5 ms·

Marijuana + Exercise. Seriously. I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and ge

by jawngee 16y ago

Marijuana + Exercise. Seriously. I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and getting off my mildly chubby ass were huge boons to productivity. YMMV, but it's worth a shot. I'd go for something a long the lines of Sour Diesel or BC Blueberry are strains I've found to really increase concentration and focus without making one lazy or sleepy.

binspace 16y ago
Also, try coding while high. I find it does not really diminish my IQ, it just changes the how I think. Basically, my thinking becomes more tangential, so I'm able to explore scenarios with depth. It also relaxes me and helps me to let go of certain notions create boundaries to coming up with different solutions. Usually, when encountering such a problem, I will pace around the house exploring the line of thought. Of course, focus can be a problem, so it's not exactly something that should be done all of the time. However, there are things that can help you to stay on task, such as having the code you are working on open. Of course, YMMV.
- fmora 16y ago
  "Does not really diminish my IQ" You remind me of a TV program where they did a study how drinking affect driving. The test subjects would swear that they drive even better when drunk. They got them drunk, put them behind the wheel, and it was horrible. They completely suck. How do you know is not the same thing with you. We would need to do an experiment to verify your claims.
  - ellyagg 16y ago
    It surely lowers you IQ, although it still may still be a net positive. Many brilliant people are also anxious, and can't get things done because of it. If marijuana helps you relax enough to focus, this is a win. I don't smoke, and I've hardly done any sorts of drugs at all ever actually, but I kind of get the appeal when I take Benadryl (I know it's weird), because the tiredness relaxes me and I stop worrying about a lot of peripheral problems.
    - binspace 16y ago
      > It surely lowers you IQ, although it still may still be a net positive. Many brilliant people are also anxious, and can't get things done because of it. If marijuana helps you relax enough to focus, this is a win. You hit the trade-off nail on the head. Thank you. For me, this is especially true when putting in extra hours at home.
  - kaens 16y ago
    http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/driving.htm http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/driving.htm I tried to find a non-druglibrary.org link to this study, but wasn't able to find freely available .gov links for it. http://www.ntis.gov/search/product.aspx?ABBR=PB94173630 http://www.ntis.gov/search/product.aspx?ABBR=PB94173630 I don't advocate driving while stoned.
  - binspace 16y ago
    > "Does not really diminish my IQ" Sorry, I meant it does not significantly diminish my IQ. > How do you know is not the same thing with you. First, I did not say I'm smarter when high. There was a study that shows that there is a small drop (~ 4 points) http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/ http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/. I also see my work when I am sober and it's fine. The question is what needs to be optimized. At times (not all the time IMO and certainly not in the office), the benefit of exploring new options and increasing motivation of the task outweighs the slight drop in IQ. > The test subjects would swear that they drive even better when drunk. I did not swear I code better either. I take a different approach to solve the problem at hand, which leads to better results due to diversity in the problem solving process. I code sober much more often than when high. My code is also peer reviewed. It seems to work out just fine. Sometimes you just have to loosen up. However you want to do that is up to you, as long as you use proper discretion if it is a controversial approach...
  - binspace 16y ago
    > We would need to do an experiment to verify your claims. Unfortunately, software development productivity (and solution quality) is notoriously difficult to measure and perform experiments on. It is also expensive, time-consuming, and their conclusions tend to be shaky at best. The experiments' applicability is also heavily influenced by the uniqueness of each individual person. Technology just moves too fast. I'm afraid anecdotal evidence is probably the best we usually can do when talking about how we work.
mannicken 16y ago
What you want is find out how marijuana works before trying it. Essentially, there are two mainly psychoactive chemicals in a cannabis plant: THC and CBD, each one is more prevalent in sativa and indica strains respectively. THC improves concentration, helps in imagining the problem, and is a hallucinogen (think towards LSD from sober). CBD gives you a couch-lock, makes you sleepy and is a sedative (think towards Xanax). Sativa-dominant strains will have more THC than CBD and thus help you with your problems immediately. Also beware that THC is a mild psychedelic so all the "set and setting" rules apply.
scelerat 16y ago
+1 agree, with caveats. exercise definitely. MJ isn't for everyone, I'd expand the prescription to doing something that allows your mind to wander. You get this anyway with any sort of solo endurance exercise. MJ definitely helped me get through some tough classes in college, though I treated it like dessert: I'd do focused, clear-headed studying first, then come back a day later, smoke a bowl and kind of let my mind wander all over the material. Not sure whether the altered state itself helped, or if it merely acted as the proverbial spoon full of sugar to get me to study more. Whatever the mechanism, I felt it was a boon. YMMV of course.
achille 16y ago
I have the same issue, but instead I just blocked all sources of distraction and replaced them with a message reminding me to focus.
asdflkj 16y ago
I've found that I can have a lot of patience and interest in mental work while stoned, but I forget a lot of it after it's done. Weed is a mild amnesiac, and for someone with otherwise very good memory, this is noticeable. This may be great if you're doing something soul-crushingly boring, but a better strategy is to avoid that sort of work to begin with. IANAN, but I suspect that in your case, weed is helping because of its indirect action on the opioid system, and despite, rather than because of, the characteristically "weedy" effects. Have you self-medicated with any other euphoriants?
moconnor 16y ago
Marijuthingy? But this is why God invented Adderall!
jacquesm 16y ago
I'm kind of upset at the ease with which the use of Marijuana is advocated here for just about every disorder that people might suffer from. For one it is possibly an illegal substance, second, it affects your brain in ways that would require a lot of research before you commit to it, after all, a programmers most critical resource is their brain. Now, I know some people that function very well in spite of using significant amounts of pot, but I also know a much larger number of people that managed to turn a mediocre career in to a non-existant one because of their use of pot. If you want to advocate the use of drugs I really don't think HN is the place to do it, if only because it is not exactly legal in most places, but most of all because you are possibly sending someone from the frying pan in to the fire and you won't be around to pick up the pieces should it go wrong.
- fmora 16y ago
  A whole younger generation in America seems to be more into Marijuana, and they don't see it as wrong. And these are usually middle class kids. That is probably why a lot of people here seem to be really casual about it. And now let the down voting begin.
  - CamperBob 16y ago
    This happened before, about 40 years ago. A whole younger generation was into marijuana. Now they're running the DEA.
    - mahmud 16y ago
      That generation was creative, organized, pushed society against a wall and threatened the status-quo. This one just stares at facebook wall and does nothing more than update their status. And I doubt the hippies actually run the DEA; more like the conservative kids, and the successor Reagan generation that had to be mobilized by mega-churches and shipped on buses from the suburbs, at the expense of the business establishment and old money.
      - jacquesm 16y ago
metamemetics 16y ago
For me Hash+coding is great (relaxed energy), but Weed+coding = miserable failure (attention span = gone). Coding on Sour Diesel, my hat is off to you! Although I am a big fan of better living through chemistry ( low dose 2c-i & aniracetam), here are some reliable non-drug suggestions for the OP: 1. Change your location. I get easily distracted and waste time at home, but am super vigilant if coding at coffee shops even though there are technically more people talking and more distractions. Physically go somewhere to work where you arent used to procrastinating and train your brain to associate that place with getting work done. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory 2. Turn your internet off. Most laptops have a physical switch to turn your wireless on and off quickly. If the internet is your primary distraction, simply turn it off when you aren't researching or deploying. 3) Organization: Here are some ideas: use timers on your computer such as WorkRave, make lists in a pocket notebook, talk to yourself or record audionotes, express the intention for your next actions in language by writing or talking somehow. Minimalize your desktop and browser home page as much as possible, so you start of by doing what you want not whats in front of you. Psychotherapy is great for reducing the misery of the severely depressed people, but it won't help you with general 'distractability'. That's a learned behavior you can only override with practice.
lesswavy 16y ago
Pot can have a positive effect, but you can get a step or three closer to the root of the problem by supplementing amino acids. A relative who's an engineer has had a great experience with it via the book The Mood Cure, which is a self-help approach that helps you figure out which of four types of amino acids you're short of. He gave us a copy and I needed all four (other members of my family needed between one and four). This is my first workday on amino acid supplements and it's going way, way better than has been the case recently (I'm on HN voluntarily instead of automatically). The book details ways that marijuana and other drugs (both uppers and downers) work on the mental balance, and explains why and how amino acids are an improvement. Lots of specifics on that topic -- the author certainly agrees that drugs are helping people. Diet and liver health are another level down and VERY important to get in line, but amino supplements can get you where you want to be in minutes while you work on fixing the root cause gradually. On another front, RescueTime has a "Get Focused" mode that works great.
wowik 16y ago
Maybe marijuana is good for relaxation and taking off stress, but it's damn bad for concentration, so I wouldn't recommend it on regular basis ;). Exercise however will definitely help.

by jawngee 16y ago

binspace 16y ago

Also, try coding while high. I find it does not really diminish my IQ, it just changes the how I think. Basically, my thinking becomes more tangential, so I'm able to explore scenarios with depth. It also relaxes me and helps me to let go of certain notions create boundaries to coming up with different solutions. Usually, when encountering such a problem, I will pace around the house exploring the line of thought. Of course, focus can be a problem, so it's not exactly something that should be done all of the time. However, there are things that can help you to stay on task, such as having the code you are working on open. Of course, YMMV.

fmora 16y ago
"Does not really diminish my IQ" You remind me of a TV program where they did a study how drinking affect driving. The test subjects would swear that they drive even better when drunk. They got them drunk, put them behind the wheel, and it was horrible. They completely suck. How do you know is not the same thing with you. We would need to do an experiment to verify your claims.
- ellyagg 16y ago
  It surely lowers you IQ, although it still may still be a net positive. Many brilliant people are also anxious, and can't get things done because of it. If marijuana helps you relax enough to focus, this is a win. I don't smoke, and I've hardly done any sorts of drugs at all ever actually, but I kind of get the appeal when I take Benadryl (I know it's weird), because the tiredness relaxes me and I stop worrying about a lot of peripheral problems.
  - binspace 16y ago
    > It surely lowers you IQ, although it still may still be a net positive. Many brilliant people are also anxious, and can't get things done because of it. If marijuana helps you relax enough to focus, this is a win. You hit the trade-off nail on the head. Thank you. For me, this is especially true when putting in extra hours at home.
- kaens 16y ago
  http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/driving.htm http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/driving.htm I tried to find a non-druglibrary.org link to this study, but wasn't able to find freely available .gov links for it. http://www.ntis.gov/search/product.aspx?ABBR=PB94173630 http://www.ntis.gov/search/product.aspx?ABBR=PB94173630 I don't advocate driving while stoned.
- binspace 16y ago
  > "Does not really diminish my IQ" Sorry, I meant it does not significantly diminish my IQ. > How do you know is not the same thing with you. First, I did not say I'm smarter when high. There was a study that shows that there is a small drop (~ 4 points) http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/ http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/. I also see my work when I am sober and it's fine. The question is what needs to be optimized. At times (not all the time IMO and certainly not in the office), the benefit of exploring new options and increasing motivation of the task outweighs the slight drop in IQ. > The test subjects would swear that they drive even better when drunk. I did not swear I code better either. I take a different approach to solve the problem at hand, which leads to better results due to diversity in the problem solving process. I code sober much more often than when high. My code is also peer reviewed. It seems to work out just fine. Sometimes you just have to loosen up. However you want to do that is up to you, as long as you use proper discretion if it is a controversial approach...
- binspace 16y ago
  > We would need to do an experiment to verify your claims. Unfortunately, software development productivity (and solution quality) is notoriously difficult to measure and perform experiments on. It is also expensive, time-consuming, and their conclusions tend to be shaky at best. The experiments' applicability is also heavily influenced by the uniqueness of each individual person. Technology just moves too fast. I'm afraid anecdotal evidence is probably the best we usually can do when talking about how we work.

mannicken 16y ago

What you want is find out how marijuana works before trying it. Essentially, there are two mainly psychoactive chemicals in a cannabis plant: THC and CBD, each one is more prevalent in sativa and indica strains respectively. THC improves concentration, helps in imagining the problem, and is a hallucinogen (think towards LSD from sober). CBD gives you a couch-lock, makes you sleepy and is a sedative (think towards Xanax). Sativa-dominant strains will have more THC than CBD and thus help you with your problems immediately. Also beware that THC is a mild psychedelic so all the "set and setting" rules apply.

scelerat 16y ago

+1 agree, with caveats. exercise definitely. MJ isn't for everyone, I'd expand the prescription to doing something that allows your mind to wander. You get this anyway with any sort of solo endurance exercise. MJ definitely helped me get through some tough classes in college, though I treated it like dessert: I'd do focused, clear-headed studying first, then come back a day later, smoke a bowl and kind of let my mind wander all over the material. Not sure whether the altered state itself helped, or if it merely acted as the proverbial spoon full of sugar to get me to study more. Whatever the mechanism, I felt it was a boon. YMMV of course.

achille 16y ago

I have the same issue, but instead I just blocked all sources of distraction and replaced them with a message reminding me to focus.

asdflkj 16y ago

I've found that I can have a lot of patience and interest in mental work while stoned, but I forget a lot of it after it's done. Weed is a mild amnesiac, and for someone with otherwise very good memory, this is noticeable. This may be great if you're doing something soul-crushingly boring, but a better strategy is to avoid that sort of work to begin with. IANAN, but I suspect that in your case, weed is helping because of its indirect action on the opioid system, and despite, rather than because of, the characteristically "weedy" effects. Have you self-medicated with any other euphoriants?

moconnor 16y ago

Marijuthingy? But this is why God invented Adderall!

jacquesm 16y ago

I'm kind of upset at the ease with which the use of Marijuana is advocated here for just about every disorder that people might suffer from. For one it is possibly an illegal substance, second, it affects your brain in ways that would require a lot of research before you commit to it, after all, a programmers most critical resource is their brain. Now, I know some people that function very well in spite of using significant amounts of pot, but I also know a much larger number of people that managed to turn a mediocre career in to a non-existant one because of their use of pot. If you want to advocate the use of drugs I really don't think HN is the place to do it, if only because it is not exactly legal in most places, but most of all because you are possibly sending someone from the frying pan in to the fire and you won't be around to pick up the pieces should it go wrong.

fmora 16y ago
A whole younger generation in America seems to be more into Marijuana, and they don't see it as wrong. And these are usually middle class kids. That is probably why a lot of people here seem to be really casual about it. And now let the down voting begin.
- CamperBob 16y ago
  This happened before, about 40 years ago. A whole younger generation was into marijuana. Now they're running the DEA.
  - mahmud 16y ago
    That generation was creative, organized, pushed society against a wall and threatened the status-quo. This one just stares at facebook wall and does nothing more than update their status. And I doubt the hippies actually run the DEA; more like the conservative kids, and the successor Reagan generation that had to be mobilized by mega-churches and shipped on buses from the suburbs, at the expense of the business establishment and old money.
    - jacquesm 16y ago

metamemetics 16y ago

For me Hash+coding is great (relaxed energy), but Weed+coding = miserable failure (attention span = gone). Coding on Sour Diesel, my hat is off to you! Although I am a big fan of better living through chemistry ( low dose 2c-i & aniracetam), here are some reliable non-drug suggestions for the OP: 1. Change your location. I get easily distracted and waste time at home, but am super vigilant if coding at coffee shops even though there are technically more people talking and more distractions. Physically go somewhere to work where you arent used to procrastinating and train your brain to associate that place with getting work done. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context-dependent_memory 2. Turn your internet off. Most laptops have a physical switch to turn your wireless on and off quickly. If the internet is your primary distraction, simply turn it off when you aren't researching or deploying. 3) Organization: Here are some ideas: use timers on your computer such as WorkRave, make lists in a pocket notebook, talk to yourself or record audionotes, express the intention for your next actions in language by writing or talking somehow. Minimalize your desktop and browser home page as much as possible, so you start of by doing what you want not whats in front of you. Psychotherapy is great for reducing the misery of the severely depressed people, but it won't help you with general 'distractability'. That's a learned behavior you can only override with practice.

lesswavy 16y ago

Pot can have a positive effect, but you can get a step or three closer to the root of the problem by supplementing amino acids. A relative who's an engineer has had a great experience with it via the book The Mood Cure, which is a self-help approach that helps you figure out which of four types of amino acids you're short of. He gave us a copy and I needed all four (other members of my family needed between one and four). This is my first workday on amino acid supplements and it's going way, way better than has been the case recently (I'm on HN voluntarily instead of automatically). The book details ways that marijuana and other drugs (both uppers and downers) work on the mental balance, and explains why and how amino acids are an improvement. Lots of specifics on that topic -- the author certainly agrees that drugs are helping people. Diet and liver health are another level down and VERY important to get in line, but amino supplements can get you where you want to be in minutes while you work on fixing the root cause gradually. On another front, RescueTime has a "Get Focused" mode that works great.

wowik 16y ago

Maybe marijuana is good for relaxation and taking off stress, but it's damn bad for concentration, so I wouldn't recommend it on regular basis ;). Exercise however will definitely help.