I lost my ability to focus. I check social media and youtube frequently while doing work. If I do not do that I feel some void and feeling of losing out(I do not know how to express this).
How to regain my focus and avoid this trap?
Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
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Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#2I had that issue two months ago.
I digged into my calendar and found out that's when I stopped going to the swimming pool, doing enough physical exercise.
It's old knowledge but : "A Healthy mind needs a healthy body" stays true.
Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#3Social Media Trap -- I installed the Leechblock extension for Firefox which helped me a bit. Also going to special places like silent libraries is helpful for me to concentrate. As final escape, think about going offline. Documentation can be downloaded.
Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#4This may sound stupid or trite, but have you considered moving into a management position?
Social media and Youtube may be stealing your attention because you simply enjoy them more. If coding was more enjoyable, you'd be doing more coding at the expense of those distractions.
But maybe you just don't enjoy coding your current project. A lot of projects are not intellectually or morally stimulating, and it's hard to stay excited about them, particularly if your work culture is the least bit toxic.
Being a manager means dealing with people, and a lot of experienced coders actually get more out of that than out of JIRA-code-Git-repeat.
Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#5Use tools such as SelfControl.app, ColdTurkey.app, and Freedom to block websites.
Some people will claim that is a crutch. Thats a great analogy because crutches help you get things done while you heal.
Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#6Work is work
Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#7 echo "127.0.0.1 facebook.com twitter.com ycombinator.com youtube.com" >> /etc/hostsRe: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#8The real trap is feeling like you need to be focused eight hours a day when it's not strictly needed.
There's an occasional crunch where I have to heads down get something done, but in that case there is actual motivation to be heads down and get things done.
I find a due date way more motivating than a mere thought of "I should be working...".
Overall, if I'm not already focused in, it's because it's something not as important as other things in my life.
Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#9echo "127.0.0.1 facebook.com twitter.com ycombinator.com youtube.com" >> /etc/hosts
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Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?
#10echo "127.0.0.1 facebook.com twitter.com ycombinator.com youtube.com" >> /etc/hosts
Windows Edition (admin command prompt):
echo 127.0.0.1 facebook.com twitter.com ycombinator.com youtube.com>>"%WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"