"But as soon as I have time, like in weekends, I start wasting it in useless activities."
Are you familiar with the concept of a duty cycle?
Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
21–30 of 151 posts
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#22Sleep more!
This happens to me when I don't get enough sleep for a while.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#23Questions that might illuminate if there's a problem - When's the last time you went for a walk? When's the last time you were in nature for a while? When's the last time you spent a day absolutely, completely relaxing? How's your diet? How's your sleep? How's your sleep schedule? When's the last time you had a vacation? How much inspirational media have you been through in the last week - books, movies, audio, whate…
"Beyond that - changing environment can bring you out of a funk, bringing a laptop to a cafe with no internet can be a great option if you can do some work offline."
Even the best entrepreneurs have a really hard time focusing because they have so many different kinds of tasks that they can never really get into a flow state. Trying to do work as an entrepreneur while having access to the Internet is like trying to study for finals in a crack house.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#24From time to time I suffer the same issue. I look back hours later and get angry at myself for 'wasting' so much time. There are a few things you can do to help you out that others have mentioned. However this works for me the best: I edit my hosts file (Windows: /Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts, Mac: /etc/hosts) to look something similar to: 127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com 127.0.0.1 techcrunch.com www.techcrunch.c…
I wrote a small PHP command-line tool for turning on/off these host file entries. It's fairly simple, but I've found it to be extremely useful in killing off stray checks of favorite websites, which inevitably end in larger blocks of misspent time. http://github.com/killsaw/Timeguard
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#25I'll say it: You should do drugs.
You're describing a brain problem. It might be caused by poor diet, sleep, life perspective, etc. But whatever the cause, it's a problem in your brain; and it's probably fixable with drugs.
If you feel you have an ADHD problem (which is what it sounds like), there's a variety of pills that can correct your symptoms. This quiz is fairly accurate in terms of diagnosis (really, self-answered questions are one of the few indicators available to psychs for ADHD): http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
If you think you're too stressed, there's pills for that too.
I've also read that marijuana is helpful (counter-intuitive as it may seem) for reducing both ADHD and anxiety symptoms; so depending on your local laws, you might want to consider that.
My point is that lifestyle improvements are good, and I'd certainly advocate them, but don't rule out the possibility of using chemicals to your advantage. It's 2010 and we have that technology now.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#26You're burnt out, it happens, more so in the thinking oriented fields. As some of the other comments mentioned, you need a break. Fortunately my gf forces me to take time away from work, otherwise I would be burnt out half the year.
That's the second time in a few weeks this comes up on HN, if you 'need a break' you are not burned out (yet).
Burn-out is not something you're going to solve with a break or a change of scene for a few weeks, but is a pretty serious state of mind that will probably affect your life for many years and will leave lasting scars for the remainder of it.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#27This usually happens to me when the task at hand is not challenging enough. Try and develop some genuine interest in what you are doing and everything will just flow.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#28Marijuana + Exercise.
Seriously.
I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and getting off my mildly chubby ass were huge boons to productivity.
YMMV, but it's worth a shot. I'd go for something a long the lines of Sour Diesel or BC Blueberry are strains I've found to really increase concentration and focus without making one lazy or sleepy.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#29Questions that might illuminate if there's a problem - When's the last time you went for a walk? When's the last time you were in nature for a while? When's the last time you spent a day absolutely, completely relaxing? How's your diet? How's your sleep? How's your sleep schedule? When's the last time you had a vacation? How much inspirational media have you been through in the last week - books, movies, audio, whate…
Good list as answer to typical burnout syndrome. That cafe tip is a favorite.
Some specific experiences from me and others:
- Are there season differences? Consider SAD.
- Check for infection.
- Test for deficiencies (like iron, etc.)
- Try meditation (there are non-religious variants).Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#30I've also suffered from the same problem. I'm very interested in my project and motivated to do it but some days I just can't. I've found one thing that can change my day from zero productivity to 100% is a todo list. I just write down on a piece of paper some tasks I want to get done that day and usually I've crossed them all out by lunch time. Of course then you'll procrastinate from writing todo lists but that's another issue.
If you try todo lists, exercise, motivational books, etc. and still can't seem to focus on something you should be able to focus on, go talk to your doctor.