Adderall is great at making me produce, but horrible at true “focus.” It makes everything other than pure output feel like a waste of time. In the long run, I found this to be a pretty detrimental way to operate. Good for getting something across the finish line but since I’ve stopped taking it I’ve been able to go a lot deeper into stuff and plug away at long term projects rather than just checking off as many “tasks” as possible.

Complete opposite so ymmv

The people I have worked with on Adderall were just annoying and fucked shit up constantly. Bonus points working with them after they burn out.

Take smaller doses when you want to to do deep work

I switched to concerta and it works much better. Lowering my dose of adderall just made it less effective.

I tried it, I found everything you said true _at the beginning_ but after a few hours as it wore off I paid the price for the initial boost and the net effect was near zero, or possibly even negative.

I've also been around a ton of people who are taking it constantly and well...they act weird, a bit more frenzied and not necessarily more productive on deep thinking tasks. Not sure if this was the case for me. It's an enjoyable experience, like a recreational drug. I see why people take it, and further I see why people believe it helps them be more productive, but I am highly skeptical of these claimed benefits.

Haha, this, but ADHD diagnosis and then my doctor got me Concerta - not as big of a boost, but no longer crashing in the afternoon :)

>well...they act weird, a bit more frenzied and not necessarily more productive on deep thinking tasks.

This matches up with some research on that exact subject.

"Our findings suggest that “smart drugs” increase motivation, but a reduction in quality of effort, crucial to solve complex problems, annuls this effect."

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add4165

Euphoria and crash is a sign of taking too much at once. This is why you’re supposed to titrate up from a dose that seemingly does nothing until you reach a level and number of doses that work best for your needs without impacting your mood or sleep too much. All the time release numbers are bullshit btw, there’s massive variability between people.

> Adderall to me is a wonder drug

It's just amphetamines, right?