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Man that hits home, only I'm still 24 with a complete lack of motivation. I keep telling myself that I'm using it as an excuse and that it's really laziness, b

Man that hits home, only I'm still 24 with a complete lack of motivation. I keep telling myself that I'm using it as an excuse and that it's really laziness, but if I'm intellectually honest with myself I don't really believe that. It's like I miss some hormone that motivates me, similar to perhaps a gay person missing the sexual attraction to the opposite sex and not having any way to change that, in a world where nobody is gay and nobody gets why you don't have that genuine, inherent attraction. Feel free to elaborate a bit on how you eventually got out of this if you'd like, I'd love to hear more. Perhaps it'll help me, too. Thanks for sharing in any case :)

ams6110 12y ago
A good book to read on this is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. While his experience was that of a writer overcoming difficulties with motivation and persistence, most of it applies very generally.
- IkmoIkmo 12y ago
  Thanks!
AustinG08 12y ago
I used to struggle with motivation. Especially at your age (I'm about to 30). Motivation is a byproduct of discipline. You need to integrate some kind of discipline in your life. Something huge that changed my work ethic was when I bought a whiteboard. I always have two lists on it. One of the lists is "Everything I need to do." This has things like 'pay my taxes by X date', 'call my insurance company and find y out', 'start this project', 'build that dream car i have always wanted to build'. Some of the stuff might always be on it, at which point I can start really looking at those things and figuring out whether I plan on doing them, how bad I want to do it, and if it's worth my time vs the other stuff I want to do. The second list is titled "Today", and always leads with today's date. Under that are things that I should really do today, or at least try to start. Some times the things on it roll over to the following day, sometimes they get dropped back into the larger 'everything' list. But when I do something, whether it's "Take out the trash", or "Call Person X", I get to cross that thing off the list. It stays crossed out for the whole day until that night when I reassess my everything list, erase crossed out items, change the current date, etc. It has helped me stay on task and get things done tremendously. The whiteboard has had a tremendous impact on my productivity.
- Karunamon 12y ago
  This is a completely separate problem than the GP poster described, and comes off as rather insensitive too, considering they described, yknow, getting on medication to fix their broken neurochemistry. I'm serious sir/madam, few good insights ever come of the form "You have $difficult_problem, you just need to do X to solve it". Personal example: I get done the stuff that I need to do, but for a good chunk of it, I hate every single minute of it. Example: I just got done with a number of uni assignments - they were not difficult, the material wasn't uninteresting, but I already knew the info, I already knew I already knew the info, so going through the motions to actually get credit for it sucks. As in "God, I wish I was doing just about anything else right now"-level sucks. The way they described that bolt of "ugh" that stops any motivation to do anything substantial? That is my fucking life right now, and I can't put down into words how much I want to get that part of me changed. All the whiteboards and organized-ness and "discipline" in the world only ensures that you're getting things done (going through the motions) - it does nothing to ensure that you will enjoy the process or even necessarily the results of the process. If you hate everything you have to do, what's the point in living?
  - sliverstorm 12y ago
    How do you know IkmoIkmo has broken neurochemistry? People with ADHD struggle with motivation. But perfectly normal people struggle with motivation too. There's a difference, but can you see it in a fifty-word post on the internet? As for the drudgery of University and crappy assignments- what, do you imagine "neurotypical" people love to do banal assignments that are below their skill level? Everybody hates make-work. The risk with all this is that manic depression, ADHD, etc are mostly an extreme form of things we all experience, so it's not hard for people to convince themselves they have it. As for finding enjoyment- University can be a slog. But I found once I had climbed high enough (and managed to drive myself to do the un-fun parts) it became rewarding. The thing is a lot of school is building foundations; the fun part comes later. That said, if your major is completely un-fun, you should reconsider your track. E.g., as much as advanced math was a complete chore for me, I knew I loved to design circuits, and I tinkered with them through all of University. You haven't known "God, I wish I was doing just about anything else right now" until it's June, sunny, and 75 outside, and you are sitting through a four-hour-solid lecture on linear algebra. But it was worth it.
danneu 12y ago
That's how I felt until I discovered low therapeutic doses of extended-release amphetamine. Now I'm 26 and take a pill 1-3 days each week I'm working. If you experiment, I wouldn't take more than 20mg of Adderall XR or 50mg of Vyvanse, and I'd start lower than that. Best thing to happen to me. If the reactions of "Just do it" and "Just be more disciplined" and "Just try this one weird trick" feel worthless to you, it's because they are. Everyone seem to has a judgmental opinion on this subject.
- IkmoIkmo 12y ago
  That really scares me. For one, these drugs are usually relatively new, known to be abused, known to lead to cases of addiction etc. And I'm scared it changes who I am even if it would radically improve my life. I mean don't get me wrong, I know these are edge cases, exceptions, and that for many people including yourself they have been a blessing. Beyond that, it's not something I can get (without risk of getting something wrong) without getting diagnosed first. And while I'm glad for that, I'm also really apprehensive to go through the whole process, of months of talking and self reflection and filling out personality forms and keeping diaries and speaking to psychologists. The lack of motivation I have is such a stupid problem because it kills any action towards solving it. Really appreciate your post in any case, I've written it down and will look into it more.

ams6110 12y ago

A good book to read on this is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. While his experience was that of a writer overcoming difficulties with motivation and persistence, most of it applies very generally.

IkmoIkmo 12y ago
Thanks!

AustinG08 12y ago

I used to struggle with motivation. Especially at your age (I'm about to 30). Motivation is a byproduct of discipline. You need to integrate some kind of discipline in your life. Something huge that changed my work ethic was when I bought a whiteboard. I always have two lists on it. One of the lists is "Everything I need to do." This has things like 'pay my taxes by X date', 'call my insurance company and find y out', 'start this project', 'build that dream car i have always wanted to build'. Some of the stuff might always be on it, at which point I can start really looking at those things and figuring out whether I plan on doing them, how bad I want to do it, and if it's worth my time vs the other stuff I want to do. The second list is titled "Today", and always leads with today's date. Under that are things that I should really do today, or at least try to start. Some times the things on it roll over to the following day, sometimes they get dropped back into the larger 'everything' list. But when I do something, whether it's "Take out the trash", or "Call Person X", I get to cross that thing off the list. It stays crossed out for the whole day until that night when I reassess my everything list, erase crossed out items, change the current date, etc. It has helped me stay on task and get things done tremendously. The whiteboard has had a tremendous impact on my productivity.

Karunamon 12y ago
This is a completely separate problem than the GP poster described, and comes off as rather insensitive too, considering they described, yknow, getting on medication to fix their broken neurochemistry. I'm serious sir/madam, few good insights ever come of the form "You have $difficult_problem, you just need to do X to solve it". Personal example: I get done the stuff that I need to do, but for a good chunk of it, I hate every single minute of it. Example: I just got done with a number of uni assignments - they were not difficult, the material wasn't uninteresting, but I already knew the info, I already knew I already knew the info, so going through the motions to actually get credit for it sucks. As in "God, I wish I was doing just about anything else right now"-level sucks. The way they described that bolt of "ugh" that stops any motivation to do anything substantial? That is my fucking life right now, and I can't put down into words how much I want to get that part of me changed. All the whiteboards and organized-ness and "discipline" in the world only ensures that you're getting things done (going through the motions) - it does nothing to ensure that you will enjoy the process or even necessarily the results of the process. If you hate everything you have to do, what's the point in living?
- sliverstorm 12y ago
  How do you know IkmoIkmo has broken neurochemistry? People with ADHD struggle with motivation. But perfectly normal people struggle with motivation too. There's a difference, but can you see it in a fifty-word post on the internet? As for the drudgery of University and crappy assignments- what, do you imagine "neurotypical" people love to do banal assignments that are below their skill level? Everybody hates make-work. The risk with all this is that manic depression, ADHD, etc are mostly an extreme form of things we all experience, so it's not hard for people to convince themselves they have it. As for finding enjoyment- University can be a slog. But I found once I had climbed high enough (and managed to drive myself to do the un-fun parts) it became rewarding. The thing is a lot of school is building foundations; the fun part comes later. That said, if your major is completely un-fun, you should reconsider your track. E.g., as much as advanced math was a complete chore for me, I knew I loved to design circuits, and I tinkered with them through all of University. You haven't known "God, I wish I was doing just about anything else right now" until it's June, sunny, and 75 outside, and you are sitting through a four-hour-solid lecture on linear algebra. But it was worth it.

danneu 12y ago

That's how I felt until I discovered low therapeutic doses of extended-release amphetamine. Now I'm 26 and take a pill 1-3 days each week I'm working. If you experiment, I wouldn't take more than 20mg of Adderall XR or 50mg of Vyvanse, and I'd start lower than that. Best thing to happen to me. If the reactions of "Just do it" and "Just be more disciplined" and "Just try this one weird trick" feel worthless to you, it's because they are. Everyone seem to has a judgmental opinion on this subject.

IkmoIkmo 12y ago
That really scares me. For one, these drugs are usually relatively new, known to be abused, known to lead to cases of addiction etc. And I'm scared it changes who I am even if it would radically improve my life. I mean don't get me wrong, I know these are edge cases, exceptions, and that for many people including yourself they have been a blessing. Beyond that, it's not something I can get (without risk of getting something wrong) without getting diagnosed first. And while I'm glad for that, I'm also really apprehensive to go through the whole process, of months of talking and self reflection and filling out personality forms and keeping diaries and speaking to psychologists. The lack of motivation I have is such a stupid problem because it kills any action towards solving it. Really appreciate your post in any case, I've written it down and will look into it more.