Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

Re:Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, i... by Eilene on Monday February 26, 2018 @11:16AM (#16466344)

Is this manager still going this route? And do you think any of the microdosing (or other drug use) goes beyond the 10x productivity stuff? Could it be some of the tedium of programming work? Does it relieve any of that? I'm trying to determine too if all of the drug use in tech is really aimed at enhancing performance/productivity or if it's also used to stave off depression, anxiety or just that feeling so many of us have and have had that we're not doing anything particularly meaningful in our professional work. Peter was very depressed, so I understand why he did opioids, for sure. And he had an immense workload, so the amphetamines also make sense.

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Re:Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, i... by Bartweiss on Monday February 26, 2018 @12:29PM (#16467062)

> I'm trying to determine too if all of the drug use in tech is really aimed at enhancing performance/productivity or if it's also used to stave off depression, anxiety or just that feeling so many of us have and have had that we're not doing anything particularly meaningful in our professional work.

This is a fascinating possibility, and apparently there's at least one researcher working on exactly that. [1][2]

On a much lesser level, I know this is a common reason for the divide between focus tips ("listen to white noise, silence, or wordless music to avoid distraction") and people's self-report techniques ("listening to intense EDM helps me code"). The goal isn't to avoid distraction, it's to break through tedium and help code longer without losing focus. I'd hardly be surprised if more intense things like LSD microdosing had similar effects.

Anecdotally, I know at least one very skilled programmer who insisted she couldn't work without marijuana. She didn't think THC did anything to raise her core abilities, but rather said that it stopped her from getting impatient or bored and let her work more methodically for longer.

[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-...

[2] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21507740.2014.990...

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Re:Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, i... by ThrustVectoring on Monday February 26, 2018 @12:56PM (#16467334)

The emotional blocks to productivity are a very real phenomenon. I've only ever done this once, but I pushed through a really annoying emberjs refactor through Ballmer Peaking overnight.

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Re:Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, i... by m_fayer on Monday February 26, 2018 @02:45PM (#16468317)

I completely agree. When I'm unhappy with my productivity, part of my self-assessment involves taking a careful look at my emotional state and seeing if there's anything there that isn't compatible with the calm/attentive/enthusiastic/alert combination where I do my best work. And if I turn something up, I either switch tasks, take some time off, or try to resolve the impediment one way or another.

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Re:Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, i... by SimbaOnSteroids on Monday February 26, 2018 @03:25PM (#16468662)

The referenced xkcd https://xkcd.com/323/

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Re:Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, i... by thecupisblue on Monday February 26, 2018 @03:39PM (#16468780)

Ha! I was just noticing this recently, smoking a joint early in the day makes it easier for me to focus and way more productive.

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Re:Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, i... by Eilene on Monday February 26, 2018 @01:39PM (#16467754)

Thanks for the links.

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