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Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#101

Post by selfhifive »

Do core exercises.

Develop muscular endurance in the spine.

Do yoga or something that allows you to move your spine and stretch hip-flexors.

Sitting in one place is endurance work. Mostly our body gives way before the mind does.

You can apply other things suggested too but the physical component of focus is often ignored.

And of course develop the endurance to sit for long periods by sitting for long periods. 3 to 4 hours is usually ideal. (According to Cal Newport in Deep Work)

This is more micro than what you wanted but I guess it can work in a bottom-up manner.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#103

Post by krnlpnc »

FWKevents wrote: post #23

-- Limit your time on social media to 20 minutes or less a day (LinkedIn/Facebook/Discord use that's related to work is an exception.) No studies exist yet to support this hypothesis, but it's my observation that longtime exposure to social media impedes overall focus. -- Limit your TV watching to one or two hours on the weekends, per week -- Limit video game use to one or two hours per week -- Find an activity you l…

> Wake up early and try to accomplish something significant before 8am

I'm guessing you don't have young children?

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#104

Post by WhiteOwlEd »

I put together a markdown outline for new features to implement and new marketing ideas. I also put together an outline for my current project.

Before starting a current project, I spend a couple of weeks really thinking through the value that will be created for humanity if the project is completed. Each time a new idea comes up, I put it in the outlines above, but I make it a point to COMPLETE the current project by telling myself about all of the end value that will be created.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#105

Post by aynyc »

toyg wrote: post #96
ChildOfChaos wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh hits hard. At the moment I try to exercise for an hour a day, i'm learning to code in Swift with lessons that are roughly an hour a day and do an hour of guitar of guitar a day plus try to keep a few other things going and it's so difficult with a full time job, but else if you don't do it, life is just work and then home and repeat, how are you ever meant to develop yourself?

> i'm learning to code in Swift IT has normalized this idea that you do professional development in your free time, instead that on the job. This is not the case for many (most?) other areas. Anybody in this position: ask your managers for time. Talk about expected career development. Invoke the Google 20% (yeah yeah, I know, not perfect, but still). We need to reclaim our free time as actually free from work of any…

Most careers have career development done outside of the job except certain apprenticeship programs, but if you want to get your master license, you are going to work outside of your job. That said, many licensed professions have Continuous Education requirements that you can incorporate into the job.

From my personal experience, I honestly can't think of any high-paying jobs that have career development built-into the job.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#107

Post by NylaTheWolf »

FWKevents wrote: post #23

-- Limit your time on social media to 20 minutes or less a day (LinkedIn/Facebook/Discord use that's related to work is an exception.) No studies exist yet to support this hypothesis, but it's my observation that longtime exposure to social media impedes overall focus. -- Limit your TV watching to one or two hours on the weekends, per week -- Limit video game use to one or two hours per week -- Find an activity you l…

These are some pretty harsh restrictions. No using the internet for more than 20 minutes a day unless it's work related? Only playing video games for an hour or two per week? This feels like it'd set OP up to burn out...You can't even have a meaningful conversation with someone in 20 minutes. It may work for you but it's not going to work for everyone. Besides, sometimes when you're sad or tired or just need a break, you just want to relax and do something more mindless. And even video games aren't just "mindless" entertainment. What if you want to take a break in between work?

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#109

Post by weeddy »

Motivation is key. When and if you are motivated enough, focus comes as a side effect of it (personal experience).

Having prioritised list helps to deal with multiple projects. Here, it is important not to fall into switching to a lower priority project if struggling with the other one, although context switch also advantageous when not obused.

Limiting number of WIP projects was a delight to me. When one finished, feel free to switch to another one. Different time and place for different projects also another technique to be aware of.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#110

Post by bsima »

diiq wrote: post #40

You don't need focus; you need to understand what your goal is . If you're dropping projects that look "unfinished" because, in reality, you've gotten what you want from them, that is fine. It only looks sloppy from the outside. If you're dropping projects before you get what you want from them, introspect on why. What's happening that leads you away? Address that . I recommend reading Barbara Sher's "Refuse to Choos…

One of my favorite rap lyrics is "Ya nervous, because you lack a purpose" https://genius.com/837334

I'm usually a terrible speaker, but when I was running a startup I really believed in, I made great presentations and was very extroverted. Find a purpose and the rest takes care of itself.

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