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Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

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Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#151

Post by amiga1200 »

gyulai wrote: post #109

Video game music is actually designed to increase your ability to concentrate on the game. I highly recommend listening to some as you're coding. You can get it at Bandcamp [1,2]. Trance music also works, especially Goa Trance. Binaural beats [3,4] are also worth a try. [1] https://bandcamp.com/tag/video-game [2] https://bandcamp.com/tag/video-game-music [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics)#Binaural_bea…

There’s something to this. I’ve noticed an increase in heart rate, possibly a sympathetic reaction with the effect of pumping more blood to the brain? In any case it is not long before beat fatigue sets in and my mind is worse off.

Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#152

Post by Johanx64 »

lordnacho wrote: post #110
rthomas6 wrote: post #64

Not joking: stop going on the internet. It's scientifically proven to boost concentration. More specifically, do one thing, and only that thing, for a set time period. Do not check your phone, do not even have it in the same room. Do the one thing until time is up.

This is like saying "stop eating too much, you'll lose weight". You have to eat and you have to use the internet. What's the solution to not doing it to your own detriment?

No, you do not "have" to use the internet. Internet is very much unlike eating (unless we're talking about eating habit forming trash foods)

The best way to deal with the 'internet' is to have a seperate device - call it an "internet terminal" - connected to the internet - preferably in another room, or completely opposite side of the building.

And thus when a necessity to access a particular piece of information arises, you specifically get up and GO TO the 'terminal' to do that specific information retrieval action.

Sort of like going to a library to pick up a particular book.

Kind of like RMS does when he asks people to email/print him out webpages.

Certianly harder to pull of for people who do web-development related thigns.

Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#153

Post by cleancoder0 »

hackernewds wrote: post #146
mrcartmeneses wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s because creatine is used by the body to convert sugar into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is what your body actually uses for energy inside cells for things like contracting muscles and nerve impulses (like in the brain for things such as “thinking”). ATP can’t be made in the brain, instead it is made by muscles. That’s why exercise and higher levels of creatine are good for cognitive performance and memory.

Wait I don't think this creates the logical connections to validate what he's asking

There are studies on creatine and cognitive performance.

Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#154

Post by philipswood »

nnf wrote: post #17

I used to avoid music with lyrics, but (for me anyway) I’ve realized I can concentrate just fine when there are lyrics as long as I’m listening to songs I already know. I usually put on a playlist that’s maybe an hour or two long and just let it repeat all day.

Action movie and game soundtracks tend to be great for this.

I suspect it’s because they needs to have an emotive effect without distracting you from the story.

Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#155

Post by jerome-jh »

nine_k wrote: post #72
rthomas6 wrote: post #64

Not joking: stop going on the internet. It's scientifically proven to boost concentration. More specifically, do one thing, and only that thing, for a set time period. Do not check your phone, do not even have it in the same room. Do the one thing until time is up.

Since accessing the internet (and sometimes even the Web) is often a part of an IT job, the "one thing" approach is pretty helpful. Keep in mind what are you doing. If you're reviewing a pull request, you only need the Github page, and not the rest of the pages on the WWW. Also, timeboxing things helps. It's hard to work on one thing indefinitely , it can even induce panic. But if you're using something like the pomo…

> Since accessing the internet (and sometimes even the Web) is often a part of an IT job

Reading the manual used to be part of an IT job. And for web devs, having a local sandbox is invaluable.

Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#157

Post by Glench »

My meditation teacher used to run peak performance courses for executives, judges, and others, and the main thing he taught was concentration meditation.

If you sit still for a moment and try to concentrate on something either internal (the sensation of your breath, the tip of your finger) or something external (something in your visual field, a sound) you'll notice you get lost in thoughts almost immediately. There is a strong habit of wandering in your mind. But you can train the opposite habit through meditation.

Most people can't concentrate for more than a few seconds before getting uprooted by their wandering minds. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition they compare the mind to a stampeding elephant pulling you around wildly in every direction. You can imagine what is possible with being able to concentrate as long as you want on whatever you want.

In concentration meditation, you keep bringing the mind back to the object of concentration whenever you notice your mind wandering. You also focus more deeply on the object, getting more absorbed in its details while avoiding dullness. Doing this even 5 minutes a day for a week should pretty noticeably start changing your experience.

Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#158

Post by barelysapient »

A couple of years ago my first child was born. I agreed with my wife to watch him first thing in morning while she worked out at the gym. That hour always teed me up to be very productive afterwords.

During that hour my mind drifted to the code it wanted to write. I’d begin to think about the classes and methods I wanted to make progress on.

Now when I’m blocked I take an hour, play with my kids and after find myself very productive.

Re: Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

#160

Post by baremetal »

k__ wrote: post #101
tkgally wrote: post #69

I’m not sure if it makes sense to try to find a “scientifically proven” technique if all you want is something that works for you . What works for a large group of people in a controlled scientific study does not necessarily work for each individual in that study, let alone for you. You could do a scientific study on yourself, though. Figure out some objective way to measure your own concentration, and then try vario…

I think, what most people want is a pill that makes them less distractable. Ritalin is that pill. I know a bunch of devs that take it to code through the whole night. But...! 1. It usually requires a prescription. 2. While it lets you hyper-focus on one task for hours, if you not careful that task could be rearranging your cutlery.

thats a good way to burnout on coding my friend.
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