This is me. Help how do i do stuff?
Stimulants.... Or lots of coffee... I mean loooots of coffee
Free time helps. But also, finding other people in the hobby/trade to work with helps. Being in a book club is nice, because talking about the book you read can be as much fun as reading the book. Same with art.
I feel like watching new movies is a no-brainer, though. I might suggest pulling from the Criterion Collection on random, maybe by genre. But it's often fun to watch this stuff with other people.
Got my wife into old movies for a minute. "Bringing up Baby" and "One Two Three" managed to hold up after over 60 years. Give those two a shot.
Some people say "hack yourself" ... create a TODO list in anyway you like. First thing on that list is to "create a list" and cross that off after you've listed some items.
Keep the items small and doable. Going outside or watch a movie isn't a "big" item but it's worth on this list damnit!
Don't be down on yourself for any reason about doing nothing on the list. If you are, recognize that you did that, forgive yourself for feeling that way and try again. Feel free to throw out items and put even simpler tasks on it, if you can.
Doesn't work for everyone, but it does work for some.
That sounds more like depression to me. Because, when you really enjoy something, your hyper focus is kicking in and you can't let go of it.
Or, you really enjoy a hobby but your hyperfocus makes you research the hobby instead of doing it. E.g. you like photography and your hyperfocus kicks in researching places to go take photos, or gear to buy... Or you spend hours choosing the best cycling route until it's too dark or the weather changes and you go "What happened to my beautiful afternoon??".
My hyperfocus tends to kick in whenever the ADHD gremlin inside my brain chooses, not always when I'm doing whatever I enjoy. I wish that was always the case.
This is me with videogames
My research time is around 20-23:00 and on weekends can end around 1-2am.
Too bad for my sleep schedule ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't know, I find that my hyperfocus doesn't kick in until I start doing something
Not necessarily. I definitely go through waves like this, and it doesn’t feel like depression to me.
I’ll have a couple of days (or weeks) where I want to do things, but not enough to actually motivate myself to start any of it. Then I’ll bounce back for a while and be so focused on something that I’ll forget about taking care of basic needs like eating and sleeping.
I’ve kinda learned to embrace those extremes. What I hate is the middle ground where I want to focus and get something done, but I realize about every 5 minutes that my brain is off topic again.
Yeah, that’s depression.
I think this is less a sign of depression these days as much as it is just falling victim to attention capitalism. Your brain chemistry is being hijacked to keep you scrolling and watching and wasting time.
Losing interest in things you want to do is a sign of depression, this post is more just pointing out the reason people are depressed.
Well, depression/anxiety is spending your time agonizing about it and not doing it. Most people are doing this to some extent they just have brains that don't have them dwelling on it all day. I have friends of all sorts who casually lament not reading or not picking up an instrument. Some are depressed some aren't.
At least with me I am not really in the mood to do that and will do something else that has caught my attention at this moment.
another one that makes me wonder if I have it.
It's that AuDHD depression anxiety CPTSD super combo that makes me perpetually stuck in a freeze response 😎
Wants to go to bed, doesn't
I keep a variety of tasks on deck... you can't force fun and there's no use agonizing over what you didn't do so find joy where you can and try and keep things prepared for when you feel up to it (as an example I have my sewing machine on a table ready to go so if I feel up to it I don't need to do a bunch of prep first)
Yes! Switching around naturally when it feels right is the way. No more shame, just following the brain signals where they lead.
The trick is: see what you're doing now?
Enjoy that.
Doomscrolling? That's actually part of the problem, lol.
I think it's more a reference to pausing the doom scrolling which is maybe a habit to avoid the boredom or discomfort of the current situation, and trying to focus on enjoying that. Enjoying your time eating lunch or dinner, and focusing on that, instead of scrolling or watching a video always. Enjoying a walk without a podcast or music. Enjoying the comfort of being safe and warm in bed instead of distracting from thoughts. Things like that. It's a skill you build and as you build it you will be more open to getting dopamine from sources other than doomscrolling. Other benefits include being able to manage uncomfortable thoughts and feelings better and also have the boredom and discomfort drive you to do other things. Of course this works best when paired with things like DBT skills to help with thoughts and emotions.
Needs to be in the perfect mood
Never in the mood
I don't dream about fancy vacations and places far away. There is just this 6 hour bike tour starting and finishing at my very home that I thought of, connecting my favourite tour with my favourite hike in a circle. That's my dream vacation.
Yet another summer ends without it.
Been there in the past, but I actually have been doing all of the above past couple of years.
I recently read Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread on anarcho-communism, and am currently reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. I've been drawing geometric patterns, mostly based on the Islamic tradition of geometry, and after drawing the patterns I start painting to add some color. I throw them away after a while, but I just like the flow-experience of painting/drawing, don't really care about the end-result. I'm studying French on a daily basis, mostly on Busuu, but also by watching French movies (most recently Le Proces Goldman) and reading French books (most recently Le Petit Prince). I watch on average 2 movies per week at my local cinema, got a subscription there, sometimes go with friends but I also often go alone. I enjoy going to museums and studying art history, so when I have the time I cross the country by train and make visits. I also take psychedelics (LSD and/or psilocybin) every 2 or 3 weeks. Psychedlics are a lot of fun, but I also actually believe they helped me grow as a person, from what the OP describes, to where I am now. Psychedelics aren't for everyone, but still I'd highly recommend most people to try them out some time (responsibly of course).
The life of the Wanderer is but to struggle. Alas once the struggle ends, life will too.
It makes it all the more attention-grabbing when you hit just the right mix of attitude, self-care, antidepressants, and stimulants that you can just do some shit and feel good about it, then even look forward to doing some other shit and getting that done too.
It doesn’t fix everything and it doesn’t stay that way without ongoing work, but it helps to genuinely know the feeling to help you going your way back there again.
Ich spreche Deutsch! Duolingo ist mein Lehrer!
I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to casually learn a language. Even if you just do a little bit every day. Exercises are only a couple minutes long, but I spend around 15 to 30 minutes per day learning, and it's going a lot better than I expected.
Same here though I use Busuu. Used Duolingo in the past, to be fair there's not that much difference between the two.
Been dreaming of a FOSS alternative, where people work together to make the best possible ever-improving courses, and all is free and customizable to your every need. That would be so awesome ! Surely some day some one will make this happen, right?
