Extremely driven and lazy at the same time?

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Is anyone else like this? I find that I can sometimes push myself extremely hard. But then if some minor disappointment occurs or I become dissatisfied I get lazy and am unable to keep going. I’m also a perfectionist.

I’ll give an example. I’m in graduate school. I’ve been writing code to analyze climate model data. Often I want to write nice, efficient, elegant code, yet my advisor often just wants me to do quick inelegant “hacky” code to get the job done. I lose all motivation when I approach my work this way. I found most scientists write completely discombobulated code that I can hardly figure out and I’m just supposed to accept that it works and use it. I can’t stand this!

I’m afraid this will get in the way of my career and make me permanently unmotivated.

YES!

I will cite examples later.

I too can appreciate this. If only I could work an eight hour day - after five or six intense hours I fizzle out - then again at my intense speed that a good amount of work. I don't have as low button. I have to be self employed as I can't work among or have any desire to work among others - thats the aspi in me?.

I used to be able to work hard tho thirteen years of not enough work tend to have a negative influence.

It is a curse - I cannot work 'rough'.

This last week with the despatch of a major 'perfectionist' piece of work I can get to more routine stuff. I'll be happier now. Big projects cripple me. Too big a hill to climb.

I wouldn't say I am not "driven" I walk/run at least a mile a day, most of the time more. Some things I am very stubborn about doing. One thing I am extremely stubborn about doing is mowing the yard. I don't hate the actual mowing, I hate the grass and the dust. If I could mow without dust and grass I wouldn't mind it as much.

I am one of those annoying types that procrastinates until a neighbor calls the city code enforcement officer and he puts a notice on my door. This time, I wasn't the only one in yard violation, three other neighbors were too. I don't feel so weird about it when other neighbors have crappy yards too. Since I don't live in a neighborhood that has an association I don't make a big deal about yard keeping and never call and report anyone for tall grass in their yard.

I wish everyone were more like me

I just don't understand why some people seem to actually like mowing with all the sneezing and dust flying up and sticking to sweaty skin.

I like mowing, it gives me instant gratification. I pick cooler mornings to do it, so the heat isn't much of an issue. Not too dusty here either, and I love the smell of freshly cut grass. I have a specific way I like to do it, and when my other physical limitations won't allow me the chance, it drives me crazy to ask someone else to do it. they never do it to my satisfaction.

I too like doing things a certain way, and feel like if I can't do my best it isn't worth doing. I recently redesigned my website and this time I decided that the code would be as clean as possible and WC3 validated...thankfully all pages of the site validated nicely. I'm still messing with it here and there as I find little errors, or a space out of place.

I don't think it's laziness exactly, I just get stuck when I hit an obstacle and I focus on it til I find a way around it. Sometimes a way around isn't that easy to find.

Now my daughter too is perfectionistic, and I'm very good at teaching her good enough is ok. I have a hard time taking my own advice

Sounds like something that I do, I often have the thought, do it properly or don't do it at all. I try to do a task properly but if I am told to basicaly just skim on it I lose my will to do it at all. Often when I am in a group and we have to prepare something I try to do it perfect, including figuring out hard calculations, often they act like I am crazy and then I lose a lot of my will. Also I tend to be quite lazy with actual phyical work, not good when my dad is in the army, my younger brother is quite stronger then me and I can not keep up physicaly. I have been known to go to school sick, one occasion apparently they had to get me to talk to the admin staff as I was sick and was trying to go. I am lazy about a lot of things I dislike but when there is something I need to do I am very driven, though problems arise when they conflict with my other aspie traits.