erikb: It's well known that stimulants improve concentration. That is how Adderall works. Taking stimulants will certainly make it possible for you to do mental

erikb: It's well known that stimulants improve concentration. That is how Adderall works. Taking stimulants will certainly make it possible for you to do mentally more demanding tasks requiring concentration, but so does things like exercise. If you check out the procrastination equation, it describes several factors that we know affect whether if we do work or not. These are: impulsivity (personal character), expectancy x value (how enjoyable the task is) and delay. Basically taking stimulants makes a task more enjoyable (easier) and thus you are more likely to do it. What the popular conception of "willpower" is more like something that acts against impulsivity or reduces it (at least temporarily). The equation does not contain such a variable and I don't think there's any evidence for the existence of such a thing.