The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world • Hacker News Board

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#71

Post by random_kris » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 12:14 PM UTC

tw1010 wrote: post #67

I typically think of this as a unique advantage that programmers have. In almost every other industry I see, I see people who never get the chance to focus all their attention on intellectually challenging tasks for hours without break, and a lot of them seem super distracted and like their brain have been negatively affected by this absence. But programmers seem like the rare species that actually do get this privil…

I agree with you. But lately I've been noticing myself being distracted a lot and finding it hard to concentrate... for example I have a hard problem in front of me and in the momment something goes wrong I just switch task and go on hn/reddit/mail etc...

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#72

Post by tw1010 » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 12:23 PM UTC

random_kris wrote: post #71

tw1010 wrote: post #67

I typically think of this as a unique advantage that programmers have. In almost every other industry I see, I see people who never get the chance to focus all their attention on intellectually challenging tasks for hours without break, and a lot of them seem super distracted and like their brain have been negatively affected by this absence. But programmers seem like the rare species that actually do get this privil…

I agree with you. But lately I've been noticing myself being distracted a lot and finding it hard to concentrate... for example I have a hard problem in front of me and in the momment something goes wrong I just switch task and go on hn/reddit/mail etc...

Habituating myself with music and special rooms that I'm very strict about associating only to work (never play) has been the key for me. Play music when you work, and be very strict about not playing the same track/genre when you go on hn/reddit. Sometimes I stand up when people speak to me, just so I don't encourage my mind to allow "conversation thoughts" to bubble up from my subconsious when I'm in a chair. If you're strict about this, and you do it for long enough, it becomes much easier. (Don't be too hard on yourself when you fail, let it take the time it needs to take, be patient. And be careful once you've reached the good habit state. Remember how fragile it is and how much effort was required to get to that point.)

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#73

Post by teekert » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 12:26 PM UTC

afarrell wrote: post #51

octygen wrote: post #49

Three things helped me: 1) Mindfulness training so I could see myself in the moment NOT concentrating and stop myself. Still not at 100% with this but have been getting a lot better since I first took https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/mindfulness-wellbeing-pe... a couple of years ago. 2) Thinking of my mobile in the way marketers think of it. As a cache for mobile minutes. Each marketing dept is like a little gnome…

Piggy-backing off of this to add the things I find useful: - Mindfulness medidation, same as you. It is hard and when you first try it feels like you are failing. But Yoda is wrong: trying is very valuable and builds the mindfulness muscle. - Website blocking software like SelfControl.app and Freedom.io —- some might ridicule these as being a crutch, but that is a silly reason not to use them. If you are trying to ch…

Well, for starters, you seem to have learned a great deal of useful stuff about life, stuff that takes years to accumulate. So to me you already seem like someone I could have engaging conversations with.

That said, I have no trouble talking to strangers but a colleague of mine once said he found "The Tao of Badass" [0] a useful book. It didn't fix the fact that he was always completely disinterested in what others did with their life. Which was funny because I always greatly enjoyed talking with him and he had a great way of speaking about his own Asperger syndrome, I always felt like the doctors had told him he was almost human, in a way he was almost super human, reminded me of Data from star trek, he sort of objectively tried to understand what he was missing and I really didn't understand that he felt he was missing something. I miss that colleague/friend.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13457225-the-tao-of-bada...

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#74

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 12:38 PM UTC

As a tech fanatic here is my way of dealing with it:

- no smartphone

- as little social media as possible (yes, I know)

- when with family or others the phone is on silent and I won't answer or text

- adblockers and privacy tools used to the max to get rid of advertising

- no TV

- no radio

Between all those tricks I can get a half decent day's work and still spend time on others, though I have to admit that the better the business is doing there is still pressure there that will need to be relieved somehow.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#75

Post by maroonblazer » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 1:03 PM UTC

bitexploder wrote: post #70

tostadora wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Michener essay is a great read. Thank you for the link. It has made me think about a problem, though: how to select that huge task in which to pour your energy. For him, it was his novels; but being in a 9 to 5 office job like I am, I'm wondering what are my options.

Here is what I think. Do you have something you really want to achieve? Writing a book? Learning something new to advance your career? Whatever it is you must carve our deep work time for it. Waking up early, etc. How to select your “whatever it is”. Don’t start small. Think about it every day. I think this will prime your brain to help you find it. Keep a journal focused on this. It probably won’t take too long. If…

Lately it's been fashionable to downplay the idea of "passion" (try Googling "don't follow your passion"), but I think it's critical to having any chance of success at tackling a big problem.

Several years ago I took up jazz drumming and purchased a DVD by the jazz drummer John Riley. Amidst all the technical lessons that comprise 99% of the disc he inserted a brief, 1 minute long sidebar on the idea of being "gifted" at drumming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ist7xECbDh0

Of course it applies to anything, not simply playing the drums.

It caused me to think differently about what kinds of things I'm willing to spend my time on, simply because doing that thing was most rewarding.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#76

Post by tangaye » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 1:08 PM UTC

hevi_jos wrote: post #52

Distraction is not new. We love doing things with instant gratification and anything of great value comes from deep work. What it is new today is that people are fighting against a football team of Doctors in Psychology, experts manipulators that have sold their soul to the "Man", Google, Facebook... in order to enslave people following their primal impulses for the benefit of those Juggernauts, and the manipulators…

Thank you very much. I find this very insightful and eyeopening. What are resources that I can pay attention to in order to be "conscious of their unfair game"? Will wholeheartedly appreciate it. Thank you once again.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#77

Post by drjesusphd » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 1:08 PM UTC

tostadora wrote: post #53

octygen wrote: post #49

Three things helped me: 1) Mindfulness training so I could see myself in the moment NOT concentrating and stop myself. Still not at 100% with this but have been getting a lot better since I first took https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/mindfulness-wellbeing-pe... a couple of years ago. 2) Thinking of my mobile in the way marketers think of it. As a cache for mobile minutes. Each marketing dept is like a little gnome…

The Michener essay is a great read. Thank you for the link. It has made me think about a problem, though: how to select that huge task in which to pour your energy. For him, it was his novels; but being in a 9 to 5 office job like I am, I'm wondering what are my options.

That's always the question, isn't it? Even if you could choose your job to fit the chosen task, what is worth your time and evergy at the expense of anything else?

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#78

Post by unstuckdev » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 1:44 PM UTC

montenegrohugo wrote: post #50

et-al wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A large part of this is how one choses to use their smartphone. By default, it's a device that's receives a million notifications, but I've turned off most of them, so it's back to being a tiny computer that's helpful to look stuff up with. I only get notifications on four things: 1) phone calls - it's still a phone 2) "texts" (SMS/WhatsApp/iMessage/Line) - I disable Slack because it's too noisy aside from one "emerg…

Why have the financial ticker? If you own stocks, do you plan on reacting to this notification? Do you see yourself as a professional day trader? Imo the amount of noise is extreme in stock news and there is no value in listening to it. It is wasted attention and wasted emotion. Much better is to pick a few stocks/ETF's and invest on a longer horizon.

I get the impression most stock news is generated, not written. Maybe they use the same software I heard was taking over in sports commentary.

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#79

Post by leonroy » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 1:59 PM UTC

tostadora wrote: post #53

octygen wrote: post #49

Three things helped me: 1) Mindfulness training so I could see myself in the moment NOT concentrating and stop myself. Still not at 100% with this but have been getting a lot better since I first took https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/mindfulness-wellbeing-pe... a couple of years ago. 2) Thinking of my mobile in the way marketers think of it. As a cache for mobile minutes. Each marketing dept is like a little gnome…

The Michener essay is a great read. Thank you for the link. It has made me think about a problem, though: how to select that huge task in which to pour your energy. For him, it was his novels; but being in a 9 to 5 office job like I am, I'm wondering what are my options.

To be honest that’s half the thrill, not knowing what to do, having no idea of the level of success of the outcome. Pick something, perhaps an ‘earned secret’ that you’ve noticed in your field; some problem and set about fixing it.

Even making miniature art in the eye of a needle can be an admirable dedication! https://youtu.be/d0ALUjoyMJI

Re: The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world

#80

Post by gregknicholson » Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 2:06 PM UTC

teekert wrote: post #73

afarrell wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Piggy-backing off of this to add the things I find useful: - Mindfulness medidation, same as you. It is hard and when you first try it feels like you are failing. But Yoda is wrong: trying is very valuable and builds the mindfulness muscle. - Website blocking software like SelfControl.app and Freedom.io —- some might ridicule these as being a crutch, but that is a silly reason not to use them. If you are trying to ch…

Well, for starters, you seem to have learned a great deal of useful stuff about life, stuff that takes years to accumulate. So to me you already seem like someone I could have engaging conversations with. That said, I have no trouble talking to strangers but a colleague of mine once said he found "The Tao of Badass" [0] a useful book. It didn't fix the fact that he was always completely disinterested in what others d…

From [0] above:

> The Tao of Badass by Joshua Pellicer

> Josh Pellicer is a leading expert on female psychology, body language and the art of seduction. His seduction system, The Tao Of Badass, is the best-selling seduction system in the World.

Well this is creepy as fuck.