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It's getting harder to focus every day

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Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#41

Post by iammjm »

specproc wrote: post #9
beschizza wrote: post #3

The author doesn’t mention it, so it seems appropriate to suggest asking a doctor for attention deficit disorder screening. The cultural forces in play encouraging us to flit and switch constantly are a perfect distraction from the possibility one’s own brain is complicit.

FFS. The solution to our machines eating our brains should not be "just take amphetamine, bro".

Except ADHD was there long before the machines, and stimulants have been scientifically proven time and time again to be helpful in treating ADHD at a very minimal sides effects cost.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#42

Post by lardosaurusrex »

graemep wrote: post #19
lardosaurusrex wrote: post #4

People often question me how I manage to focus for more than a few minutes and I'm always confused because back in the day I was constantly informed I didn't have any focus and needed to be treated (adhd). I'm not convinced attention spans themselves have changed; I think it has more to do with the fact that people's brains aren't defaulting to daydreaming anymore when bored. I think it's still an issue with people b…

I agree. I am not sure it is as similar to sleep as you claim, but its definitely good for your brain. I say something similar in the context of parenting, that a reasonable amount of boredom is good. I think it likely that being constantly entertained makes people more prone to seek constant stimulation. This did not start with phones either. I am Gen X and it happened in my childhood with kids being dumped in front…

Well I made no claim of it being related to sleep; just that I've read a lot of claims that it's related to microsleep and used "sleeping while standing up" for the last bit as an analogy.

I am not a sleep doctor/therapist nor am I any sort of expert on the subject.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#43

Post by hgomersall »

ssl-3 wrote: post #33
lardosaurusrex wrote: post #4

People often question me how I manage to focus for more than a few minutes and I'm always confused because back in the day I was constantly informed I didn't have any focus and needed to be treated (adhd). I'm not convinced attention spans themselves have changed; I think it has more to do with the fact that people's brains aren't defaulting to daydreaming anymore when bored. I think it's still an issue with people b…

There's only one important thing that I miss about smoking: A smoke break was an excuse that was tolerated by others, wherein I could go outside and just let my mind wander (daydream) with no particular goal for a short period of time. Daydreaming should be perfectly acceptable either way, but people seem to think it's weird (concerning, even) when someone spends a bit of time to stand (or sit) around while appearing…

You can get the same effect by going for a walk.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#44

Post by noir_lord »

kuerbel wrote: post #39
noir_lord wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't even think of the last time I daydreamed About 5 minutes ago for me, my missus says that I live with my head in the clouds (which is a nicer way of saying if I'm not actively doing something I just zone out and retreat into my own head), I've always been that way all the way back to school (with the inevitable consequences from teachers). I've mentioned on here before though that I never got addicted to my…

I'm not sure I have the willpower to follow your example but at least I managed to turn of notifications on my watch after reading your post.

I honestly don't think it is willpower, it is simply that I never had to break the "addiction" because I never had it in the first place.

I always found the form factor extremely limiting compared to a desktop (it's the same reason my laptop ended up running a TV upstairs, the idea of programming on the sofa sounded great but in practice I'd get frustrated and immediately retreat to my quiet downstairs office with multiple screens when I had to do something tricky/requiring concentration).

Where I do use something that optimises for distractions, I look for how to minimize the distractions (e.g YouTube - I use the excellent Unhook (with Ublock Origin) which turns the YT home page into a search box and little else, hides mixes, shorts and other distractions) and make it work for me.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#46

Post by roncesvalles »

graemep wrote: post #19
lardosaurusrex wrote: post #4

People often question me how I manage to focus for more than a few minutes and I'm always confused because back in the day I was constantly informed I didn't have any focus and needed to be treated (adhd). I'm not convinced attention spans themselves have changed; I think it has more to do with the fact that people's brains aren't defaulting to daydreaming anymore when bored. I think it's still an issue with people b…

I agree. I am not sure it is as similar to sleep as you claim, but its definitely good for your brain. I say something similar in the context of parenting, that a reasonable amount of boredom is good. I think it likely that being constantly entertained makes people more prone to seek constant stimulation. This did not start with phones either. I am Gen X and it happened in my childhood with kids being dumped in front…

I remember when cable TV used to be "addictive". Now I can't watch even 10 minutes of it without getting bored and pulling out my phone. Also something I learned recently: checking your phone at the movies is no longer the faux pas that it used to be.

There's definitely some hedonic treadmill type thing going on with attention and stimuli.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#47

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

In my case, I'm "on the spectrum," so focus isn't a problem. In fact, too much focus can be a problem.

One of the things that happens to me, is I get "in the zone," usually, when coding. Sometimes, an hour can pass, and I barely notice.

But I am also aware that this is not the way most people are.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#48

Post by themoose8 »

As it happens I'm currently working on an app to help with this problem, effectively a soft habit tracker designed for daily reflection and mindful progression. It touches on some of the themes in this HN thread - helping create quiet space, time away from stimulation.

It's an early stage, fully functional but I'm looking for beta users. If you're interested in helping out or simply trying the app, please complete the form on https://coghance.com !

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#49

Post by jjgreen »

ssl-3 wrote: post #33
lardosaurusrex wrote: post #4

People often question me how I manage to focus for more than a few minutes and I'm always confused because back in the day I was constantly informed I didn't have any focus and needed to be treated (adhd). I'm not convinced attention spans themselves have changed; I think it has more to do with the fact that people's brains aren't defaulting to daydreaming anymore when bored. I think it's still an issue with people b…

There's only one important thing that I miss about smoking: A smoke break was an excuse that was tolerated by others, wherein I could go outside and just let my mind wander (daydream) with no particular goal for a short period of time. Daydreaming should be perfectly acceptable either way, but people seem to think it's weird (concerning, even) when someone spends a bit of time to stand (or sit) around while appearing…

That's where I solve most of the problems which have been nagging me

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#50

Post by 6031769 »

roncesvalles wrote: post #46
graemep wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I am not sure it is as similar to sleep as you claim, but its definitely good for your brain. I say something similar in the context of parenting, that a reasonable amount of boredom is good. I think it likely that being constantly entertained makes people more prone to seek constant stimulation. This did not start with phones either. I am Gen X and it happened in my childhood with kids being dumped in front…

I remember when cable TV used to be "addictive". Now I can't watch even 10 minutes of it without getting bored and pulling out my phone. Also something I learned recently: checking your phone at the movies is no longer the faux pas that it used to be. There's definitely some hedonic treadmill type thing going on with attention and stimuli.

Using your phone in a cinema was, is and ever will be a massive faux pas. I have no idea at all why you think it might be otherwise.
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