The past month I've been hitting the gym in my building whenever my brain doesn't want to work, and clear my mind completely. I'll put on the noise canceling headphones, find some good 100 -> 120bpm music, and get lost in it while pedaling as fast as I can for 30 minutes, then a shower and a snack and some coffee seems to be a good way to really put me back on track for a few hours.
Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
61–70 of 151 posts
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#62Marijuana + 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.
+1 agree, with caveats. exercise definitely. MJ isn't for everyone, I'd expand the prescription to doing something that allows your mind to wander. You get this anyway with any sort of solo endurance exercise.
MJ definitely helped me get through some tough classes in college, though I treated it like dessert: I'd do focused, clear-headed studying first, then come back a day later, smoke a bowl and kind of let my mind wander all over the material. Not sure whether the altered state itself helped, or if it merely acted as the proverbial spoon full of sugar to get me to study more. Whatever the mechanism, I felt it was a boon. YMMV of course.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#63Sound as if your mind is in another place. Your mind is on vacation and you want to get it to work again. Unfortunately it refuses to do so and you are in this situation.
Speak with your mind as with a friend and try to convince it that today is not a holiday. You need to order your life, to have a plan for the future, that will give you the strength for today.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#64Marijuana + 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.
I have the same issue, but instead I just blocked all sources of distraction and replaced them with a message reminding me to focus.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#65Try Rescuetime's focus time. Warning: it is a little broken on Mac with Chrome.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#66Read "Pragmatic Thinking & Learning" by Andy Hunt.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#67Marijuana + 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.
I've found that I can have a lot of patience and interest in mental work while stoned, but I forget a lot of it after it's done. Weed is a mild amnesiac, and for someone with otherwise very good memory, this is noticeable. This may be great if you're doing something soul-crushingly boring, but a better strategy is to avoid that sort of work to begin with.
IANAN, but I suspect that in your case, weed is helping because of its indirect action on the opioid system, and despite, rather than because of, the characteristically "weedy" effects. Have you self-medicated with any other euphoriants?
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#68When I'm having trouble getting started I like to reread Joel Spolsky's "Fire and Motion" post with this quote: "Maybe this is the key to productivity: Just getting started"
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#69I 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.
Hello, could you please elaborate a bit on the meditation technique? What exactly do you do? Thank you so much for answering. I've been trying to learn TM but all the courses cost a fortune..
I don't remember the name of the course but will respond when I get home tonight. Message me if I forget.
Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is a very bad advise. Don't use drugs EVER. Drugs never fix problems. The only hide them. if your body is telling you something, you should fix the root of the problem, not remove the symptoms. Whatever a drug does(stimulant, depressant...)the body will balance it giving the opposite effect over time(the roller coaster effect).This means instability of everything from mood to chemicals on your blood. Not…
I think this is a very bad advise. Drugs can sometimes be good. For the last 3 years (since a long relationship ended) I was in a bad funk, getting very little done and having a baseline that was a bit depressed, with occasional moments of manic happiness/productiveness. A few months ago, a new friend told me that I just had to try mushrooms. It was a spiritual, life-changing event. I have since done them 3 more time…
People have been telling me I just have to try alcohol or drugs or smoking for about as long as I can remember, and in spite of the fact that it really seems to be life-changing for them I'm fairly happy with the one I've got and I'd hate to trade with those that are advising me like that.
Pain killing versus drugs in the street sense of the word is a bad comparison, 'drugs' are a tool to be used when needed and appropriate, self medication of hallucinogens or depressants can cause all kinds of problems down the road, especially if your personality is not too disciplined.
Indeed, drugs have their purpose, and to tell a person whose life circumstances are otherwise unknown to start using them is in general as bad an advise as you could possibly give.