If you do want to use stimulants to boost productivity, it probably has to be a somewhat rare thing. I've had a handful of positive experiences with modafinil when I wasn't taking it regularly. There was this one time, I had a lot of work I needed to do but I kept procrastinating on it. I cleared up my schedule for an entire day and took modafinil in the morning. I started working and just did not stop. I was more productive than ever, all the way until 10PM. At some point during the day my mom called me and I picked up the phone. I had a normal conversation with her that laster multiple minutes, while putting together a graph for a presentation I was working on, and I felt like I was doing both things at once without any loss in efficiency. Normally, I could never have a phone conversation while also focusing on a work task, I felt superhuman in that one moment.
BUT... I later got a prescription for modafinil, which I took daily for 3 months. My experience was that you build a tolerance, just as you do with caffeine or with any other stimulant. Initially, I would take it in the morning and feel very focused for most of the day. Eventually, the stimulation would only last until noon or so, at which point I would crash and get extremely irritable. I remember the guy I shared an office with telling me to "just chill" because I kept getting frustrated at a programming issue and cursing. I was getting super pissed off at really minor things. On top of that, there were also side-effects. It made my acne quite a bit worse and my hair much more oily. This is also typical of stimulants in my experience.
I reached a point where there was zero benefit to taking modafinil anymore. It just made me have annoying mood swings, so I discontinued it, and went back to coffee, which I gradually reduced to just one coffee a day, and I felt a lot better. I haven't used modafinil in years and I don't really care to push my body like that anymore.
My general advice for people who want to try this is that there is unfortunately no free lunch with stimulants. You can use them every once in a while to get an extra boost in focus and energy, but you usually end up more tired later, like you have to pay back a debt to your system. Even just taking a stimulant for one day will lead to a little bit of tolerance buildup. You'll probably feel slightly more tired and unmotivated a day or two or three later.
Yup. I have a prescription for modafinil, but I only use it when desperate times call for desperate measures. (Like having to lead a session but I'm having a terrible pain day).
I know whenever I use it I'm going to pay for it later.
Actually, given my first few doses always feel great, it probably isn't nocebo. If anything, perhaps the initial 'good' dose might be placebo (placebic?) in nature.
BUT... I later got a prescription for modafinil, which I took daily for 3 months. My experience was that you build a tolerance, just as you do with caffeine or with any other stimulant. Initially, I would take it in the morning and feel very focused for most of the day. Eventually, the stimulation would only last until noon or so, at which point I would crash and get extremely irritable. I remember the guy I shared an office with telling me to "just chill" because I kept getting frustrated at a programming issue and cursing. I was getting super pissed off at really minor things. On top of that, there were also side-effects. It made my acne quite a bit worse and my hair much more oily. This is also typical of stimulants in my experience.
I reached a point where there was zero benefit to taking modafinil anymore. It just made me have annoying mood swings, so I discontinued it, and went back to coffee, which I gradually reduced to just one coffee a day, and I felt a lot better. I haven't used modafinil in years and I don't really care to push my body like that anymore.
My general advice for people who want to try this is that there is unfortunately no free lunch with stimulants. You can use them every once in a while to get an extra boost in focus and energy, but you usually end up more tired later, like you have to pay back a debt to your system. Even just taking a stimulant for one day will lead to a little bit of tolerance buildup. You'll probably feel slightly more tired and unmotivated a day or two or three later.