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Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

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Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#51

Post by pbhjpbhj »

phito wrote: post #44
moltar wrote: post #13

If you really want to get a diagnosis from a professional, you don’t need to wait two years. That’s absurd. I just had a call with a licensed professional in Portugal for a €90 fee out of pocket. It took one hour session over Zoom to get an answer. I’m not a Portuguese resident. Just a country I was in at the moment.

In my country (Belgium), I've been told there is a 10+ years waiting list for adult autism diagnosis. 2 years for ADHD doesn't sound implausible to me. It sucks.

If moltar's Portuguese professional speaks a language that you speak (or you can hire an interpreter) seems like you can get a diagnosis sooner?

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#52

Post by tomwojcik »

heliodor wrote: post #32
nick0garvey wrote: post #26

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 getti…

Huberman has an episode explaining the brain workings of procrastination. Give it a watch/listen to pick up a few tips. https://youtube.com/watch?v=K-TW2Chpz4k Edit: here are some summaries: https://podcastnotes.org/huberman-lab/leverage-dopamine-to-o... https://healthnews.com/family-health/healthy-living/andrew-h...

Almost 2h? I can't focus that long. Let me know once it's available as a 30 seconds tiktok.

/s

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#53

Post by boredtofears »

boomskats wrote: post #20
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…

> 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 brain is a pretty good judge of what is worthwhile. Thank you for putting this in writing in the way that you did. As someone who went undiagnosed for the first 37 years of their life, this is almost th…

Isn’t that constantly a thorn in your side though? Life is full of things that can feel intrinsically useless.

I’m constantly having to convince myself of the worth of things in order to finish them even when I may innately disagree with them. It feels like a never ending struggle.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#54

Post by idlewords »

vcxy wrote: post #28
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.

It doesn't follow from the constituent behaviors being real that a concept is real. Take neurasthenia as an example; it was a popular American diagnosis in its day, and I don't think anyone argues that millions of people were faking it. But we draw different lines around these constituent symptoms today, and no longer see it as a coherent condition.

The search term "culturally-bound syndrome" makes for interesting reading in this area.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#55

Post by nosefurhairdo »

vcxy wrote: post #28
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.

That's more a semantic disagreement than an opposite conclusion, considering you both agree the constellation of behaviors exists.

The degree to which any medical diagnosis exists is on a spectrum. A cancerous tumor obviously exists, high blood pressure exists but is relative, schizophrenia - and psychiatric diagnoses generally - exist but can be more difficult to observe externally.

The behaviors associated with ADHD are so common and relatable to most folks that the diagnosis seems less legitimate. To my knowledge, you cannot scan the brain of someone with ADHD and point out an abnormality associated with the disorder. Yet we give 8 year old boys stimulant medication because they can't sit still in a classroom for hours a day.

Fwiw I have ADHD and take stimulant medication daily. But I also understand folks' resistance to accept ADHD as being as legitimate as other medical diagnoses.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#56

Post by imachine1980_ »

i have ADHD, you have a different life than before (you have more responsibility, less free time, and are older(less energy)), interesting new things make easy to stay focus now life is more stressfull and static than when we were 18

some of my tool belt (some of them are from professionals), but is maybe a good starting point, some of this won't work on you.

select space for work and space from leisure, and place for meetings, set time to reply, i replay twice a day and the rest of the day is close.

meditations help me a little i also like it.

do exercise this is more important than you think, you will have more thinks done at the end of the day, even if loos this time.

set low number quantifiable thinks, i read at least 3% of the book a day.

if you can shorter task, read short books, if you can make project whit small scopes and short time, this isn't as easy at it sounds, but you can negotiete this, and split objectives.

use calendar (i use google, or paper, i'dont reccommend both)

simplify process ( use single source of truth even if isn't as practical as using two (yes if you want to have paper calendar over you all day, or stop the meeting to add it in google calendar)

create stimulus for what you need to do each time i open my browser the first thing that apear is my calendar

like other say reduce stimulus, go to Coffe shops work for me, don't hear music whit lyrics(in langues that you understand), i cant have full silence, i need constant noise(totally personal) while working, not podcast or radio.

have nice day

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#57

Post by gabereiser »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #42
gabereiser wrote: post #30

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.

To be fair, this could also be the effects of Covid isolation. Getting cut off from socialization and physical activity for years on end is a surefire way to induce a depressive episode in the healthiest of minds. Not everyone's made out to tend a lighthouse.

This very well may be an effect of isolation. Or loneliness. It can manifest as a depression or an attention deficit because the body isn't getting what it needs. Connection with others. We are a social species afterall.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#58

Post by nosefurhairdo »

idlewords wrote: post #40
moltar wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sort of aligned on your ADHD view and would love to hear more from your point of view. Any book rec’s? Blogs? Podcasts?

So far I've been too distractible and absent-minded to do a proper nerd-out on the topic. :-) But I found section I of this blog post to be pretty interesting: https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo...

Brilliant article. I came to similar conclusions in many months of research culminating in my seeking out and receiving an ADHD diagnosis.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#59

Post by hintymad »

nick0garvey wrote: post #26

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 getti…

> You have forgotten how to focus

It could be due to aging. As people age, it gets harder for the body to release dopamine in anticipation of getting something we done, especially for things that we are familiar with. As a result, one loses focus because of no trickling joy. "Been there done that" in a way is truly a curse.

My own cure is always finding new things to tackle, and tackle only fundamental problems. Of course, my fundamental problem can be trivial to another smarter engineer. The key is to keep myself excited and therefore focused instead of how deep the problem is.

The downside of this approach, though, is that I may have to switch jobs, and I need to work hard to keep myself healthy to have enough energy.

Re: Ask HN: How to Focus Again?

#60

Post by rg111 »

I had this problem. But I bounced back and doing as expected in my life:

1. Read "Deep Work" by Cal Newport. Follow the guidelines as much as you can.

2. Exercising and meditating made me focus much better. Read "Mind Illuminated" by Culadasa.

I can really vouch for the books and the methods as they worked.

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