One thing that has helped me also as I'm figuring my way through this is to leave time to just "play". But the play has to be related to the problem. In particular, this is suitable for ill-defined research problems (the type I am frequently working on these days, vs. more standard engineering-based implementations/refactor of yore). And then as you play with the problem a direction kind of magically opens itself up and then you want to explore further.
Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
71–78 of 78 posts
Re: Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
#72"What helps you focus and get things done?"
The promise that I will achieve something. That could be helping someone, building something for myself, etc. The worst blocker to my performance is the corporate lie that hard work and loyalty are rewarded. Once you see through it and get screwed over a few times, you're just done.
Re: Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
#73At age 35 I was diagnosed with ADHD. Woah! I try to minimize medication. A few tricks.. 1. An ADHD diagnosis looks at 5 areas, Activation, Effort, Memory, Attention and Affect. I struggle with Activation and Effort. If I am inactive, I now know enough to say, "Activate!" And this gives me a trigger to change my behavior. 2. ADHD folk oft describe a phenomena where they excel under pressure or when doing tasks for oth…
Tell us the truth. Do you say "Activate!" then do a 6 million dollar man sound effect? Cause I would.
That's an awesome example of recognizing an unwanted behavior and using a trigger to redirect you to the behavior you want to perform. This is very difficult, but if you practice it long enough it gets easier.
Re: Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
#74At age 35 I was diagnosed with ADHD. Woah! I try to minimize medication. A few tricks.. 1. An ADHD diagnosis looks at 5 areas, Activation, Effort, Memory, Attention and Affect. I struggle with Activation and Effort. If I am inactive, I now know enough to say, "Activate!" And this gives me a trigger to change my behavior. 2. ADHD folk oft describe a phenomena where they excel under pressure or when doing tasks for oth…
I love that you've used 4 twice.
Re: Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
#75At age 35 I was diagnosed with ADHD. Woah! I try to minimize medication. A few tricks.. 1. An ADHD diagnosis looks at 5 areas, Activation, Effort, Memory, Attention and Affect. I struggle with Activation and Effort. If I am inactive, I now know enough to say, "Activate!" And this gives me a trigger to change my behavior. 2. ADHD folk oft describe a phenomena where they excel under pressure or when doing tasks for oth…
I love that you've used 4 twice.
i love that I didnt even notice until you brought it up
Re: Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
#76Stop using class or OOP, using functions help me focus really well.
Re: Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
#77"Don't wait until you feel like doing something."
Start doing something, now.
Re: Ask HN: What helps you focus and get things done?
#78[dead]