(Re)gaining Focus
I’m borderline ADD. The world is too interesting — there are concepts to learn, projects to dabble with, hypothesis to falsify. That’s means I’m never bored, even when waiting in line at the DMV (hard to imagine, I know). It also means that I when I need to buckle down and focus, I’ll often get distracted. The internet plus my brain is a pretty big place. There are times when I can focus for an entire day. I’ll forget to eat and when I look up from work, I discover that it is 6 in the morning. There are other times, though, that some errant thought hooks my interest like a burr to my socks.
There are a couple things I try to do when I need to focus. I take a shower. I take a “thinking” nap. I clean my desk. I listen to an all-absorbing symphony, like Prokofiev’s 5th symphony (and there I go again, I’m now on the Wikiepdia page, reading about Prokofiev).
I’m curious. What do people do to help themselves focus. And once that focus is lost, how do people reset?
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Abi
Same problem. I’m thinking about getting a typewriter. It’s impossible to write on a multitasking machine.
Edwin Khodabakchian
Here is one thing I learned from my days at Netscape that I try to apply since then when I have too many threads running in my head.
I have a textmate file where I create one line per things I have to do or things I want to explore. This is a very simple queue.
Every night I pick from that queue three (or less) things I want to accomplish the next day and write them on my whiteboard and on a small piece of paper I stick to my monitor.
During the day, I try to focus 100% of my attention on those three things and try to get them done.
Ideally if things work well, you can strike those 3 things at night and pick 3 new ones for the next day.
Unfortunately, sometimes lack of sleep or other distractions get in the way. That is usually a good sign that I am close to being burnt out. Which I try to address by unplugging completely and spending as much time with family as I can.
Time to try to regain focus!
lrbabe
I used to have no internet at home and a connection only at uni. So when I was at home I was very productive and when I was at uni I had the opportunity to gather new ideas and to investigate new technologies.
Now I have internet here and my productivity has dropped, but I discover a lot more, and I can’t resign to turn the WiFi off even for an hour. I should try, though…
Matt
Hey Aza, I have found the Mac app “Things” has helped me immensely. I have to have some structure in order for me to get anything done and Things keeps me in line. I love it.
Keith Lang
_Like your desk cleaning activity, do all the little errands that needed doing anyway.. making sure bills are payed, cleaning Inbox
_Exercise has almost a magical impact for me on ‘what really matters’
_A pending meeting that involves somebody else
_Work out and about in a new situation, or in the close company of someone who gets things done
_Nap! I agree, often a great way to reset the mind. I think our society looses a lot of efficiency by not having systems to support a natural siesta
_Good, instrumental music with a driving rhythm seems to help for me
_A nice cup of peppermint tea seems to soothe the mind, calming
neysan
I have a big white board next to my desk. (Tried using the wall for sometime..) When something pops into my head i write it down quickly, but immediately continue with my work.
Those short splashes and epiphanies are not to be lost. Write them down, but then continue doing what you were doing.
Andreas Nilsson
I actually take showers too. Nothing to distract and pretty standard routine with cleaning the hair etc.
Other times I go for a walk around the block. If no good ideas comes up on the first round, I take another one, sometimes a third.
Riding trains is also good, but that happens more seldom. I really like riding trains though.
Simon
Might not be any use to you, but working closely with other people is a big help to me. Used to be in a situation where pair-programming was normal, and that interaction helped keep me on track. No longer in that situation, which is probably why I’m commenting on your blog instead of working. :)
Mark Surman
There are two things that work for me: the gym and loud guitars. The gym when I totally need a mental reset. At least an hour of weights and cardio. Then I’ve got 3 hours of focus ahead. Loud guitars (Ramones, Clash, old stuff) when I just need to write and pump out ideas. Guitars work even without gym reset, but even better if combined.
mawrya
I clean everything off of my desk and listen to Bach. I also find it helps if you exercise regularly and are NOT connected to the Internet while working. Ahhh! I’m leaving a comment on your blog. Time to unplug…
shawnee
There’s nothing wrong with losing focus for a bit. When writing or coding for the web, I find myself throwing out very rough drafts or ideas and conceptual rough-around-the edge styles because I know once something is live, I will work like mad on it until it’s edited/debugged/pretty. To me, it’s most important to get the idea down, even in its most rough form because the best ideas usually come when I “should” be working on something else. :) Schedules and to-do lists don’t really do it for me unless I’m doing something mundane like planning for groceries.
ScottF
I have some brain games that I play for a few minutes that involve sorting, pattern matching, crossover movement, etc. Exercise works wonders but is no fun.
Dylan Hafertepen
Attention Deficit Disorder Coach Pete Quily thinks that ADD can be an advantage in a high tech career:
Though Quily doesn’t have data to back up his belief, it definitely rings true with me and my techie friends, who constantly joke that we all have ADD (even though it’s a serious condition). Quily sees 10 advantages of having ADD in a high tech career, specifically:
1. The Ability to Hyperfocus.
2. Rapid Fire Mind.
3. Multitasking at Will.
4. High Energy Level.
5. Highly Creative.
6. Quick Learner.
7. Stimulus Seeking Brain.
8. Constantly Scanning your Environment.
9. Great in a Crisis.
10. Risk Taker.
Definitely sounds like our Aza.
How do I get hyper focused?
An hour (or half) in the gym usually gives me the chemical stimulation needed to kick-start my attention span. When that fails, I use a cocktail of Caffine, Taurine, B Vitamins and L-Arginine to hot-wire my brain for hyper focus.
Jarno Virtanen
Start taking Omega-3 supplements. It might or might not make a difference, but taking O-3 supplements is probably a good idea anyhow. Unless a you have an incredibly healthly diet that includes a lot of fish (of the correct type).
The reason I’m suggesting this is that I’ve had somewhat odd experiences with O-3 and focusing disorders. At first, I didn’t notice any radical differences. But then I accidentally had a short break from taking the supplements and just few days after that, I felt this huge physical difference. Trying to focus on a task suddenly felt much harder. I felt the difference in my body. And all this has happened twice now.
Of course, none of this is double-blinded nor placebo controlled, so I don’t if the effects are real. But Omega-3 deficiency is known to have a link to ADHD and most western people do have a huge imbalance in Omega-3/Omega-6 (which compete against each other in our body). All this, of course, doesn’t apply if you have an extremely healthly diet which includes a lot of fish (of the correct type that does contain Omega-3).
Morton
To regain focus I can commit meditation.
After some training you can get a good
effect even on short usage.
delia.zhang
When I lost my focus/goal, or I lost my motivation of fighting for my goal, I take a crazy approach: Just let all trash thoughts/actions come to me and make myself get overwhelmed and flow with them, which means I don’t do anything valuable for some days. And then, till a certain point, I am so sick of them, magically, there will be a voice inside me says, “wait, it shouldn’t work in this way, you actually know what to focus and which is more valuable.” Then, ta-da, I get rid of all the trash and gain focus with a good shape immediately.
This painful process normally take 3-5 days, and then it will work intensively for at least 3-5 months.
Zacqary Adam Green
I give into my short attention span and do other things. If I’m not focusing right then, obviously the ideas will start materializing later, like all good ideas randomly do.
This obviously doesn’t help for writing an essay.
Anders Rune Jensen
First one would be to get enough sleep, if not, then take a nap :)
Secondly I use music to close out external distractions. It also helps me getting into the flow.
François Dongier
Quick siesta after each task + nicotine
Asrail
Well… getting a girlfriend made me go down from 4, 5 tasks to usually 2 or 3 (one of them is chatting with her).
So I don’t have to bother with ADD, but doesn’t help me to do my work anyway.
Well… I usually listen to instrumental music, but the most intense the possible.
When the issue itself is to start a task, I usually move to non-instrumental music and sing or play action games.
I can spend some hours on this, but after these sections I usually focus on whatever I want.
David
meditation 20-30 minutes every day kudos if you can build it up to an hour. After a few days you will find it easier to direct your atention to what you want.
Keywords: shamatha, concetration
Graydon
Sitting meditation for 30 minutes. Regularly.
Manish Jethani
Agree with Mark Surman above: 45 minutes of exercise will buy you 3-4 hours of focus time. In between sets you can think about your problem (warming up) and then attack it straight after the workout and shower.
Justin Kruger
trying to find focus can be hard sometimes, but its also what drives us.
I find that focus can be meet with a measure of practice, so the better questions is what helps you practice the act of focus?
I find that I am more easily distracted when my body has had a lack of sensation or exercise. Its almost like the brain needs a certain amount of kinesthetic information each day. And once you burn that off, life is clearer. I think better in a car, or while roller blading than I do sitting still.
I also think playing video games for 4-10 hours at a time helps train your brain that its pleasureable to focus. Since I have cut my game playing to a meager 2 hours a week, i feel like my focus is less. and when i have had a lot of long and late nights playing, i find that my life also mirrors longer focus habits.
So what are the best and most productive ways to practice focus?
I think gaming, exercise, and reading books are some good starts, but maybe oil painting, building, and sculpting are also valid.
Email is totally the worst way to focus.
Wendely Leal
It sounds like ADHD! Hyperconcentration/focus is one of the “symptoms”.
The description of ADHD really fits. When I feel challenged (not by others, just by myself), I can hyperfocus and get a lot of productivity. I don’t know if I have ADHD and I don’t want to, because then I could use as pretext.
My best trick is to get really involved with the project (the obvious) and interim “easy” and dificult tasks. I often don’t do fast the “easy” and boring stuff, when I have to do that consecutively.
In other hand, I take hot showers, do some exercises, change the ambient in various forms, like going outside with the laptop. I really prefer low light places.
Sometimes when nothing works, I put my in-earphones and start some Chopin. Sometimes any heavy metal songs works better. Usually in languages that I don’t understand or understand just a little. I try to listen music I don’t know.
Trying to reset my mind I usually get some “passive information” like… uh… TV :). Reading, YouTube or things that make me think really don’t work.
In addition I never drink coffee (with this intention) or other chemical.
Frequently nothing of these does works. When this happens I feel I’m really working instead “having fun and get paid for this”.
Russell Wilson
I ride a Schwinn Airdyne stationary bike. I’m very close to having an audio recorder with me because I do some of my clearest thinking after about 20min… (I usually ride it for about 60min). I also clean obsessively.
Blair McBride
For me, it often depends on the task and the situation. Certain things will help better with certain tasks. For example…
* When I’m needing to do some creative thinking and I’m stuck, I often clean a room or sort things.
* When I’m having trouble focusing because I’m frustrated, I take myself away (mentally and physically) – generally for a walk, a shower, or do some short physical jobs (eg, house/garden maintenance).
* When I’m feeling fidgety, I spin a pen (or some other small object) in my fingers. Loud rock/metal music generally helps here too.
* When I keep getting new ideas that aren’t specifically related to the work I’m doing right now, I write them down immediately. Writing them down on paper often seems to work better than typing them. And its quicker if it merits an illustration.
Sometimes my brain will focus all day without a break, and I won’t notice the time go by. Other times I need to recognize that it needs a break. Sometimes this will include stopping working altogether for a period of time. Or times, I merely need to change to a different task.
Nate
I go workout when I get like this. That extra brain activity helps keep me distracted when my legs are hurting during a 4 mile run, etc.
Or I go take a bath. It’s relaxing and gives me that needed time for the brain to wander in itself.
choonkeat
I find myself very focused and very productive whenever I’m out to do something… but forget my laptop power cable.
AnkurJ
Meditation. Make the mind your slave, not your master.
Chanux
One day I had to do some Java to get ready for an exam. I was studying. Then I felt like doing a traceroute to find out where my packets go through. Then I wanted learn how traceroute works. And then java was gone & I dived very deep in to traceroute & related networking stuff. This always happen to me but this is the habit which improves me. Had to do loooaaads of java in later hours of the day & survived the exam.
TODO list are of no use for me. Trying to meditate at least few minutes for a day.
Ian
Have always 2 main projects at one time.
If you get bored\stuck with one jump straight to the other one.
Sport , Yoga and meditation help a lot.
Felix Rabe
I don’t care, I innovate :) I know now that the brainstem is responsible for the sleep and breath rhythms, so I take it that those are central vital functions, be it for focussing or plain staying alive. With that in mind I try to avoid shallow breathing and irregular sleeping patterns.
Felix Rabe
Ah, one more – I gave up on getting my sleep handled on my own. No alarm clock helps me get started when there’s no appointment in the morning. So now I have fellow students who check my going to bed and one who can throw me out of bed to start my day. Ah, the blessings of flat sharing…
Jethro Larson
I’ve gotten myself pretty frazzled with all the stuff and one thing I’ve done to cope is to audit my thought space: Clear email box, Remove a lot of the motivational posters from my cube, clear my desktop, pick a different background, hide most of my bookmarks, Remove the entertainment distractions, Make task lists(http://rememberthemilk.com), tell people no.
So my tactic here is to remove a lot of the stimulation. If I need inspiration I know where to look, but I’ve got too much going on and it’s wrecking my brain.