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Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#51

Post by saxman001 »

I struggled with the same thing for years. For me the key to getting it together was moderately increasing my caffeine intake, only consuming caffeine first thing in the morning and eliminating alcohol. I also upgraded apartments and bought a new mattress pillows and bedding which helped me get better sleep.

After I made these adjustments I had the boost in concentration and wellbeing that I needed to take on some of the other adjustments suggested by other commenters.

These adjustments made a night and day difference to my ability to focus. Maybe none of these things are a problem for you, but definitely check in on these areas if you haven't already.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#52

Post by Flankk »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #11

Meditate. Expose yourself to the feeling of letting go. Meditate: Literally train your mind to focus. It's going to the gym. Won't happen in a day, week, even month. Consistently do it and you'll eventually see progress. Letting go: I have a long track record of starting while not going deep. Eventually, I just had to jump in the cold water and start letting things go. Literally put away physical gear for hobbies I w…

Meditate and do it properly, for at least 15 minutes a day. Focus on your breath. You will hear sounds, feel sensations in your body, and have thoughts come and go. Observe these things but bring your focus back to your breath. I think you will begin to see the benefit after a week.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#53

Post by vitabenes »

Well, focus is all about picking 1-2 projects to work on, and excluding anything not-relevant to those projects. You can't make 10 projects work at once. So pick 1-2 and commit.

Which of your projects are most meaningful to you? Which solve problems you care about and seem most interesting? Start shipping something, share it on HN, Twitter, IndieHackers, etc. Getting positive feedback can also help you stick to 1 thing.

Note: don't focus on technologies and ideas so much, focus on problems to solve for others. What can you make easier for others that would be valuable for them?

A bit more on the point about excluding things and the whole topic of focus here: https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/how-to-focus-in-the-ag...

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#54

Post by mcdonje »

Pomodoro. I don't always use it, but it really helps when I'm having trouble getting into a groove on a task.

If my focus issues are partially due to tiredness, I make a point of keeping my eyes closed for all or part of the break periods.

I normally pin a browser tab and allow alerts for this site: https://pomodor.app/timer

I'm not affiliated, but it's simple and good. It's the only site I allow notifications from.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#55

Post by barbs »

I just started reading the book Lost Focus by Johaan Hari. It's a well-written deep dive on how we as a society have all lost the ability to concentrate on one thing for any good length of time.

I'm only a few chapters in, but it's fascinating so far. Can recommend.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#57

Post by CuriousSkeptic »

Just finished this book: https://stolenfocusbook.com/mobile/

One thing that stood out, which I suppose should be intuitive, is the idea that if you input more information into a system, the time to process each bit shrinks.

So basically change strategy from a breath first search, to depth first, close of all information sources not related to the current focus area to avoid distraction.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#58

Post by nivethan »

nont wrote: post #34
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…

HN for me is also a form of social media, especially if you find yourself checking it all the time.

It definite is for me, I think what's helped is forcing myself to read the article before I go the comments. At least some learning is happening.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#59

Post by whoomp12342 »

fuck, man I gave up on trying to develop focus. There are all sorts of methods that never worked for me.

Here is what I do.

option 1) take on two tasks at a time and convince yourself you would rather be doing X instead of Y. That way in your brain you are "getting away with it"

option 2) dont fight it. When you get the flow, isolate and GSD. When you arent feeling it, do what you need to do.

Option 2 isnt always an available depending on your circumstances but it is my favorite becvause I am actually way more productive this way.

Re: Ask HN: How do I develop focus?

#60

Post by leto_ii »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #39
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beware of anyone who tries to convince you that stimulants will automatically solve all of your problems. Plenty of people seek stimulant prescriptions and then more intensely focus on their distractions because their underlying problem was something else. You do not want to acquire a stimulant tolerance and dependence if you don’t have to. And be extremely wary of anyone who claims 75% of a group has ADHD (referring…

> And be extremely wary of anyone who claims 75% of a group My remark was facetious, btw.

You should make that clear with an edit/update in the parent. Sarcasm doesn't work well in writing, people tend to take it at face value.
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