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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?

#111

Post by ncmncm »

This happened to me.

The void feeling is Depression. Youtube distracts from it, but reliance on distractors is only a symptom.

There are many kinds of depression, distinguished first and foremost by what treatment works on each.

That is the reason that "gold standard" double-blind trials fail to find that anti-depressants work. Imagine if you couldn't distinguish a broken arm from a broken leg, a broken humerus from a broken ankle. Trials of a cast on the left lower leg help only a few people, on the right only a few; left upper arm, right forearm, yada yada. "Casts are ineffective!"

Take the wrong meds, nothing happens. Take the right one, miracle!

There is no shame in medicating a problem: "If you can't make enough of your own serotonin, store-bought is fine."

It is entirely possible that losing 50 pounds, or exercising devotedly, or dropping carbohydrates and alcohol from your diet would also fix it. Medicate first, and then see if those help. There is no end of benefits to these other measures, but you need to get your brain working right first, or you set yourself up to fail.

In my case I was fixed up only two days after getting a sufficient dose of the right thing. A smaller dose had no effect, and other meds had no effect. Some kinds take weeks to build up before anything happens. I had five serious side effects (dry mouth, jaw clenching, ears ringing, dizzy spells, one more I don't recall) that passed after a few months.

You can get past this, with help. Get help!

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#112

Post by mproud »

Do it, but something different.

If you are a writer, and you’re stuck writing a book, you write something else for a while. If you’re a painter, you might try using a new medium.

You’re a programmer, so try tackling a completely different small problem. Maybe take the opportunity to try a totally new (to you) language — don’t be afraid to use something radically different. Ever code in assembly? Why not!

Some people work better when they’re “in the spotlight.” Twitch streamers are often known for entertainment, but actually many coders show up there, too. You could try starting a stream, and see if you are more focused when people might be watching.

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#114

Post by bumby »

calabin wrote: post #71
marcosdumay wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to add that coffee can make you feel like you are having enough sleep when you are not. If you drink it constantly, you may be just tired but not know it.

I can't tell if this is an endorsement of or warning against using coffee to mitigate a lack of sleep, so I will take it as reinforcement of the former which I am currently (and unfortunately) a practitioner of.

Caffeine has a half-life of about six hours so it can affect your sleep without necessarily knowing it leading to bit of a vicious circle. If you are interested, Dr. Peter Attia has a three part episode with Dr. Matthew Walker on sleep. It changed the way I prioritize getting sleep.

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#115

Post by Starknaked »

MaulingMonkey wrote: post #72
calabin wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't tell if this is an endorsement of or warning against using coffee to mitigate a lack of sleep, so I will take it as reinforcement of the former which I am currently (and unfortunately) a practitioner of.

Why not both? It can help, but it does not fix the underlying issues. And those underlying issues may have long term health and energy conseqeunces. That said, while I've cut back a lot, you can pry my energy drinks out of my cold, dead, caffinated hands.

If you want the best effects of caffeine you have to cycle it. Save it for those special occasions where the real positive benefits of caffeine can work for you and the negative long term effects don't work against you.

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#116

Post by unmole »

MaulingMonkey wrote: post #31

There's a lot of factors that might go into this. If you're hungry, sleepy, undersocialized, unkempt, unfit, depressed, in a loud, messy, and distracting office, with unclear and unexciting goals, large monolithic tasks without clear breakdowns on how to move forward, constrained by slow tools, management, or blocked on dependencies... well, it'd be no wonder you wouldn't want to work! Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise.…

> Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise. Dress for success.

One of these is not like the others. I can understand emphasis on dressing up in contexts that involve selling -- a product, an idea or even yourself. But what does it have to do with focus?

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#117

Post by notemaker »

unmole wrote: post #116
MaulingMonkey wrote: post #31

There's a lot of factors that might go into this. If you're hungry, sleepy, undersocialized, unkempt, unfit, depressed, in a loud, messy, and distracting office, with unclear and unexciting goals, large monolithic tasks without clear breakdowns on how to move forward, constrained by slow tools, management, or blocked on dependencies... well, it'd be no wonder you wouldn't want to work! Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise.…

> Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise. Dress for success. One of these is not like the others. I can understand emphasis on dressing up in contexts that involve selling -- a product, an idea or even yourself. But what does it have to do with focus?

Mayhaps not as necessary as the first two, but having separate wardrobes for work and free time can help trigger you into a work mindset.

That said, it doesn't need to be a 3 part suit.

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#118

Post by afarrell »

unmole wrote: post #116
MaulingMonkey wrote: post #31

There's a lot of factors that might go into this. If you're hungry, sleepy, undersocialized, unkempt, unfit, depressed, in a loud, messy, and distracting office, with unclear and unexciting goals, large monolithic tasks without clear breakdowns on how to move forward, constrained by slow tools, management, or blocked on dependencies... well, it'd be no wonder you wouldn't want to work! Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise.…

> Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise. Dress for success. One of these is not like the others. I can understand emphasis on dressing up in contexts that involve selling -- a product, an idea or even yourself. But what does it have to do with focus?

I have found that if I wake up feeling like crap, I feel just a bit better if I put on a bowtie that day.

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#119

Post by afarrell »

existencebox wrote: post #105
adamzk wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because ADHD is poorly understood and often diagnosed incorrectly does not make it any less debilitating to those who have it and certainly does not imply that they are not in need of medication. Yes the medication can be abused by those who don't need it to get an edge. This is what makes it a controlled substance. Opiates can be abused too and have the same effect on everybody. The difference is that people in…

> People with ADHD need medication to function at a baseline normal level. This statement is so out of line I had to chime in. I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. I was medicated for a few years, before I stopped taking the pills without telling my parents (they were being pressured by the private school I was in to medicate, I was kicked out shortly after they found out I had stopped.) Those years are a complete e…

In Adults outside a courtroom, mental health treatment focuses on easing distress because the person seeking out treatment is the patient.

Parenting is stressful and imposes a powerful incentive to reduce that stress. Consequently, too often in children, mental health treatment focuses on controlling behaviors because the person seeking treatment is the parent.

The first is a person seeking greater agency for themselves over a problem. The latter is a denial of agency of the child. I’m hearing you express your pain at having your agency suppressed and expressing skepticism at the tools used to suppress your agency.

But those same tools also grant some adults an agency they are desperately drowningly seeking for themselves.

Re: Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain?

#120

Post by afarrell »

tudelo wrote: post #109
bobydonahue wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but the evidence for ADHD is dubious. We have a long way to go when it comes to understanding the human mind. Anyone, not just people with ADD, can increase their performance with narcotic stimulants. Just don't be disingenuous about it.

I can say medication has done wonders for my professional life and has made me much happier overall. For anyone on the fence about trying medication, I would say it is certainly worth it.

Do you have any tips on finding a project manager whom you can videochat or email with and ask for help with the project of navigating the healthcare system?

(uk private in my case, though I imagine people in other places would benefit from wider answers.)

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