I appreciated the distinction you make between anxiety and depression and can see that in myself, but had not previously made the distinction. I’m wondering now if that might help with addressing problems of procrastination—that seems to be something of a symptom. Perhaps looking into why I am procrastinating to see if it fits more with a depression mood or anxious mood might help overcome the inertia.
As a fellow procrastinator, I’m right there with you. I’ve found, for instance, that downers (alcohol, barbiturates, etc.) can allow me to be productive if anxiety is the cause of the procrastination, but if it’s depression than the downers don’t help at all.
I find that stimulants help if the cause is depression, but that they don’t if the cause is anxiety. Stimulants make anxiety worse (but it’s not so simple—since stimulants also increase your confidence). But if you’re anxious, then you crash even harder once the stimulants stop working, and you might release too much adrenaline, so that you become numb instead of “fired up”. I also find that being in “flight or flight mode” doesn’t help much against deadlines. You’re alert, but not in a way which is good for thinking. For chores and physical work, stimulants are great, but you should take care not to overexert yourself, remember to drink water, and take care of your blood pressure.
I appreciated the distinction you make between anxiety and depression and can see that in myself, but had not previously made the distinction. I’m wondering now if that might help with addressing problems of procrastination—that seems to be something of a symptom. Perhaps looking into why I am procrastinating to see if it fits more with a depression mood or anxious mood might help overcome the inertia.
As a fellow procrastinator, I’m right there with you. I’ve found, for instance, that downers (alcohol, barbiturates, etc.) can allow me to be productive if anxiety is the cause of the procrastination, but if it’s depression than the downers don’t help at all.
I find that stimulants help if the cause is depression, but that they don’t if the cause is anxiety. Stimulants make anxiety worse (but it’s not so simple—since stimulants also increase your confidence). But if you’re anxious, then you crash even harder once the stimulants stop working, and you might release too much adrenaline, so that you become numb instead of “fired up”. I also find that being in “flight or flight mode” doesn’t help much against deadlines. You’re alert, but not in a way which is good for thinking.
For chores and physical work, stimulants are great, but you should take care not to overexert yourself, remember to drink water, and take care of your blood pressure.