally shaking, felt at the end of my wits, and my self-esteem had melted away. I did manage to work another three hours between then and 11pm, but that was all… I won‘t claim I fully understand this fundamentally bizarre experience, but the day after, I realised that the only commonplace explanation for “guy is curled up in his bed, teeth chattering and hands shaking; he missed no deadline, made no obvious mistake, or anything; everything else as far as the eye can see around him is perfectly fine” was something like anxiety. So, the day after, I decided to just assume that I would be able to work the required amount of time, as I had no reason to believe I actually couldn’t do it. And, like, it kind of worked? I still don‘t have a clear picture of what not worrying too much while still worrying enough is like, or how to do it reliably, and it’s still not enough to be very productive, but… definitely 100% recommend not being cripplingly anxious.
Anecdotally, stress and inhibitions are major chains on executive function for me. Massage therapy to reduce physical tension felt literally liberating; like I could do a bunch of things I could not do previously; additionally, finding an herbal supplement that eased stress/despair and mildly cut down on intense inhibitions while aiding some of my particular cognitive weak points (ADHD-related focus and memory issues most likely; those are the ones I’ve had any luck with from prescribed medicine also) allowed my “ego” to take charge of myself in a way it normally doesn’t.
I don’t get continuous benefit from this sort of thing, so I kind of take it off and on, and the distinction is interesting—higher executive function feels like a stronger sense of having a part of myself in charge, like there’s greater focus on implementing my agency, more of a veto power to override random objections from other aspects of my experience, and the worst pains of awareness are muted into something bearable.
… Going back to lower executive function feels like the Beloved Benevolent Dictator of the Self wandered back off to go work in the library like they normally do, and all the aspects of myself are back to being some kind of anarchic consensus democracy of inclinations with over-aggressive self-policing.
(Additional context for whether this might have any helpful pointers in your situation: I have ASD myself, and have struggled to get either actual antidepression, anti-anxiety or executive function improvements from a number of prescription medicines and therapeutic interventions in the past.)
Interesting comment, thanks! For anxiety, theanine and a good therapist have helped some, but I need to investigate more what would work for stress and inhibitions
OK, so I’m commenting my own question, now… Weird.
Anyway. In my case at least, it seems like a lot of the most intractable akrasia comes down to something like anxiety. Just to give the worst example of all: a while back, I started a project, that required me to spend about six hours a day browsing Google Scholar, with zero accountability to anyone. So… it did not start out too well. Then, the second day, I decided I would be able to get sh*t done for f**k’s sake, damn*t. Or words to that effect. Strict schedule, pomodoros, all the works. I started at 8am. Kept it up relatively well until 11am. By 11:30, I was literally shaking, felt at the end of my wits, and my self-esteem had melted away. I did manage to work another three hours between then and 11pm, but that was all… I won‘t claim I fully understand this fundamentally bizarre experience, but the day after, I realised that the only commonplace explanation for “guy is curled up in his bed, teeth chattering and hands shaking; he missed no deadline, made no obvious mistake, or anything; everything else as far as the eye can see around him is perfectly fine” was something like anxiety. So, the day after, I decided to just assume that I would be able to work the required amount of time, as I had no reason to believe I actually couldn’t do it. And, like, it kind of worked? I still don‘t have a clear picture of what not worrying too much while still worrying enough is like, or how to do it reliably, and it’s still not enough to be very productive, but… definitely 100% recommend not being cripplingly anxious.
Anecdotally, stress and inhibitions are major chains on executive function for me. Massage therapy to reduce physical tension felt literally liberating; like I could do a bunch of things I could not do previously; additionally, finding an herbal supplement that eased stress/despair and mildly cut down on intense inhibitions while aiding some of my particular cognitive weak points (ADHD-related focus and memory issues most likely; those are the ones I’ve had any luck with from prescribed medicine also) allowed my “ego” to take charge of myself in a way it normally doesn’t.
I don’t get continuous benefit from this sort of thing, so I kind of take it off and on, and the distinction is interesting—higher executive function feels like a stronger sense of having a part of myself in charge, like there’s greater focus on implementing my agency, more of a veto power to override random objections from other aspects of my experience, and the worst pains of awareness are muted into something bearable.
… Going back to lower executive function feels like the Beloved Benevolent Dictator of the Self wandered back off to go work in the library like they normally do, and all the aspects of myself are back to being some kind of anarchic consensus democracy of inclinations with over-aggressive self-policing.
(Additional context for whether this might have any helpful pointers in your situation: I have ASD myself, and have struggled to get either actual antidepression, anti-anxiety or executive function improvements from a number of prescription medicines and therapeutic interventions in the past.)
Interesting comment, thanks! For anxiety, theanine and a good therapist have helped some, but I need to investigate more what would work for stress and inhibitions
A nice cup of tea and a sit down? :)
See also.
I mean, yeah, works somewhat, but I’m really starting to think I have an actual anxiety disorder, given how a cuppa is pretty much never enough