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Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#181

Post by synicalx »

yumaikas wrote: post #167

As a matter of course, not a medical professional: Double check against ADHD. If you have it, it changes how you approach all of the advice you might get, because it means your brain is literally physically different in how it manager attention. If you don't, that's also valuable intel. Either way, you'll also want to learn what emotions are in play with your new project cycles. Emotions tend to indicate needs, if in…

On the topic of ADHD, I would STRONGLY recommend getting a second opinion of any diagnosis especially as an adult.

Doctors seem to be very trigger happy when it comes to medication for ADHD and it's not always necessary. If you can afford it then it's definitely a good idea to get a second, independent opinion just to be sure before you start quaffing pharmaceutical grade amphetamines for the rest of your life.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#182

Post by synicalx »

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…

I sort of disagree on two things;

1. Video games, in moderation can be beneficial for focus in much the same way reading a book can. You have to concentrate on a single task for an extended period of time, and lack of concentration is often punished. Obviously playing for 8 hours a day is a problem, but an hour or two here and there is nothing to worry about.

2. I'm a morning person, so getting up early and doing something useful before 8am totally works for me. But a lot of people just can't function that early or don't have the luxury of being able to get up that early (shift workers, for example). I'd suggest instead of targeting 8am specifically, just target the first wakeful hour of your day as the time to get something done by. If that's 8am - great, if that's 6pm - that's cool to.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#183

Post by news_hacker »

shakezula wrote: post #163
news_hacker wrote: post #161

Relatable. Try what I'm doing. Work your way backwards. https://backwards.dev Start with the final goal you're seeking (in my case it was a Pay Me checkout button) and then piece the rest of the fluff later. A lot of the focus product is dealing with emotional barriers and your personal psychology. This shatters all this and paves a new path. There's something sobering about starting at the end, instead of consistent…

Hey I really like this idea! I have been taking a similar approach lately with something I've been calling "deployment first development". My approach is to create a dead-simple hello world app deployed to the internet with a one-command deploy and start iterating from there. Having something to show people that is live and that I can see the feedback loop for helps me tremendously. I might have to supplement my curr…

Excellent! Tight feedback loops are everything. Feel free to take a look at my /milestones page or DM me if you have any questions. I'm always looking for accountability buddies too.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#184

Post by diiq »

bsima wrote: post #110
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.

That is also valuable, but a different premise! Barbara Sher originally wrote books based on that premise: find Your Thing and you'll shine -- but discovered that some people didn't seem to have A Thing, and any talk of having A Thing made them stressed and unhappy.

The Barbara Sher book for people who want to find and follow Their Purpose is "I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was". "Refuse to Choose" is for people who want to do 70 things but the thought of doing any one of them exclusively is horrifying.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#185

Post by briHass »

synicalx wrote: post #181
yumaikas wrote: post #167

As a matter of course, not a medical professional: Double check against ADHD. If you have it, it changes how you approach all of the advice you might get, because it means your brain is literally physically different in how it manager attention. If you don't, that's also valuable intel. Either way, you'll also want to learn what emotions are in play with your new project cycles. Emotions tend to indicate needs, if in…

On the topic of ADHD, I would STRONGLY recommend getting a second opinion of any diagnosis especially as an adult. Doctors seem to be very trigger happy when it comes to medication for ADHD and it's not always necessary. If you can afford it then it's definitely a good idea to get a second, independent opinion just to be sure before you start quaffing pharmaceutical grade amphetamines for the rest of your life.

I'm not sure I'd use the phrase 'trigger happy' for doctors willing to prescribe stimulant medication to adults. The literature is clear that the stimulant meds are very effective for ADHD and the side effects of normal doses are pretty minimal. https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo... is a pretty balanced take on the risks/benefits.

So, as a doctor, if an otherwise responsible adult is stating that their inability to focus is having a negative impact on their life, and you know there are reasonably safe and potentially very effective drugs that can be tried, what, exactly should hold you back? Likewise, as an informed patient, what is the harm in trying a low dose and seeing if it helps enough to be worth it?

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#186

Post by lifeplusplus »

zackmorris wrote: post #149

I'm starting to come out of the dark night of the soul that started when I burned out in 2019 just before the pandemic. I've begun to feel emotions again like boredom, impulsiveness, even stuff like competitiveness, which I let go of while working through ego death. It's not much, but what really helped me was flipping things around and seeing myself from other people's perspective. Like, feeling a calling to do some…

Something that helped me regain spirit was to just stop. Let the mourning happen. Got into gaming then movies then hiking then making videos. Stopped trying to reach somewhere just let things happen. Did whatever felt interested. And in a year I was happy again. Talked to old friends and visited local parks and museums as well. In time creativity came back, drive came back, and curiosity came back.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#187

Post by pengaru »

Self-discipline is a skill you develop and maintain with practice. It applies to literally every aspect of life, including following through on projects you chose to start work on.

Amphetamines like Adderall are a popular option, which others have recommended here. But I'd like to note I've seen my fair share of devs dependent on ADHD meds lacking self-discipline who just ended up staring at their phone doomscrolling all day at their desk, with their legs visibly restless from the stimulant train they were riding.

Personally I treat all stimulants as simply performance-enhancing drugs. You still need at least a modicum of self-discipline to direct that focused energy at the intended tasks.

IME adopting even a simple daily exercise routine and refusing to miss it unless you're too sick/injured (which means you're also too sick/injured to work, self-imposed, this is self-discipline after all) is an effective means of establishing and maintaining self-discipline. Plus it's good for your health and fitness as a bonus.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#188

Post by nso95 »

rg111 wrote: post #173

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 stu…

I find 60-90 minute timeboxes better for programming, need to get into flow

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#189

Post by sn9 »

TameAntelope wrote: post #143
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #15

Practice. Treat focus like a skill you develop, or a muscle that you train to be stronger. If you wanted to improve your weightlifting you would schedule regular gym visits and create a plan to do a certain amount of lifting each day with slightly more weight each week. If you wanted to improve your running you’d set aside time to run and try to run incrementally farther over time. Focus is the same: You need to star…

Small nit, but I think the research around "focus is a muscle" ended up being unable to replicate. I can't cite the exact research, but Angela Duckworth turned me onto this on an episode of "No Stupid Questions" about two or three weeks ago. Good advice generally though, and nothing you said really relies on focus being a muscle; you still need to practice it, but no need to worry about not being "conditioned" enough…

You're conflating self-control with focus, which are two separate things.

The study focuses on the claims that self-control or exertions of willpower deplete the ego which doesn't address focus.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#190

Post by sn9 »

briHass wrote: post #185
synicalx wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the topic of ADHD, I would STRONGLY recommend getting a second opinion of any diagnosis especially as an adult. Doctors seem to be very trigger happy when it comes to medication for ADHD and it's not always necessary. If you can afford it then it's definitely a good idea to get a second, independent opinion just to be sure before you start quaffing pharmaceutical grade amphetamines for the rest of your life.

I'm not sure I'd use the phrase 'trigger happy' for doctors willing to prescribe stimulant medication to adults. The literature is clear that the stimulant meds are very effective for ADHD and the side effects of normal doses are pretty minimal. https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo... is a pretty balanced take on the risks/benefits. So, as a doctor, if an otherwise responsible adult is stating…

There are non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD that might be worth a shot like CBT, developing executive function, and other behavioral/coaching interventions.

Compare minimal side effects to zero side effects and not having to pay for something indefinitely.

You can try other things before reaching for the pills if your doctor thinks it's appropriate.

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