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How I regained concentration and focus

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Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#401

Post by naasking »

wildmanx wrote: post #389
fleddr wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of wiggle room between sane consumption and addiction. And addiction is becoming the norm. I'd add that even if you were to consume no news at all, you'd still get the summary of it one way or another. I'll now continue with my hot take: being informed, even being an expert, on anything outside your field of work is overrated, if not useless. Say you've been following the recent war in great depth. Or t…

You'll have witnessed history unfold in front of your very own eyes. You'll know the difference between what the history books will claim 20 years from now and the public debate shift based on that, and what you've actually witnessed. Granted, you are (likely) not actually on the ground where the tanks and rockets and soldiers meet, but you are another layer or two closer to being a witness of history. Which you are…

> You'll know the difference between what the history books will claim 20 years from now and the public debate shift based on that, and what you've actually witnessed.

No, you'll know the propaganda you're being fed which often only gets revealed 20 years later. Like what happened in Iraq.

Every time you think you're being informed by the media, you should consider if you would have believed them 18 years ago when the media was full of pundits manufacturing consent for war against Iraq by claiming they had WMDs. The playbook doesn't really change, only the story being told. You only get the real story much later.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#402

Post by fleddr »

wildmanx wrote: post #389
fleddr wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of wiggle room between sane consumption and addiction. And addiction is becoming the norm. I'd add that even if you were to consume no news at all, you'd still get the summary of it one way or another. I'll now continue with my hot take: being informed, even being an expert, on anything outside your field of work is overrated, if not useless. Say you've been following the recent war in great depth. Or t…

You'll have witnessed history unfold in front of your very own eyes. You'll know the difference between what the history books will claim 20 years from now and the public debate shift based on that, and what you've actually witnessed. Granted, you are (likely) not actually on the ground where the tanks and rockets and soldiers meet, but you are another layer or two closer to being a witness of history. Which you are…

What is the tangible benefit of being that witness?

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#403

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

kortex wrote: post #174

"Trivial inconveniences" are a big hurdle when trying to build a habit, but are a great tool for breaking bad ones. Anything you can do to break the dopamine loop helps, however small it may be. I've had success with: - setting long passwords to social media that aren't autofilled (saved in bitwarden) and logging out after each session - nerfing addicting parts of webapps (plugins which block the facebook news feed b…

As an indirect consequence of switching to a Linux smartphone, All those soul sucking apps/services are immediately lost. I can still access them through Firefox if I want, But without push notifications(Say notification pollution) of a native app I can do it systematically on a pre-determined schedule.

Also, OP mentions that the Pomodoro timer didn't work for him. I find that the task of manually triggering the timer is a distraction and chore by itself; So I created a butt triggered productivity timer which starts automatically when I sit on the chair before my workstation and it has done wonders to my productivity and health(Taking a walk during break).

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#404

Post by musicale »

ineedasername wrote: post #328
koonsolo wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I much rather want to talk to the person who reads books written by experts, than to talk to the person who watches the news every day. I'm sorry but there just isn't any comparison. Have you ever read news about something you are an expert at? It's just laughable inaccurate. News is entertainment, not information. If you want information, read a book written by an expert at the field.

The world moves faster than experts write books. The US has an important election coming up in a few months. Regardless of which part of the political spectrum a person is on there are issues most will care about a great deal that will be extremely impacted by the outcomes of the elections. Issues that are way too recent to get coverage in books written by experts. Like it or not, engagement with civic society requir…

> The US has an important election coming up in a few months

Fortunately news media are committed to keeping the public informed up to the minute with the latest poll results so that everyone will know who seems to be winning or losing the imaginary horse race.

Occasional updates will also be provided regarding a candidate's appearance, family, hobbies, pets, and any scandals or rumors thereof. Pundits will also be invited to comment on these topics, as well as who they are betting on.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#405

Post by wildmanx »

naasking wrote: post #401
wildmanx wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll have witnessed history unfold in front of your very own eyes. You'll know the difference between what the history books will claim 20 years from now and the public debate shift based on that, and what you've actually witnessed. Granted, you are (likely) not actually on the ground where the tanks and rockets and soldiers meet, but you are another layer or two closer to being a witness of history. Which you are…

> You'll know the difference between what the history books will claim 20 years from now and the public debate shift based on that, and what you've actually witnessed. No, you'll know the propaganda you're being fed which often only gets revealed 20 years later. Like what happened in Iraq. Every time you think you're being informed by the media, you should consider if you would have believed them 18 years ago when th…

Let's assume that's the case. Then without having witnessed the propaganda, I'd not have proper context to what you just told me. I'd have to go with somebody (you) claiming what had been the propaganda back in the day. And that sounds pretty unbelievable, so it's good that I witnessed it, then I can appreciate the point that you are making.

Either way, better to have had open eyes and ears than not.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#406

Post by kzrdude »

ge96 wrote: post #148
kzrdude wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds great, I've certainly too gone through a better sleep period where I focused on better sleep - no coffee for two years and lots of other measures like that. And it works. That's not a silver bullet, that's hard work. :)

For the last couple of years my sleep pattern has been crazy. Sometimes I would stay up two days in a row to rest my sleep pattern back to 9-5 schedule. I preferred to be sleep deprived as it made my job more interesting. But lately (since a month ago) I have been thankfully able to maintain a 12/1-8:30 range sleep pattern. I do a 15 min workout 5 days a week. I have been fasting so I eat a big meal a couple hours be…

Sounds awesome. Thanks for the inspiration.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#407

Post by wildmanx »

fleddr wrote: post #402
wildmanx wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll have witnessed history unfold in front of your very own eyes. You'll know the difference between what the history books will claim 20 years from now and the public debate shift based on that, and what you've actually witnessed. Granted, you are (likely) not actually on the ground where the tanks and rockets and soldiers meet, but you are another layer or two closer to being a witness of history. Which you are…

What is the tangible benefit of being that witness?

What's the tangible benefit of reading a history book? What's the tangible benefit of learning about quantum physics, evolution theory or the history of the French Revolution?

My iPhone works anyway, the grocery store sells chicken anyway, and the latte at Starbucks won't taste any different.

None of that directly changes by you learning more things. But it makes you a more well-rounded educated person, equipped to make better decisions impacting your own life and possibly society as a whole. And, frankly, to make sth out of you that's more than a monkey living merely to survive and procreate.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#408

Post by ben_w »

blangk wrote: post #397
ben_w wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm suggesting you limit your news to things which are actionable rather than affective.

How does one achieve this goal?

I feel I am missing something in your question, because all I can think is "repeated application of introspection and willpower", but I suspect that if that type of answer sufficed then you would not have needed to ask.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#409

Post by icebergonfire »

lampshades wrote: post #172
vkk8 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit crude way to put it, but maybe you're right. At least for me, becoming a father changed my perspective on everything so much that it's almost like I'm not even the same species anymore as I was before having them. Sometimes people without children feel like they're not even proper adults even if they are older and/or more senior at work or whatever.

Spot on, I’m so different now than I was then I disregard anything anyone without kids says. > Sometimes people without children feel like they're not even proper adults I feel like they’re not real adults too.

> Spot on, I’m so different now than I was then I disregard anything anyone without kids says.

I would posit this is universally correct. Us not-parents can "believe" we can accurately imagine what you go through or what we would do in your place. Theoretically speaking, the theory matches reality :)

Yet imagining is literally not enough! People without children do not viscerally know what it is to parent, 24/7 for the rest of your days for the foreseeable future. How the accumulated indescribable-joy and the mounting exhaustion that you simultaneously carry influences slash impacts your decision-making and relentlessly molds the options you'll choose to make for the rest of your life.

Good luck explaining how different this parenting experience can be for every person and child, even within the same family in the same environment two children can be polar opposites with no obvious reason other than "life finds a way".

> I feel like they’re not real adults too.

I say this with all my empathy: the fact that for you parenting is such a core part of the adult experience is not only correct but beautiful, and anybody who tries to invalidate that is extremely wrong.

That said, there is another layer of unkindness in your position that you must unpack yourself, if you wish to have adult-level relationships with people with a different set of adult-core concepts.

Re: How I regained concentration and focus

#410

Post by naasking »

wildmanx wrote: post #405
naasking wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'll know the difference between what the history books will claim 20 years from now and the public debate shift based on that, and what you've actually witnessed. No, you'll know the propaganda you're being fed which often only gets revealed 20 years later. Like what happened in Iraq. Every time you think you're being informed by the media, you should consider if you would have believed them 18 years ago when th…

Let's assume that's the case. Then without having witnessed the propaganda, I'd not have proper context to what you just told me. I'd have to go with somebody (you) claiming what had been the propaganda back in the day. And that sounds pretty unbelievable, so it's good that I witnessed it, then I can appreciate the point that you are making. Either way, better to have had open eyes and ears than not.

Not sure you needed to experience Nazi propaganda back in Nazi Germany to understand the dangers of that propaganda or why it was wrong. Of course you'll miss some nuance but I'm not really sure how important that really is.
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