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"I know what to do, when to do and how to do things but cannot get myself to DO it"

"You know what to do, when to do and how to do things but you cannot DO it. And you know that you can do it but at the same time you also know that you cannot do it."

This is how someone described ADHD to me.

Do you relate to this statement?

  1. 2

    Perfect description of akrasia, which @joshkaufman describes as follows in The Personal MBA:

    All of us have had the experience of knowing or feeling that we should do something or that an action would be in our best interest . . . but we don’t do it. The term for that experience is Akrasia (pronounced “ah-KRAH-see-ah”). Akrasia and procrastination are related, but they’re not the same thing. Procrastination occurs when you’ve decided to complete a task but you keep putting it off until later without deciding to do it later. If you have “answer email” on your to-do list, but you browse the internet for hours without answering any email, that’s procrastination. Akrasia is a deeper issue: it’s a general feeling that you “should” do something, without necessarily deciding to do it. The “should” feeling doesn’t lead to decision or action, even if the action seems to be in your best interest.

    Could be AHDH-related, but we all experience it to some extent.

    I'd recommend Josh's book for some cool approaches to tackling it.

    You can also explore this post (and similar posts on LessWrong) if you're on a budget.

  2. 2

    I feel you! Watch this Ted Talk - How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals. This philosophy might help you. Keep up! https://youtu.be/TQMbvJNRpLE

    1. 2

      Thanks for sharing this!

  3. 1

    Just wanted to chime in and say that even if you currently are in this position, it doesn't mean you are suffering from ADHD or anything per se. It's normal that we try to do things as comfortably as possible, and it takes a lot of sacrifices to succeed.

    1. 1

      I agree

      I’ve been reading and watching a lot of adhd literature today.. whether one has adhd or not, there’s definitely things to learn from how people with adhd mould their environment to get themselves to do things more often than not

  4. 1

    I have a hunch that there may be a lot of struggling makers who are affected by ADHD and must be feeling low when they can't get themselves to do what they want to do

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