How I regained concentration and focus • Hacker News Board

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#21

Post by EForEndeavour » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:17 PM UTC

hvs wrote: post #17

swah wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was this on the short term?

No, it's complete. I was drinking 4-5 cups of coffee a day and my brain was a cluttered mess. Now it's just mildly cluttered.

On a much smaller time scale, I have noticed that when I skip my usual morning coffee (say, running out of coffee, going for a run with an accountability buddy, or traveling and staying in a "coffee desert"), I feel remarkably clear-minded and calm, even though I crave the smell, taste, experience of coffee. When I let it last, this mental calmness lasts until early afternoon, when I'd usually get coffee #2 of 2, as the dull withdrawal headache sets in and I chemotactically writhe my way toward increasingly desperate sources of caffeine.

I've been drinking at least 2 cups of coffee ("cups" is a fuzzy measure) for maybe 15 years. Maybe I should power through the withdrawal and discover for myself if I've accidentally been undermining my mental clarity and life quality this whole time, instead of giving myself energy and helping concentration as I'd been assuming.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#22

Post by endisneigh » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:17 PM UTC

Ironically this page is a great example of why it’s hard to focus. Unnecessary images, stylization and colors. Unnecessary links to other distracting websites. Flashy flash.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#23

Post by lazide » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

barking_biscuit wrote: post #20

hvs wrote: post #10

As someone with serious concentration issues (unless I'm hyperfocused, I may have undiagnosed ADHD) I found the biggest help for me was cutting out caffeine.

hmm... caffeine actually helps for ADHD as it's a stimulant. I can only take my meds on weekdays and I've pretty much had life long addiction to either coke, pepsi or red-bull. When I started taking effective medication I basically stopped drinking caffeinated drinks. Just don't need it. I can't take my meds on the weekends, and virtually always I go get something with caffeine in it to help.

it depends - caffeine uses different receptors than are helpful for many people with ADHD, and since it isn’t managed by someone outside, it’s easy to get big swings of usage or other problems due to, well ADHD.

It’s common that folks with ADHD will use Caffeine, it just doesn’t work as well as other stimulants for many people.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#24

Post by pacifika » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

khaledh wrote: post #4

For me, the zero news diet would be really hard to apply to HN. Any suggestions (in addition to noprocrast)?

Use one of the Havkernews Digest services to get a periodic email. Fomo is the biggest reason for me to keep checking back.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#25

Post by mprime1 » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:20 PM UTC

If you’re looking for a ‘lean’ source of news (just the facts, no commentary) try Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events

(RSS feed available)

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#26

Post by throw93232 » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:22 PM UTC

ben_w wrote: post #16

throw93232 wrote: post #8

》CNN, WSJ, and BBC That is a news equivalent of junk food. Clickbait partisan outrage generator. I would suggest some independent podcast with daily or weekly summaries. Much higher information density.

Given the junk food analogy, things with much higher information density would be like drinking neat olive oil. I think a more useful thing is to filter news down to only that news which is important rather than merely engaging , and leave engagement for either friends or hobbies with a ratio depending on your personal level of introversion/extroversion.

I just checked front side of CNN, first 6 titles are about some unofficial trip. They do not know if it will happen, what will happen, where it may happen, what that means...

There is no value for me there. Even if I invest time into filtering, there is no value to gain from that. Maybe it is important, but I am not policy maker or investor, it is not important right now for me!

I can find out about that visit week later, after it actually happened. Without all the speculations and opinions. And since it will be podcast I can listen while running or exercising, and with much lower investment from my side.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#27

Post by pristineshatter » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:23 PM UTC

endisneigh wrote: post #22

Ironically this page is a great example of why it’s hard to focus. Unnecessary images, stylization and colors. Unnecessary links to other distracting websites. Flashy flash.

Let the man create the blog he wants to create.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#28

Post by giantg2 » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:24 PM UTC

tenebrisalietum wrote: post #14

giantg2 wrote: post #9

My distraction is from all the family stuff I have to deal with. My lack of concentration is because I lack motivation - I don't see any reason to try hard at work since it's all politics and BS.

Work for money.

What money? There's no way to get a raise at my company without a promotion and they won't promote me. I have no motivation to work hard if it won't be rewarded. I do the minimum to get paid my shitty salary.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#29

Post by VyseofArcadia » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:26 PM UTC

tenebrisalietum wrote: post #14

giantg2 wrote: post #9

My distraction is from all the family stuff I have to deal with. My lack of concentration is because I lack motivation - I don't see any reason to try hard at work since it's all politics and BS.

Work for money.

My experience is that the more politics and BS and organization has, the more you can coast. Individual performance can get lost in the noise.

Even in orgs that have their stuff together, I see a preference for internal transfer over termination. I think it's some sort of HR sunk cost fallacy.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#30

Post by jansan » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 2:27 PM UTC

I think routers should have more fine grained settings, so I can block social media during weekdays, HN on weekdays except lunchtime and evening, and allow my children only to access their 5 websites that they need for homework/study during a few hours in the afternoon. This would help me a lot.