I’ve experienced very slight motivation-enhancing effects from various stimulants. But the only thing that I’ve found to really work so far is falling in love. Unfortunately, the side-effects are enormous and it doesn’t work under arbitrary conditions, either…
A data point: compared to the median of the population, I’m high-functioning in terms of IQ, but not in terms of the ability to get things done. The few times I’ve tried modafinil (due to the headaches and nausea I get from it, these have not been more than a handful), it has helped a lot with the latter.
Vyvanse (perscription-only ADD medication) is… almost unbelievably awesome for me there. I suspect it only works if your issue is somewhere in the range of ADD, though, as it doesn’t do anything for my motivation if I’m depressed.
I’ve found that in general, “sustained release” options work a LOT better for motivation. Caffeine helps a tiny bit, but 8-hour sustained-release caffeine can help a lot. My motivation seems to really hate dealing with peaks and valleys throughout the day. Oddly, if I take Vyvanse one day, then skip it the next, my motivation completely crashes, but this doesn’t seem to affect the value of Vyvanse for giving me very motivated days—it’s the ups and downs within a day, not my long-term variation, that seems to disrupt motivation.
I am talking literally about physical pain. Not about a general category of negative motivators.
I haven’t thought deeply about that, but I would expect primitive things which motivate your lizard brain directly to be considerably more effective than whatever constructs parts of your conscious mind invent to try to motivate other parts.
I would expect that physical pain will only motivate immediately avoidant behaviors and will be as useless as any other kind of pain for helping sustained motivation needed to pursue long-term goals, which is usually where the problem lies. Because the lizard brain doesn’t do long-term projects.
Physical pain is also kind of difficult to harness for any practical application to oneself, I suppose...
Not really, humans rarely have to follow a ballistic trajectory :-) Given the ability to correct mid-course starting to move in exactly the right direction is unnecessary.
Hm, I believe the creativity required to set up reality in such a way that I feel physical pain only as long as I don’t start working on a certain project is beyond me… ;-)
I’m incredibly productive when I’m working towards a pass/fail goal on a deadline and I’m very scared of “fail”. Ambiguities in goal and time create problems.
As I just used the description from the OP I’d say compared to the median of the population (e.g. IQ 100).
High-functioning in terms of IQ or in terms of ability to get things done?
(Has anyone come up with a motivation enhancer? Nicotine used to work for me, but not anymore.)
I’ve experienced very slight motivation-enhancing effects from various stimulants. But the only thing that I’ve found to really work so far is falling in love. Unfortunately, the side-effects are enormous and it doesn’t work under arbitrary conditions, either…
A data point: compared to the median of the population, I’m high-functioning in terms of IQ, but not in terms of the ability to get things done. The few times I’ve tried modafinil (due to the headaches and nausea I get from it, these have not been more than a handful), it has helped a lot with the latter.
Caffeine acts as a motivation enhancer for me. It reliably raises my mood levels and gets me off the couch.
Well, I take modafinil primarily as a motivation-enhancer.
“Has anyone come up with a motivation enhancer?”
Vyvanse (perscription-only ADD medication) is… almost unbelievably awesome for me there. I suspect it only works if your issue is somewhere in the range of ADD, though, as it doesn’t do anything for my motivation if I’m depressed.
I’ve found that in general, “sustained release” options work a LOT better for motivation. Caffeine helps a tiny bit, but 8-hour sustained-release caffeine can help a lot. My motivation seems to really hate dealing with peaks and valleys throughout the day. Oddly, if I take Vyvanse one day, then skip it the next, my motivation completely crashes, but this doesn’t seem to affect the value of Vyvanse for giving me very motivated days—it’s the ups and downs within a day, not my long-term variation, that seems to disrupt motivation.
Pain is said to be a very effective one.
Well, at least for me, not really. See also this post.
I am talking literally about physical pain. Not about a general category of negative motivators.
I haven’t thought deeply about that, but I would expect primitive things which motivate your lizard brain directly to be considerably more effective than whatever constructs parts of your conscious mind invent to try to motivate other parts.
I would expect that physical pain will only motivate immediately avoidant behaviors and will be as useless as any other kind of pain for helping sustained motivation needed to pursue long-term goals, which is usually where the problem lies. Because the lizard brain doesn’t do long-term projects.
Physical pain is also kind of difficult to harness for any practical application to oneself, I suppose...
I agree unless you are having difficulty with that first step which starts a journey of a thousand miles.
When going a journey of a thousand miles it’s useful to focus in the direction of your goal and go exactly in the right direction.
Not really, humans rarely have to follow a ballistic trajectory :-) Given the ability to correct mid-course starting to move in exactly the right direction is unnecessary.
Hm, I believe the creativity required to set up reality in such a way that I feel physical pain only as long as I don’t start working on a certain project is beyond me… ;-)
I’m incredibly productive when I’m working towards a pass/fail goal on a deadline and I’m very scared of “fail”. Ambiguities in goal and time create problems.