It's an interesting idea, but you can emulate this(lack of distractions) with some pretty simple configuration of your window manager, so it seems like a poor justification for buying a $3500 device in and of itself.
Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
51–60 of 153 posts
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#52> This has an interesting effect. I feel less inclined to mindlessly open and use apps, because it has become a fundamentally mindful gesture to do so.
This is a really important point, but I don't think it requires $3500. Switching to an android phone and a portable split keyboard for most (non-programming) deep work resulted in a huge uplift in focus for me, and I really think it's because it made context switching more of a mindful, intentional act. These days I get way more focused writing done on planes/trains/cafes on 4 inches of screen than I think I've ever done on my instant-context-switch-keyboard-shortcut-for-everything tiling wm laptop.
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#53About the ADHD part: I don't know whether I have ADHD but I do lose focus quickly once I figure out how to solve a problem, before doing any implementation -- after all the implementation, however long it could take, is boring and uninteresting comparing to figuring out how to implement. So what if I get myself a Raspberry Pi 8GB and jumps into VSCode and VSCode only? Is it possible to make a VSCode "terminal" that o…
I think it will be a lot of fun to build it and then because you built it you will be highly motivated to use it for a season. Maybe a few weeks. Maybe 6 months, but eventually it will will be boring too.
I find pomodo style gorilla warfare works best for me. I tell myself I will work on the implementation for 15 minutes. If after 15 minutes I am still repelled by this task to the point I am unproductive, then I accept that, make necessary notes and do something else.
I will try again tomorrow. Eventually I hit a point where I have done enough that I am motivated to continue to see it completed.
I will do gorilla attacks on cleaning my office, writing marketing email, inbox zero, implementing some new feature. It works for me for a lot of things.
When I am just unable to do what I’m “supposed” to do then I give myself grace and go do the thing that is consuming my attention at the moment.
This “unproductive” stuff often becomes new ideas, new features, new friends, and brings meaning to my life.
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#54I am not convinced. First let’s be clear that there is minor ADHD which is a world of focus issues and minor distractions, and then there is catastrophic ADHD which is like living through the movie Momento in a world where memories don’t stick. I live in a household with catastrophic ADHD. I really have no idea what minor ADHD is like, but the last thing catastrophic ADHD needs is a gaming experience. A gaming experi…
I don’t wish to be rude but why do you think the author needs to convince you of something regarding what sounds like a very different and difficult circumstance for you?
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#55Why every time a new technology comes out with crappy obvious limitations does somebody feel compelled to write a blog post trying to justify it as actually good? This is just somebody trying to talk themselves into keeping their $3,500 toy
Author here—you’re not wrong, I’ve been a gadget enthusiast my whole life, and I deliberately left in the tone that I’m trying to justify owning an Apple Vision Pro, despite its flaws.
I was also serious that the flaws are part of the charm for me, because it really does harken back to the “gadget age” of the 2000s. It takes me back to being 15 years old, wearing a Fossil Wrist PDA, trying to be productive with Palm OS using a fingernail-sized stylus. I really loved that sort of thing, and it’s been really hard for me to recapture that feeling this past decade.
AVP is a device that, so far, has brought me joy and makes me think about my relationship with technology. If not for the price tag, it would be a no-brainer for me to keep. But as I continue to mess around with the device, the price is constantly ringing in the back of my mind, making me want to justify it, even though I may not be able to in the end.
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#56Why every time a new technology comes out with crappy obvious limitations does somebody feel compelled to write a blog post trying to justify it as actually good? This is just somebody trying to talk themselves into keeping their $3,500 toy
because the asymmetry of people who are curious and people who buy the new technology creates a demand for first impressions and think pieces
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#57I am not convinced. First let’s be clear that there is minor ADHD which is a world of focus issues and minor distractions, and then there is catastrophic ADHD which is like living through the movie Momento in a world where memories don’t stick. I live in a household with catastrophic ADHD. I really have no idea what minor ADHD is like, but the last thing catastrophic ADHD needs is a gaming experience. A gaming experi…
Have you tried meditation? I genuinely am asking.
We have, but we didn’t try enough types of medication to find an ideal fit. I suspect the right medication would be helpful. The more extreme the ADHD the higher the concentration of medication is required to achieve normal functioning which means high side effects.
To understand the complexity of brain medication requires an understanding of the problem. For ADHD the problem is both dopamine and low serotonin. Dopamine is complicated and moderating for it has second and third order consequences the ill cannot see. Solving for serotonin is simple and the results are crystal clear. So it seems many of the medications attempt to adjust for both with various degrees of success. When a person with ADHD attempts to self medicate with drugs, stimulants, or bad food choices they are solving for serotonin up take and it doesn’t work.
Another problem with medications in high concentrations is body tolerance which eventually eliminates the value of the medication and medication can run out.
Currently we are working through behavior modification of risk/reward. If you lose something you don’t have it anymore so perform a deep dive on that emotional consequence to think of solutions and planning to address that moving forward. This is working but it’s supremely and requires overcoming lots of adversity.
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#58I routinely use Quest 3 with Immersed to do "focused" work by switching to specific environments that I associate with that. I can also co-work in a room of 5 - 10 other people who are also doing that which generates a little bit of impetus to focus as well. I think if this becomes the only reason to keep the device, for sure explore some other options like Quest 3 and see if it's sufficient. It does a lot more thing…
I got a Quest 2 mostly for entertainment, but using it for productivity reasons is basically a no go for me, due to the lenses (blurry near the edges and some light streaks for any off-center text, not sure what the correct name for that is) and overall resolution (can't even have my actual 4 monitors present without having to make them so big that each takes up like 90 degrees of my field of vision).
I feel like I really should have waited for Quest 3, not have gotten a Quest 2 because it was cheaper. Then again, I quite like the concept of VR and if some of the software wasn't so buggy (currently I need to run GPU drivers from 2020 for my RX 580, since the newer ones cause driver crashes), I can definitely imagine myself spending more time in VR! Except for eye strain and basically staring into super bright screens close to my face.
Once I eventually get there, just chilling in space, with a few floating windows and getting some work done will be a pretty zen experience. Just have to wait a while until the hardware becomes more affordable.
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#59About the ADHD part: I don't know whether I have ADHD but I do lose focus quickly once I figure out how to solve a problem, before doing any implementation -- after all the implementation, however long it could take, is boring and uninteresting comparing to figuring out how to implement. So what if I get myself a Raspberry Pi 8GB and jumps into VSCode and VSCode only? Is it possible to make a VSCode "terminal" that o…
As a fellow-sufferer of attention deficit, I am the same way. Once I've mapped out a solution, I mentally checkout and procrastinate on doing the actual implementation. One thing that's helped me is by practicing "Deep Work" by absolutely resisting any urge to check my phone during that 45 minute focus time (like pomodoro technique).
Last month, I prototyped a desktop app of a blinking border to assist with getting into a "flow state", which has been pretty effective in keeping me focused for set durations for the past few weeks. Shared with a few friends who have also said it's helped them be more productive so happy to share these tools with fellow HN'ers.
Email in my bio if you wanna give it a try before I launch it on App Store in the coming weeks.
Re: Apple Vision Pro and ADHD
#60About the ADHD part: I don't know whether I have ADHD but I do lose focus quickly once I figure out how to solve a problem, before doing any implementation -- after all the implementation, however long it could take, is boring and uninteresting comparing to figuring out how to implement. So what if I get myself a Raspberry Pi 8GB and jumps into VSCode and VSCode only? Is it possible to make a VSCode "terminal" that o…
Yeah that would work, minimalism and artificial constraints are ways to help manage ADHD. The other thing to think about it is that your mental solution is probably wrong and won't survive implementation. Consider that a challenge to focus on.