Cyan comments on Working hurts less than procrastinating, we fear the twinge of starting - Less Wrong

142 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 02 January 2011 12:15AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (138)

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

Comment author: Cyan 02 January 2011 03:32:37AM *  7 points [-]

I think my procrastination started this way years ago, but over time it turned into a vicious cycle of anxiety-inducing/induced procrastination that basically had nothing to do with the model described in the post. I was fully aware that websurfing was an anaesthetic that did nothing to recharge my mental batteries but simply kept me from thinking anxiety-provoking thoughts. Eventually I resorted to anxiolytics, and now I can say no to myself with relative ease.

Comment author: Elizabeth 02 January 2011 03:50:13AM 2 points [-]

Thank you, I do exactly the same thing. I have anxiety about not having started the work but if I can't start the work because to do that I have to stop doing the things distracting me from my anxiety. Sometimes it gets bad enough that I can't even sit still long enough to do the distracting activities, much less anything productive.

Comment author: rhollerith_dot_com 02 January 2011 03:37:54PM *  2 points [-]

Eventually I resorted to anxiolytics, and now I can say no to myself with relative ease.

Which anxiolytics? Benzodiazepines?

Comment author: Cyan 03 January 2011 03:01:48AM 1 point [-]

Yep. I was on lorazepam a while ago, and recently my doc switched me to clonazepam, which I find much less sedating without being ineffective.

Comment author: rhollerith_dot_com 06 January 2011 06:51:37PM *  1 point [-]

Thanks. I might retry benzos since I had no particular reason to look for effects on my "motivation" (ability to resist the temptation to procrastinate) during past trials. During a particularly stressful few months a few years ago, I took lorazepam to stop my body from producing too much cortisol, and my girlfriend has observed that my motivation was particularly high at that time. Of course, that might be because the stakes were particularly high then, but it is easy enough for me to retry benzos.

When did you start the lorazepam? On a day picked at random since you started the L, what is the probability that you took a benzo?

I like that I am communicating with someone who will understand that last question. With most people in my life, I would feel a need to use a less precise question such as, How often do you take the C?

I am after an estimate of your total lifetime intake of benzos measured in units of "a dose high enough to control anxiety" -- which I can calculate from your answers to my 2 questions.

The reason I am after such an estimate is that I am a little worried about the cumulative effect of benzos. If you've taken a lot of them over the years, then that does a lot to take away my worries because I've known your online persona since the "Overcoming Bias" days and you've always come across as a fine rational person with no mental handicaps as far I can see.

Comment author: Cyan 09 January 2011 04:14:22AM 0 points [-]

Thanks! (I've replied to your query by PM.)