Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 August 26

= August 26 =

Are there any tricks made to increase willpower or deal with situations where low willpower is a problem?
I am an adult with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder predominantly inattentive (not self diagnosed, discovered when adult), and have problem with willpower (have low willpower to alot of stuff), is there any tricks to overcome that?

One trick that I use is that if there something that I am not 100% it will take more than 5 minutes to do it or find the answer, spend 5 minutes trying to do it (or less, if its something that even 5 minutes doing it its too boring for me), then after 5 minutes (or less if I picked less than 5 minutes), if I didnt finished doing the task or finding the thing I was trying to find (like the name of a old movie or something), I stop doing that and continue with my life.

This works because sometimes you believe something will take alot of time to do (like finding the name of a old movie where an actor children has a cartoon dragon as a friend [ Pete's Dragon (1977 film) is the answer ] ) and may not be worth the time, but if you spend your time trying to work the answer you will discover the answer after just few minutes. Another example is when there is something you will take just few minutes of your day to do, but must do it everyday (one example changing the PC clock time if it reset everytime you turn off the pc) and you believe its easier to do it everyday, than try to find the solution to this problem, but the solution may be easy to find (the solution to this problem is change the cmos battery, and if thats too much for you, using a program like nettime that auto update the clock using internet info every boot also works and is also easy to do it).

The idea is that you spend 5 minutes (or less) trying to find the answer and if you find the answer, well you discovered the answer or did the thing you wanted, and if its really takes alot of time to do, well you spent 5 minutes trying to do the thing (or less) and you can handle spending 5 minutes doing this thing.

Anyway, the problem with that trick is that it works with just very specific things, things that I am not 100% sure it will take more than 5 minutes to do or research, and so wont work with ALL those others stuff that I may not have enought willpower to do. Thats why I am asking here is there is any other tricks that would works with other kinds of situations.191.248.39.171 (talk) 18:53, 26 August 2021 (UTC)


 * The notion of willpower being limited is closely related to that of ego depletion Since serious doubts have arisen over the validity of the latter effect, now also the very concept of willpower (self-control) as a quantifiable something is being questioned. Subjects that believe in the theory of limited willpower tend to show less self-control in experimental tests. This is similar to the placebo effect. Belief in an inherent lack of willpower can become an excuse to hide behind. There may be a reason that motivational speeches often take the form of, "Yes! You can do it!". The reason is that this works. If some people appear to have plenty of willpower also without such speeches, this may actually be due to their finding task execution in itself rewarding; they find pleasure in doing a good job, and the delayed gratification of looking back on a job well done is just the icing on the cake. The trick may simply be to lean into it and experience the moment. --Lambiam 21:41, 26 August 2021 (UTC)
 * "If some people appear to have plenty of willpower also without such speeches, this may actually be due to their finding task execution in itself rewarding; they find pleasure in doing a good job, and the delayed gratification of looking back on a job well done is just the icing on the cake. " But what if I just care about the end result? I am trying to learn Lojban not because some sort of pleasure in studying this specific language called lojban, but because I think it would be cool if I knew this language called lojban (that is a second choice as learning Ithkuil is out of question as NO ONE is fluent at it), tons of stuff are done for the end result and not for some sort of pleasure at doing it, school is some extreme example, you go to school to learn and not to study, stuying is just the way selected to make this goal (learn what is needed) happen because its the only method that will make that happen.
 * You may be out of luck then. There is no "trick" by which to grow a longer neck, or to increase intelligence. Why should there be one to charge a nonexistent willpower battery? The only way anyone will ever learn to become fluent in Lojban is because they find pleasure in learning it and can enjoy little steps of progress, and not merely because they think it ith kuil to eventually be fluent in it. If there is a trick, it may be to will yourself to enjoy the journey for the journey itself. You can do it! --Lambiam 06:06, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
 * The OP needs to find something they enjoy doing rather than doing something because they think someone else will think it's "cool". The old saying, "It's not the destination, it's the journey." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:24, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
 * "Cool" was not the right word, I was just talking how what I want to do is to be fluent at lojban, i am studying it to try to be fluent, and not to have fun trying to learn it. Also being fluente at lojban is just one of the thing I want to do/be or one of the things I NEED to do. Also, "The OP needs to find something they enjoy doing" not everything I may need to do or learn will be something I enjoy doing/learning.191.248.39.171 (talk) 15:31, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
 * How many speakers of that language are there? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:06, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Is that relevant, or are you asking just out of curiosity? For Wikipedian Lojban speakers, see Category:User jbo. --Lambiam 20:32, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Fun might be a misleading word here. The pictures in that article mostly show people throwing things or themselves around, or getting covered in stuff, which is no way to learn a language. Instead of these stereotypes, consider the related concept of Flow (psychology). You need to be creatively engaged, which means having a strictly relevant kind of fun. Card Zero  (talk) 23:18, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
 * We have an oddly specific article on the subject: Motivation in second-language learning. This is a good article for somebody with limited attention, because you can skip straight to the final paragraph and ignore the rest, and nothing of value will be lost. There is also a TED talk on the subject, with examples of diverse ways different language learners enjoy themselves. Card Zero (talk) 22:57, 27 August 2021 (UTC)