ABSTRACT
You might be familiar with what I’m going through: As I sit down to write this essay, I am finding it very hard to just get on with it. Endless distractions-e-mails, phone calls, yesterday’s leftovers in the fridge-interfere with my concentration; the many aspects of the topic I want to write about keep getting garbled in my mind, leading me to forget details and curtailing the creation of a logical, ordered formulation of ideas; and I find myself wishing I could do something else-maybe go for a walk or watch a movie-and get back to this later. Wouldn’t it be great if there were something I could do to increase my focus, boost my memory, and improve my motivation, something effortless like taking a pill to give me the mental charge I lack right now?
