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How to focus on one things? I am so distracted, any tips would help

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Re: How to focus on one things? I am so distracted, any tips would help

#11

I had the same problem. After years of long work hours and debilitating stress as the CTO of a health tech company, I abruptly quit my job and traveled/decompressed for a year - it didn’t solve the problem. I was even more distracted and felt like I had lost my edge. Through a serendipitous situation, I discovered Vipassana meditation. The 10 days of silence - no phone, no eye contact, no books/distractions - along w…

I had a similar experience. Twelve days in the jungle, no looking at my phone, no reading, minimal conversation. Laying in a hammock, looking at the trees and listening to the insects and birds. Fasted a few days to reduce the distraction of food, too.

My brain switched to contemplation mode - deep presence, without distraction.

This was an Aya retreat, with plant dieta and ceremonies four nights a week. These were an important aspect but the isolation and fasting were the main component I think.

Re: How to focus on one things? I am so distracted, any tips would help

#13
When I get like that, I find it helpful to drink less coffee and switch to a low-carbohydrate diet (mostly veggies, meat, nuts, and dairy). Carbs give you quick and nervous energy, which it sounds like you may have too much of. Fats and proteins burn at a more even pace because the conversion of them into ATP is more complicated. It's hard to go cold turkey on carbs, though, especially the sweet ones, so I usually ease them down over a few days and rarely cut them out entirely. It’s hard to resist a donut from the box of them that arrives in the office a day or two per week. What can I say?

Daily exercise--especially when it's vigorous and in the morning--helps me too. My body wants to move, and when it doesn't, my brain seems to compensate by moving itself instead. As such, short walks midday and mid-afternoon also help. I use them like little shots of focus enablers. Second runs preceded by my noon coffee are even better.

I have also found it extremely helpful to completely abandon serious efforts at singular focus. Instead, over the past few years, I have lowered the bar and simply engage with (but don't "focus on") whatever I'm doing. To do that, I let behavior--not thoughts--lead the way. Worries about thoughts and motivations ruin my state of mind. When I avoid them, I became more relaxed, which in turn allows sufficient mental engagement to show up on its own when needed. In this relaxed state, the facts in front of me almost automatically trigger appropriate concentration inside of me. Almost... as in 75%. I do still need to be aware that the 75% has been triggered and that the 25% remains for me to do. But 25% is an easier lift than 100%.

In the same spirit, I’m generally skeptical of practices like meditation that seem to redirect attention away from our behavior and toward our heads. Objectifying our heads can, for sure, be useful. Minds can, in fact, careen like a ship in a storm, and it is helpful to have a few techniques (diet, exercise, deep breaths, stopwatches, meditation if you need it) to steady them. However, I have also found that worrying about my mind and trying too hard to fix it mostly worsens the situation. Look, minds wander. So what? We're human. Everybody is. Just use a few mind-settling techniques, work a modest amount of mind-wandering into your time budgets, and then roll with it. The ease of mind will pay off way more than punishing yourself for being born human.

I do assume you have already turned off notifications on your devices. Those things kill not only focus but sanity too.

Re: How to focus on one things? I am so distracted, any tips would help

#15

My only suggestion is to resist any possible temptation to use addictive stimulants for this, (unless legitimately prescribed of course, but even then they do carry risk and maybe shouldn't be the first thing you try). May seem to work at first but not worth it in the long run by far.

It's weird people say this. I genuinely manage my ADHD with caffeine, and have so for years. On the weekends I detox, and then monday it resets again.

Re: How to focus on one things? I am so distracted, any tips would help

#16

My only suggestion is to resist any possible temptation to use addictive stimulants for this, (unless legitimately prescribed of course, but even then they do carry risk and maybe shouldn't be the first thing you try). May seem to work at first but not worth it in the long run by far.

It's weird people say this. I genuinely manage my ADHD with caffeine, and have so for years. On the weekends I detox, and then monday it resets again.

you managed it with habits, not because of caffeine.

Re: How to focus on one things? I am so distracted, any tips would help

#17
If you are on desktop, and the distractions come from twitter/x, linkedin or youtube, you can get rid of contents that intrigue you. Like for example:

If you are being disturbed by contents with a specific keyword let's say: Alex.

Just install the extension, add the keyword and no more contents with that word in title will be shown to you.

Get the chrome extension here: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/meri-marzi-my-choic...

Apart from that, following are effective ways I manage it:

1. Uninstall social apps from your mobile in increasing time splits: Days, Weeks and Months. I have not used Facebook from years, instagram from months and likewise. This create a lot of time for me to work on things I like.

2. The things that you like can sometimes be a real challenge. For same try different things everyday, even a 5 min effort in a new thing will keep you up.

3. Don't root for quick happiness in whatever you do, sometimes its fun to fail in trying many things.

Re: How to focus on one things? I am so distracted, any tips would help

#19

I had the same problem. After years of long work hours and debilitating stress as the CTO of a health tech company, I abruptly quit my job and traveled/decompressed for a year - it didn’t solve the problem. I was even more distracted and felt like I had lost my edge. Through a serendipitous situation, I discovered Vipassana meditation. The 10 days of silence - no phone, no eye contact, no books/distractions - along w…

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