When I asked AI what I could do to use hyperfocus in combination with flow, I was actually aware of the nature of the answer AI would give me, since it is more or less parsing the web and it will give you answers that you would be able to gather yourself, as I said before.

I find it remarkable, though, as how it more or less exactly pointed out what I was already thinking would be the best ideas, since I had read the book about habit formation by James Clear and other psychological essays about this topic beforehand.

Well, lets have a dive into the suggestions AI made:

First it suggested a meaningful and motivating cue. This is more or less exactly in line with habit formation suggested by James Clear:

Make the cue obvious and motivating, for example combined with a song start, a drink, a cozy situation or something like that. AI suggested it should have a motivating “OK, let’s do it” – vibe.

Interestingly, the second step it suggested was something that James Clear does not suggest, but that I had done previously without thinking about it too much: Start with a momentum and not with a duty. Getting into action with a small mechanic action seems sensible: Typing meaningless into the keyboard, simply opening a document, write one sentence. The idea is just to start something as “fake work” in order to get into action. Getting into action without too much stress is meant to get you going and then get you into flow. That is pretty interesting to read it as an output from AI, since I had always the impression that “fake work” served more as an excuse for doing actually nothing but giving me the feeling of being productive and then shutting the laptop lid again, although nothing had been effectively done.

The next two steps are not necessarily what James Clear suggests, but it absolutely makes sense and had come up to my mind already before:

Generate a small intermitting dopamine boost, bs congratulationg myself for having started, enjoying a small treat, a song start, whatever. The idea behind it is that if I give myself a treat right away, it serves as a link between rewarding myself for having started and likewise motivating to go on. I guess this is in line with my idea that breaking down a task into small steps and then rewarding the small steps is keeping up motivation.

The interesting bit, however, is the thought of “doing it only for 2/5/7 minutes”. This gives me the feeling of “I can stop anytime for a break” and “I can have a small treat after the next workshop”. And actually this really works. It is like having a runner’s high. The first minutes are the ones that feel the most strenuous and the longest. After breaking this barrier – or deadlock, because it feels more like it – you go on without thinking about it too much, provided that the initial goal is motivating and small enough, but challenging enough to keep going, the chances of getting into a flow are big.

Is there a learning curve? I think here’s the catch. The sustainability of such motivating habit loops is not necessarily perpetuated by the knowledge of experience. The problem with ADHD is that the learning effect is not a given thing. You need to train yourself. Or better yet: condition yourself. This is what this is all about.

What does this have to do with sobriety? Well, I think it is pretty obvious that “unlearning” addictive behavior works in a similar way, and when I stopped smoking years ago, I conditioned myself exactly in this way. And my recovery works in this way as well. But since my Core consists of ADHD and related disorders by up to 50%, the good thing is: I know what I can do. The bad thing is: I have to remind myself of it time and time again. But it works.

Until next time, keep up the faith in yourself and take one step at a time.