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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

#361

Post by WindyTree »

projektfu wrote: post #157

Hallowell and Ratey, who write about ADHD, suggested a new entity for the current world: VAST, the variable attention stimulus trait. It is like ADHD but it is culturally induced and not presumed to be due to an innate deficiency in executive function. "Beyond the sources of biologically based ADHD, there are a lot of people who act as if they have ADHD but on close inspection turn out not to have the diagnosable con…

I was formally diagnosed with ADHD and it continued into adulthood. The only way to suppress it is a diet of raw veggies fruits and meats, combined with like 3 hours of exercise a day and time in nature with silence which my evolutionary ancestors presumably did to survive. The way to make it worse is the combination of sugars, processed foods and flashing stimulus.

Point is I think MOST mental illness is the modern world. If you dumped people with severe depression into their ancestors supposedly worse lives 6,0000 years ago, hunting with tribe and sleeping under starry sky, they’d be fine.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#362

Post by dsign »

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…

Interesting that you bring daydreaming to the conversation. I've got an issue with it, and it's that I get interesting ideas then. But nothing comes out unless I sit in front of a computer to do anything with them. And computers have all the distractions.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#363

Post by yifanl »

palmotea wrote: post #326
ChiperSoft wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The satiation effect that GLP-1s cause also affects motivational drive. I've noticed my ability to get work done is hampered when I am at higher doses of my ozempic.

> I've noticed my ability to get work done is hampered when I am at higher doses of my ozempic. You should be using LLM agents anyway. It's the solution to every problem.

Can I have LLMs replace my GLP-1?

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#365

Post by saratogacx »

imp0cat wrote: post #74
safety1st wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Willpower's not the solution. When we isolated cocaine from the coca leaf for the first time, the world pretty much went insane. In those first years people were injecting it into their eyeballs and spines. The most popular beverage on earth in 2026 STILL contains extract of the coca leaf as a holdover from the days when it was laced with its namesake, Coke. People were smoking cocaine, ingesting cocaine, giving it t…

Not even a smartwatch? What's your opinion on fitness trackers (the passive ones, without display)?

I think it depends on how you use it. All things in moderation and all. I've had one for years but when I set it up it only allowed it a few notifications. When meetings start during my work day, getting e-mail to my personal account, and when I get messages from my wife, that's it.

So when I'm not working the watch is... just a watch.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#366

Post by dofm »

lrvick wrote: post #359

I gave up my smartphone 6 years ago because I concluded the conveniences it offered came at cost of too much of my attention, freedom, and privacy. My ability to focus was just gone, and this magic device was not making me happy or productive anymore. Within a year, my hyper-focus abilities I remember having as a teen starting flowing back. In the last 5 years I have done the best work of my career, including creatin…

> Within a year, my hyper-focus abilities I remember having as a teen starting flowing back.

Mine are gone for good. But I no longer want to be able to hyperfocus, because it is invariably a sign I am losing control. For me, hyperfocus is dysregulation that benefits others and not me.

I just want to be able to think straight, keep my house tidy, and not spend a couple of hours every day wishing it would turn out to be my last day.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#367

Post by abhaynayar »

agentdev001 wrote: post #355
abhaynayar wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I knew someone would nitpick on that. Could've worded it better. But like I expanded later in the para, an absolute for platforms where I feel my brain hijacked. To make clearer, 0 minutes for those things (example-Reddit, IG, etc.). Instead of something like X minutes of screen time where I'm allowed anything. Because for the things I allow, like LinkedIn, I don't find myself using them much at all even though I hav…

No offense intended by my initial reply, I understand how I may have came off in that way however. On the 'extreme' bit, this might certainly be along the lines of personal experience- but I find LinkedIn, HN, and Reddit to be among the worst offenders in the basket of attention hogs / dopamine sinks. My reasoning there is mainly rooted in the fact that these platforms all present a couple dozen or so items that are…

Thanks for the perspective. Yea you're right, I think different platforms have different effects on people. As an example quitting TV shows was difficult for me, whereas most people I've talked to don't even think of TV shows as a necessary bad thing.

On HN/LI, at least for me I really don't find them disruptive or time sinks. LinkedIn seems boring, HN doesn't have infinite scroll, and again most articles don't really interest me that much.

I don't use Reddit exactly because I feel the posts evoke an emotional response from me and I tend to stay there. Haven't used it in a long time, same with other infinite popular scrollers.

Anyway, my core point being for the platforms that do trouble me in my experience going all-out helped. If I set a time limit or time window or use grayscale or all those hacks it doesn't work. All those are more like gateway drugs. So if HN/LI does truly provide more noise than signal I would personally cut it out but that's not the case for me at the moment.

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#368

Post by DavideNL »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #2

I think it's just information overload. There's so much information everywhere now clamoring at you for attention. Our brains aren't made for processing this much information. Going on a media diet helps. Going completely offline helps even more. Something I do when I struggle to focus is to add different stripped down user accounts to my computer. I wanted to dabble in rust so I added a user called ~rs that literall…

Yep, i do the same thing. The trick is to increase the barrier to entry.

For the same reason, i don't install ANY apps on my smartphone and tablet, like social apps and news apps. If you have to grab your laptop to check them, it takes way more effort.

And, if you really need to access something "urgently", you can always use the web browser (which is annoying) where i always use Private Mode (no easy logging in.)

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#369

Post by leetrout »

athorax wrote: post #250
mordae wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please also note that ADHD-like symptoms can present from sleep Apnea/UARS-induced sleep deprivation and the probability of having Apnea/UARS rises with age. Smoothly for men and a with a sudden jump after menopause for women. So if you feel like you are getting more ADHD-like issues, do consider a sleep study. Early tells are easy: you often feel like shit in the morning.

I recently went through this. I was diagnosed with ADHD 15 years ago and have been managing it, but over the last 2-3 years I had been experiencing increased levels of brain fog, fatigue, and by ability to focus had deteriorated to the point I wasn't sure if I would be able to continue working. I had a sleep study done 10 years ago that only found Night Terror Disorder, but no signs of sleep apnea. I did another slee…

I was prescribed modafinil earlier this year and it worked well when I took it but it was intense at the useful dose so the doctor put in for a sleep study. It was a 3 month wait but I am finally getting it done next week an I'm hopeful it leads to a conclusive diagnosis.

I also noticed my issues were worse after my 3rd bout of covid :-/ I had very high sensitivity to alcohol and caffeine after the 2nd bout and have largely cut both out of my life (I never drank more than 20 drinks / year in my life anyway).

Re: It's getting harder to focus every day

#370

Post by pojzon »

I do have this problem. Its not caused by my age or mental decline. Its simply too many things happening too fast, to many people asking questions and too many topics to pursue without any pause.

Work, family, life, world around you, all scream „me now, my problem, do this, do that, watch this, listen to that”.

Its exhausting. Humans are not built to be constantly in overdrive. I just want to sit and have peace of mind.

Issue is the moment you hit the breaks - „you lose” sign pops up and well.. you fade away. Maybe its a good thing?

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