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Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#171

Post by rshurts »

Start mono-tasking. Focus on one thing at time and work on growing the amount of time you can keep that focus.

I've been doing this and it has been quite helpful. Some good mono-tasking activities:

- Read books. Books require you to focus for an extended period of time on the same subject. It doesn't matter fiction or non-fiction. Just find a book you enjoy and finish it. If you don't enjoy the book at 50 pages, try a new book.

- Actively listen during meetings. Close all your other tabs and applications and pay attention during a video call. Take notes with pencil and paper to keep your hands busy and keep the focus up.

- Walk. Just take a walk. Don't listen to a podcast or music, just walk and let your mind rest. You might even apply some meditation techniques and try to pay attention to your body. Can you feel your breathe or heart rate?

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#172

Post by pmoriarty »

I started taking some supplements to boost my focus, and they worked... so I started focusing a lot on playing video games. I'd get completely absorbed and play them for days, weeks, and months on end... total waste of time.

Being able to effectively select what you focus on is as important as being able to focus in the first place.

I personally felt out of control in that I focused on the wrong things, and just wasted my life... not something that supplements, meds, or tricks like the pomodoro technique can help you with.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#173

Post by rg111 »

Here's how I solved my focus problem-

1. Have a clear work/rest-of-life boundary. Have a clear set of hours or days of week where you work or learn things related to work. End your work on that boundary. Follow with a small end-of-work ritual. Spend time with hobbies, family, friends, etc. And set time aside vigilantly. When you know that you have to end working, you stop diverting your attention, and try to get stuff done as quickly as possible. When the boundary is blurry or non-existent, you can always do work "later". You can slack for little while "now".

2. Timebox. Have clearly defined boxes of thirty minutes blocks for definite tasks. Hell or high water, do not do anything else in the assigned time.

3. Time track. Just write down in a plain-text file or paper- what you did last. Note the times- both start and end. Whenever you are about to lose focus- you are reminded instantly that you have to log the time.

4. Plan concretely beforehand. Make up your mind about what you are going to do- and how much- before you begin doing something. Write it down. This pushes you towards doing that.

Aside from this techniques, as a general change-agent in your life, you should start meditating. Just read "Mindfulness in Plain English" by Bhante Gunaratana and/or "The Mind Illuminated" by Culadasa. This has immensely benefited my life- much beyond alleviating my focus problem.

I have personally seen minimizing social media usage to 15-20 minutes has helped me focus much more easily. I use social media just 15-20 minutes per day, and only in a particular time.

Even if I wait at a store or ride the elevator, I rather stare at the wall than pull up my phone.

I recommend two books and a podcast-

* Deep Work by Cal Newport

* Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt

* Huberman Lab Podcast

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#174

Post by komain7 »

I would say I feel the same way. What works for me is creating a space where everything is ready to go. I have three different maker spaces on my property. Each of them has computers, one has 3D printer and high end computing. Another one has all of my wood and metalworking. The last one is a total immersion room I built for focus. You don't have to work on this thing but you do have to go in this room for the next 4 hours and stare at the walls lined with every iteration, marketing idea ect. If I have stuff ready to go when an idea comes in my head, I have the energy to pump it out right now. Even if it is a bad prototype, it is a physical representation in the real world. Once I get to that part I can make a plan.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#177

Post by davidmanheim »

lucideer wrote: post #144
me_me_mu_mu wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it’s a numbers game. I’ve met maybe two people in my life who rise late who actually seem to get stuff done, compared to at least a dozen or more examples of early risers who are successful. I am not a morning person but I’ve trained myself to wake up around 6am and found it helps me get a lot done. Used to wake up around 9am and stumble into everything. I think most of the humans around wake up early so having…

This is at least in part down to societal structure. Education runs on a "morning person" schedule from a young age, through early adulthood. After that, there's certainly more choice available in terms of life schedule, but the vast majority of people are corralled into a form of employment built on the same schedule. Even if not, all major services one interfaces with in one's life operate on that schedule. Even if…

...it sounds like your dog is ruining your productivity. Are you doing anything to adjust your pet's schedule or otherwise deal with that?

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#178

Post by jbjbjbjb »

krnlpnc wrote: post #103
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?

For some reason just getting the kids ready, lunch packed and at school on time is a monumental achievement.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#179

Post by lucideer »

davidmanheim wrote: post #177
lucideer wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is at least in part down to societal structure. Education runs on a "morning person" schedule from a young age, through early adulthood. After that, there's certainly more choice available in terms of life schedule, but the vast majority of people are corralled into a form of employment built on the same schedule. Even if not, all major services one interfaces with in one's life operate on that schedule. Even if…

...it sounds like your dog is ruining your productivity. Are you doing anything to adjust your pet's schedule or otherwise deal with that?

He was. When he was a puppy. A temporary and worthwhile disruption, mitigated by familiarity, socialising and a small bit of training.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#180

Post by gexla »

ChildOfChaos wrote: post #73
gexla wrote: post #63

Do you have full time employment? I think you have to be aware of how limited our time is. If you have a full time job, there is very little time outside of that to do anything. The trouble is that a job also drains a lot of your energy, so working on anything on the side after work is going to put you at the edge of overdoing it. It's really hard to focus on this state as it is. Personally, I can get 4 good hours ou…

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 think the development question forces hard choices. Your choice right now is to work a full time job. The development may need to happen at work. If you can't develop there, then maybe look for a job which is more flexible. Alternatively, look for ways in which you can work from home or even go solo.

I feel like filling after-work hours with "development" things isn't the way to go. Personally, I need my time for "doing nothing" or allowing my brain to wander. I feel that creative energy needs this space.

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