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Comment by MissionInfl | Hacker News Reader

It's possible to have different reactions to the same drug :)

As someone that is a heavy longtime user and recently diagnosed ADHD (there is a deep relationship between cannabis/substances and ADHD), I did find during the pandemic that smoking cannabis prior to writing software made it feel more productive. Given I couldn't prove that I was really more productive, and there are other costs, I decided against using it at least for my full time job. This is all to say, YMMV with cannabis or any psychoactive substance.

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Also ADHD here. I find smoking a little helps significantly with turning off the distractions of Slack, email, reading interesting docs that cross my path. It's much easier to sit down, crank out a coding task, or jump into a deep debugging session.

Not something I do often (or even occasionally), but I definitely don't think it's nonsense.

Undiagnosed but suspected ADHD here. With a bit of THC and some electronic music I can bang code out for hours completely in the zone. It's like I build a great mental model on what I'm working on and become very immersed in it. I can't do it too often as managers need their meetings and updates but it's the most "zen" I ever feel.

In my experience, being in any alternative state of mind, whether from caffeine or moderate amounts of alcohol, or even something not substance related- after working out, after a good night's sleep, after a bad night's sleep (the sweet spot is four hours), there is a sensation of productivity benefit, but I hesitate to claim there is actually productivity in every case. I think these altered states of mind help make it emotionally easier to cope with whatever the underlying cause is- possibly ADHD, possibly some variety of anxiety- and thus make it feel easier to work or engage in other difficult tasks. But cognitively? That's a whole different story.

“Feel more productive” - just like all the drunk drivers who swear, “I actually drive better drunk!”

Comparing "unfocused without cannabis" to "focused with cannabis" is a no brainer: I am definitely more productive with cannabis if it gets my butt in the chair and fingers typing on the keyboard. Comparing "focused without cannabis" to "focused with cannabis" is a different story, likely favoring the former as you are implying, but I think it is a bit less certain than driving drunk which is always dangerous.

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