Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 109 posts

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#21

Post by CuriouslyC »

charred_patina wrote: post #5

@keikobadthebad already gave a good answer, but I'd like to expand upon it a bit. > Sounds like the work might not lead somewhere you really judge is useful, or judge will be painful. As someone with ADHD I have realized that my executive function goes to zero if I think doing something isn't worthwhile. Not if I consciously think it's worthwhile, but if I know deep down that it's pretty much pointless. Thankfully my…

To expand upon this, even if something will make the lives of others easier or could be a profitable product, that's still probably not worth doing since once you've built the thing you still have to market it, which is frustrating if you're not the sort of person who's into that (and then you probably wouldn't be a developer). There are a lot of excellent things (software, art, music, games, etc) that end up languishing in obscurity because they didn't get marketed correctly or enough, and that can be incredibly frustrating.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#22

Post by hammock »

Dopamine detox. Cut caffeine, porn, social media, unnecessary screen time, etc cold Turkey for 7 days. Hard - and temporary- but will give you a glimpse of what your focus COULD look like if you change your lifestyle.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#23

Post by Void_ »

I recommend using FocusMate.

Start with manageable # of sessions per day. 2 or 3.

Repeat every day. If you’re able to focus for the full hour each session, increase number of session.

Stay consistent and you will improve.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#24

Post by junofan »

idlewords wrote: post #12

Any prolonged pattern of distracted behavior will get you an ADHD diagnosis, provided you say it's (1) part of a pattern dating back to childhood and (2) affects multiple areas of your life. That in turn will get you a prescription for powerful stimulants, and it's up to you to decide whether the artificial focus those provide is a solution to your problem, or a cop-out from it. (I personally don't believe there's su…

> I personally don't believe there's such a thing as 'ADHD'

There’s a lot of evidence and some decent work on neural circuits. What’s your take on autism? Just a label?

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#25

Post by icodestuff »

Are you burnt out? I watched that happen. They also have ADHD, but once they burned out, even interesting worthwhile things couldn’t hold their focus for more than a few minutes, and they were constantly procrastinating several levels deep. That lasted months.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#26

Post by nick0garvey »

A lot of people in this thread point at motivation or mental health issues. The issue is likely not so complicated.

You have forgotten how to focus. We live in a world where we are constantly distracted. This is forced on us. The apps we use compete over our attention, our workplace expects quick replies over Slack, our free time is always accompanied by a smart phone pushing us notifications.

These effects are getting stronger. Technology evolves new attention taking techniques. Our remote work culture expects faster replies as you are, in theory, always at your desk.

You can address this focus deficiency, but it isn't easy. Put your phone always on Do Not Disturb. Use site blocking extensions to limit time wasters (yes, even Hacker News). Stop being so responsive at work.

The first few weeks will hurt. You won't instantly be able to focus, and you will feel less productive due to the lower response time. But after some time, you will be able to do work others cannot. You can complete the big work you are struggling to right now. Relearn how to focus.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#27

Post by pyr0hu »

idlewords wrote: post #12

Any prolonged pattern of distracted behavior will get you an ADHD diagnosis, provided you say it's (1) part of a pattern dating back to childhood and (2) affects multiple areas of your life. That in turn will get you a prescription for powerful stimulants, and it's up to you to decide whether the artificial focus those provide is a solution to your problem, or a cop-out from it. (I personally don't believe there's su…

Feeling the same as OP and I've tried the vacation/detox thingy and I just came back worse. First I passed it as "just still in vacation mode", but as the days kept passing by, it did not get better. Might have to look up a doc too :|

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#28

Post by vcxy »

idlewords wrote: post #12

Any prolonged pattern of distracted behavior will get you an ADHD diagnosis, provided you say it's (1) part of a pattern dating back to childhood and (2) affects multiple areas of your life. That in turn will get you a prescription for powerful stimulants, and it's up to you to decide whether the artificial focus those provide is a solution to your problem, or a cop-out from it. (I personally don't believe there's su…

That's interesting. I thought it was obvious that ADHD does exist because it's just a constellation of behaviors that some people indeed do exhibit. I feel like we agree completely on the base facts and somehow have arrived at opposite conclusions.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#29

Post by loa_in_ »

smodo wrote: post #6

I’m super productive when I’m relaxed, happy and working on something I value. When I’m feeling depressed, I just can’t. It took me a while (10+ years) to learn how to feel my emotions and take them into account when trying to understand my own behavior.

Could you clarify if you mean 10+ years of life or 10+ years of experience in business for example?

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#30

Post by gabereiser »

Have you had Covid? Long-Covid can manifest as brain fog or the inability to focus, get frustrated, or become panic about it. I’ve known a few people who had Covid and the following year suffer from undiagnosed long-covid brain fog and anhedonia.
Post reply on HN