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Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#41

Post by isoprophlex »

This is my method. I am blessed with being able to concentrate ferociously... had to train it a bit but most of it is innate ability. This works for me personally. I don't want to come off sounding like "hurrr just start working"..! And to OP: maybe get tested for adhd?

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You think of all tasks you can do at the moment, things where you are not blocked by anything. You prioritize them, say on urgency or on what you personally feel like working on if your work permits freedom. This takes 60 seconds at most because of course you are anal about keeping a sane, up to date diary/to do list/kanban board.

You start working. You don't check your email, slack, messages, whatever. Let them call you on your phone if the world burns - but even that you let go to voicemail on the first call. You just start working without delay. And you keep going. After the first 5-10 minutes of forcing yourself to settle into your chair and ignore your painful wrists, you enter a state of flow.

It'll be like driving eventually. Remind yourself to take a break every two hours, drink something and maybe eat a little. Dehydration is a bitch. But even as you take a break, your mind won't let go completely. You keep this up for 4-8 hours a day, answer some messages and turn off your computer... hopefully.

Be sure to really unwind at the end of the day. Doing this 4-5 days in a row without unwinding will mess up your weekend big time as you just can't go back to baseline

Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#42

Post by throw03172019 »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #16

When I used amphetamine salts I had a few rules for myself: Don't overdose, keep to low, clincally useful doses. Don't drink coffee and take amphetamine at the same time - too much stimulation, plus I don't eat breakfast. Try to eat and sleep, it's very important for your brain functioning. Stay disciplined, if you find yourself distracted try to calm down. A lower dose often helps me focus. I couldn't do work on mor…

What are the messed up side effects?

Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#43

Post by oxff »

> I can't work on it for long amounts of time - every 15 minutes, I will either visit HN, Reddit, some game, or have to get up and physically leave the desk. I can't bring myself to work on things for extended periods of time.

This is not bad in itself. Do you actually PROGRESS in your work when you do this? If so, keep going on.

Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#44

Post by rr808 »

I really struggle with this too, my whole life really. I hate it.

What I've found the only thing that works well is to have daily scrums with the small team where you say what you've achieved. The deadline makes me try to get something done every day. I think maybe having two quick updates a day might work even better.

Probably pair programming is a good solution too but I detest it so much...

Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#47

Post by isoprophlex »

encephalos wrote: post #17
agentultra wrote: post #14

Rituals. There’s one highly specific genre of music I listen to while I code. Nothing else. If I take a break, I turn it off. If I get distracted, I turn it off. I only listen to it when I work. I use the sandwich method of booking meetings; only at the beginning or end of the day. Also the times when I look at my emails. Slack is harder to turn off because ops so I let that one slide. When I need to concentrate, fli…

Was really hoping you’d share the playlist or even the genre as I was reading your comment.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8pEHrOnXwsY

Can't go wrong with relentless stuff like this

Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#48

Post by ly3xqhl8g9 »

Beyond all the other advices (don't overeat, don't over drink, sleep well, check your blood/urine tests regularly, etc.), time-block every event of your life in 15 minutes-increments (use whatever fancy or banal calendar app for this, time-blocking should become as natural as breathing) and optimize with time for larger and larger blocks. In 5 or so years you will be able to predict the events of your next few days with 70+% accuracy (even more if living a stress-low life) and plan for large swathes of time. Planning for 14-hours straight focused activity becomes then a simple entry in your calendar. As in everything, meden agan, nothing in excess [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims#Entrance_maxims

Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#49

Post by karmakaze »

I've spent most of my career coding in offices drinking coffee. I have taken many breaks from caffeine for weeks to months at a time. Many aspects of my life improves like sleep, stress, irritability, awareness of surroundings/smelling the roses. One downside is that I seem unable to focus. Eventually I'll start introducing tea, stronger tea, coffee, until I'm back where I started. [I also enjoy coffee, even decaf, but that's a slippery slope.] And the cycle repeats. Having recognized this, I'll sometimes time the phase of this cycle for when I can benefit most from it. Sometimes background music can work, but it's very tricky to find the right music and it's not always the same type that works. Another solution might be if I got lots of regular exercise but I don't have the patience for it--all the while wasting free time tired from an end-of-day caffeine crash.

My case seems much less than yours and I haven't found a steady-state solution either. Coffee might not be your thing. Don't know if there's anything to take away from it but that's all I have.

Re: Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?

#50

Post by pikseladam »

srcreigh wrote: post #34

Practice long periods of not having stimulating activities around you. Just sit and be bored for a few hours at the end of the day. This will increase your baseline dopamine for normal activities. When your baseline is too low, you self medicate by going on Reddit which spikes your dopamine for a while. Taking a break from stimulation lets your brain accumulate dopamine naturally

wow. awesome tip. thank you
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