Sometimes when trying to get instant gratification by making dubious commitments to optimization you may find yourself questioning the method's efficacy. Don't worry, just like a heroin addict must increase their dosage you must move on to stronger stuff. From now on, try to get your gratification from meta-meta-optimizing. You're already off to a great start with this thread; try reading the sequences.
I was wondering if anyone has ever had the feeling, like I get sometimes, that they were addicted to 'meta-level' optimizing rather than low-level acting? As in, I'd rather think about how to encourage myself to brush my teeth more than brush my teeth. I'm guessing there's something about this under the akrasia threads?
The motivations to remain in meta and thinking about things rather than acting on them seems to be that it takes less effort to think about doing things than to do them, and there is potentially more long-term benefit in making an overall improvement than in engaging in a specific action. The drawback is that if you remain thinking about meta all the time, you won't get anything done.