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Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

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11–20 of 151 posts

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#11
I highly recommend learning meditation. I meditate once a day for 15 minutes and it's worked wonders for my ability to feel well and focused.

Personally I learned a cheaper and less cult like variation of transcendental meditation, because it requires little training, time, or even effort.

A day without meditation for me now is worse than a day without sleeping.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#13
I suffer from the exact same thing from time to time and I've learned to resort to lists when I am like that.

Anything I need to do goes on a list and I reward myself with some kind of distraction only after any item on the list gets completed.

Usually it's a sign that my mental batteries are running low or even past empty but some stuff still needs to get done. I find that after the third or the fourth item from the list gets completed habit takes over and I'm getting 'in to it' more and more and those molehills-turned-mountains disappear with greater ease.

Good luck combating this, it can be a real problem, especially if it persists for a longer time.

I've found that sometimes it is symptomatic of some underlying issue, something else in life that is deadlocked and needs solving first, not sure if that could be the case with you.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#14
you a drinker? I find that if I was out partying the night before, my mind just likes to do brainless and mindless tasks like watching tv, surfing reddit, etc.

That's why I try to limit it these days. I wouldn't have a problem writing documentation, but actually creating productive code is a chore in and of itself during those days.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#17

I suffer from the exact same thing from time to time and I've learned to resort to lists when I am like that. Anything I need to do goes on a list and I reward myself with some kind of distraction only after any item on the list gets completed. Usually it's a sign that my mental batteries are running low or even past empty but some stuff still needs to get done. I find that after the third or the fourth item from the…

Lists are key. A simple text file labeled todos.txt sits in my dropbox and I have it set to open with a hot key (quicksilver, osx). I tried all types of apps for todos/project management, but the simplest is the best, for me.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#19
Most likely you have given your brain the task to do so. You have given your brain the task to care about a lot of things without letting go.

The best things to start with that I know and have done:

1. Make a list of things that cost you energy. Mark the three most importan. Solve them or let them go.

2. Free your brain from your todo list. It has better things to do. Apply the book "Getting things done" to give your brain peace from the things you haven't done yet.

3. Use a countdown timer to work 50 minutes on one task. Make a 10 minutes rest and then do the same thing with a completely different task. What this does to you is NOT to urge you to get something done. What it does is giving you complete freedom not to care about anything else for 50 minutes. (I know a similar method with 25 minutes. I prefer 50. It is no accident that it is exacly half the time. Do 25 or 50 but nothing between.)

Feel free to combine this methods ad lib.

Gerd, brain hacker, hypnotist, NLP master

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#20

I suffer from the exact same thing from time to time and I've learned to resort to lists when I am like that. Anything I need to do goes on a list and I reward myself with some kind of distraction only after any item on the list gets completed. Usually it's a sign that my mental batteries are running low or even past empty but some stuff still needs to get done. I find that after the third or the fourth item from the…

Lists are key. A simple text file labeled todos.txt sits in my dropbox and I have it set to open with a hot key (quicksilver, osx). I tried all types of apps for todos/project management, but the simplest is the best, for me.

I prefer using a physical notepad for my list. I really like being able to physically cross out items after I have completed them.
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