Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with concentration

Girls will call a stud with big sensual appetite!

opossumnus — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:11:14 -0800

Is there such a thing as a natural inability to fantasize? On occasion, friends or lovers ask me what I typically fantasize about while having happy non-public time. Invariably, I tell them that I just don't; I lack the capacity to focus on something so ephemeral for any length of time. When I try, I am easily distracted. I can count on one hand the number of times mental fantasy has yielded any discrete results.

I don't think there is anything wrong with me, but I am curious about the potential cause of my being virtually incapable of sustaining fantasy. I wondered if it was another symptom of ADHD, but all searches on the subject came back with information about the disorder in tandem with sexual addiction.

Am I just unaware of the substantial portion of the population who cannot fantasize? Is the inability to fantasize fairly common or just a sexual peculiarity? Could it be exacerbated by ADHD? Is it an effect of sex (male vs. female)?

Hell is thinking about other people.

taramosalata — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:01:08 -0800

Since childhood I've been a rather sensitive and justice-obsessed person, but also pretty interested in / attentive to the well-being and inner lives of other people. But I feel increasingly drained. In my field of work there is a lot of getting-ahead through nepotism/ingratiation rather than ability/ passion/effort, and it bothers me. In my life I have people whom I generally like and have opened up to, but who, at critical junctures, exhibit such self-absorption that I'm left feeling not only outraged but injured. I want to change the intensity and duration of my reaction to these things, as it's a huge waste of time, and sometimes upsets my own self-esteem. Please help me stop thinking about other people without becoming alienated and alienating.

Privacy in Public

bobertdude — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:24:52 -0800

Where are some good spots in public where I can get privacy? I have to get a lot of homework done, but lately I've been falling behind in my studies because I find it very difficult to concentrate on anything when there are others around or near me. What I do now is drive to the park at night when there's nobody around to get my work done, but that only works at dark. Are there any public places where I can expect no people to be bothering me?

Egocentricity/Self-absorbtion

Garden — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:01:28 -0800

Does anyone have any experience with self-absorption/egocentricity? I've been noticing the fact that whenever I'm talking with others, I tend to bring the conversation around to myself. I keep telling myself not to talk about myself, but people ask questions and when they do I tend to fall for it every time. How do you make conversations with others and build friendships without talking about yourself? I usually start with open-ended questions and try and find out as much as I can about the other person, but the conversation inevitably turns toward myself as you can't just interrogate someone or else they'll think you're really strange. This is probably a silly question. From a psychological perspective they say that egocentricity is a stage that we all go through while growing up. For whatever reason it seems that I haven't made it through this stage quite yet. The other part of conversation that I struggle with is that when I'm speaking with someone, I tend to listen so intently to what the person is saying that I have a hard time processing what they're actually getting at. Does anyone else experience this? I'm not sure whether I'm trying to think of the next thing that I want to ask the person or whether I'm just trying too hard and unable to relax. Any suggestions from people who have struggled with these issues would be greatly appreciated.

All of a sudden, everybody wants to open a day spa catering exclusively to hedgehogs

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:50:24 -0800

How do I stop noticing what everyone else is doing and concentrate on what I'm doing? I am beginning to fulfill pre-requisites for a graduate program I want to do, and I find myself being a little too aware that there are other people who are also following the same path. I know in my bones I have everything it takes to do this, and that this being "overaware" is just throwing me off my game and leading to pretty ridiculous thoughts that I find myself getting anxious about.

It's like the time I decided to build bridges out of toothpicks and suddenly everybody seemed to be doing that in their spare time or winning awards for being the best toothpick bridge-builder. Or the time (five years back) when I was considering becoming a pharmacist and everyone seemed to be considering becoming a pharmacist, was in pharmacy school, or was a pharmacist, leading me to temporarily believe that admission to pharmacy school was completely impossible because everyone was trying to get in. Or when I was getting married and everyone seemed to be getting married too.

This program is extremely important to me and I'm shelling out a lot of money to fulfill the pre-reqs. I am determined to focus on what I'm doing, do the best I can, and not pay attention to what other folks are or aren't thinking about doing. I know part of the reason it seems like everyone is interested in this path is because I've been focusing more on it and am in all the same places as these people. But how do I forget about them and just concentrate on me?

The more I'm in school, the less I study.

Ouisch — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:57:22 -0800

I can't or won't study. Please help me. I'm a 4th year undergrad student. I have a decent GPA, but nothing spectacular. In public school, I was an almost straight-A student, but it came naturally. I never had to study much, but I was also very responsible and able to hand in assignments on time, and at least cram decently for tests.

The longer I've been in university, the worse I've become about studying. It is to the point where I physically CANNOT seem to study for tests. The past couple of years, I have taken almost all of my midterms and finals without studying...at all. Aside from having done (some) of the basic coursework.

It is now getting to the point where I cannot do the basic coursework, either, and now I often skip taking exams and have to make them up later (I get a doctor's note.) I consistently turn in all my assignments late, if at all.

I have depression and anxiety, which obviously play into this issue. I am in therapy, have been for many years (CBT, IPT, gestalt), and I take medication. I am treatment-resistant, so this is a continual struggle. But I also wonder if there could be something else going on, or some way to address the studying problem directly.

I am often too afraid/overwhelmed/scattered to even open my agenda, or look at the course outline and figure out what needs to be done. I am often afraid to check my school email or the course website for announcements.

And I have a hard time sitting down to actually study or do assignments. I am continually jumping up to do something else, or feeling like I am going to fall asleep. I feel resentful about spending time studying -- like I am in jail for a crime I didn't commit. It doesn't help that I am a mature student with lots of work experience in my field under my belt, and taking courses sometimes feels like a ridiculous waste of my time. But I want this damn degree, and I need the professional qualifications.

I am also pretty disorganized much of the time, and it feels exhausting to have to clean off my desk/study area before I can even sit down to get to work. I try a lot to *get* organized, but it's often just temporary, or else I can't face getting started on it in the first place.

I continually abuse the internet as a way of escaping my obligations and attempting to lower my anxiety. I'm currently using Leechblock to help with this particular symptom.

When it comes to tests and exams, I feel I cannot study for them because I am so afraid I feel paralyzed. Once I'm *in* the exam, taking it, I'm fine and can pull answers out of my ass. But getting there is the problem. I am convinced I am going to fail every single test before I take it -- even though, 90% of the time, I pull off an A or B with little to no preparation.

I am at my wits' end with this. It's looking like I won't actually be able to finish my degree + minor, even though I only have seven courses left. I'd also like to, you know, actually absorb and even enjoy some of the things I'm learning.

I have tried so many things -- school counseling, private therapy, etc. I have never looked into ADD/ADHD, but I'm not sure if that applies to me. I have appointments with a learning specialist and my pdoc coming up, but I am wondering what fellow Mefites with similar studying issues have done to help themselves -- have you read good books, done a particular type of therapy, taken a certain medication, organized your study area in a certain way, or figured out some personal system that helps you to study when you feel you can't or won't?

I've also read the previous AskMes on similar topics a number of times, but feel free to point them out if there's something I missed.

are there legal substances that mimic (some of) the effects of cocaine?

krautland — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:37:39 -0800

are there legal substances that mimic (some of) the effects of cocaine? I recently came across the following paragraph in the may 4th issue of the new yorker:

To learn more about the biochemistry of addiction,
scientists in Australia dropped liquified freebase cocaine on
bees' backs, so it entered the circulatory system and brain.
The scientists found that bees react much like humans do:
cocaine alters their judgement, stimulates their behavior
and makes them exaggeratedly enthusiastic about things
that might not otherwise excite them.

obviously addiction, (overly) altered judgement and the unmentioned aggressiveness that goes with cocaine aren't attractive but that last bit struck me: I would love to find a substance that would help me get more excited about things that presently just don't.

I ask this not because I am looking for a party drug and I am not interested in ruining my health beyond reason (meaning I accept that chocolate has a negative effect on my body and still consume it but wouldn't put up with asbestos just because it kept me warm inside). the concept is interesting to me because every now and then I find myself stuck doing tasks that require concentration and motivation but produce little joy. I wished increased motivation and excitement would enable me to work harder on those. (most have to do with either coming up with creative ideas or executing them, so keeping my ability to concentrate is crucial here.)

so in essence I am looking for a mood enhancer or a motivator. something that will change me from "this is okay but I wish I could be doing something else" to "just two more hours before I go to sleep, this is so awesome I just have to finish this."

some parts of this question may be poorly articulated. feel free to fire away with questions should that be the case, I am still trying to wrap my own head around what precisely it is I am hoping for. I am perfectly fine with it requiring a prescription and me having to talk to a doctor (please do note though that I am not in the US when recommending specific substances) but anything that would get a police dog excited is not what I am looking for as their station is right around the corner.

Gaaaaaaaaaaah brain huuuuurts.

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:46:56 -0800

How can I extend my concentration for longer? I'm in a fix and have six weeks to prepare a lot of material for a doctoral exam. This involves lots and lots of reading. I can make it about 4 hours before my concentration is shot, but I need to squeeze in a couple extra hours a day. I already get quite a bit of exercise, so I'm not sure that will help, but what tips and tricks do you have to refresh your concentration when you need to poop some more work out--to put the brain-hurtiness at bay? I don't really have a choice here, due to my own poor planning.

No speculation on whether I can or should be doing this--I can and I have to and that's about it. Thanks.

I can't stop sleeping!!!

happydude123 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:21:23 -0800

Why am I always soo tired?? For some reason the past 2,3 weeks or so it seems that I am always tired. I sleep normally for about 8 hours (I know, plenty of sleep) yet I am always needing a mid-day nap. Sometime I get so drowsy, I am tempted to just fall asleep while reading. As aside, I am not depressed or anything like that. I take a multi-vitamina and fish oil suppliment + I workout 4 times a week and I am pretty healthy. If the problem continues and gets more serious I will know doubt ask my doctor. But I am just wondering if you guys had any solutions or could give me some insight as to what is wrong with me.

I was born in Dusseldorf and that is why they call me Rolf

grobstein — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:02:57 -0800

What Nazi concentration camp should I visit near Dusseldorf? (For a friend.) A friend will be in Dusseldorf, Germany, for a short period and would like to visit a Nazi concentration camp. From what I can tell, the only nearby choices are the minor camps of Hinzert and Breitenau. Has anyone been to either or both of these camps, or traveled from Dusseldorf to another camp that was interesting? Quick answers appreciated. Thanks!

My mind wanders too much. What's worked for you to make it stop?

jabronimus — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:10:15 -0800

My mind wanders too much. What's worked for you to make it stop? Hi everyone:

So, the question I posted above pretty much sums up my situation - my mind wanders too much, and I want to hear from other people who've had this same problem what they did about it and how they overcame it.

So, some background about me: I'm currently a 3rd year medical student at a fairly prestigious American medical school. All my life, I've been told I was smart - for elementary and middle school, I went to a private school where I was the top of my class, went to a "gifted" high school, and then went to a pretty good university for my undergraduate education. And now, I'm in medical school. So, I'm fairly confident that intelligence is not my issue.

However, I started to notice in middle school that I was having a hard time paying attention in class. I didn't have any trouble in my science and math classes, but I had a really hard time in my english/history/social sciences/foreign languages classes. I somehow did well in most of my classes (even the ones I had difficulty with), but this was a problem that carried on into my high school and college years.

So now, I'm in medical school, and believe me, it has been hell. There's so much to memorize, and my brain just seems to refuse to work with me. The problem got so bad that a year ago, I went to a psychiatrist who gave me a diagnosis of attention deficit, and gave me medications to help with my attention.

So, what's my problem? My problem is that the medications make me feel really sick, such as giving me a lot of unpleasant abdominal side effects. Plus, the medications don't help me concentrate that much, and they make me really anxious and depressed.

Plus, I kinda don't think I have an actual, clinically diagnosable case of attention deficit. The rate of attention deficit in the country is supposed to be something like 5%, so I really think it's doubtful that I would have been able to get as far as I have with a clinically diagnosable case of this disease. I think it's much more likely that I skated by on my intelligence for as long as I could while putting out a minimum amount of effort - and believed that it was "fine" for me to do so because everyone around me was telling me how smart I was. (If I'm smart, then I don't have to work hard, right?) I feel like I've never trained myself to concentrate as a person in my position needs to, since I've believed for so long that a person who's "smart" shouldn't have to work hard. (I also kinda believe that our technologically immersed culture has contributed strongly to the preponderance of attention deficit cases that we hear about these days, and I think that I'm no exception to that.)

So, back to the crux of the matter: has anyone else out there found any non-pharmacologic techniques to deal with this same problem? And if so, what were they? I've read a few good things about meditation (read carefully - that's meditation, NOT medication), which I've started to do a little of (even though I don't really know HOW to meditate). I figure that if Buddhist monks can train themselves to concentrate so intensely through this technique, then maybe it can work for me in some little way as well. But, I'm looking for any advice anyone can give to help me with this issue.

Thanks in advance, guys and gals!

How to focus when severely depressed?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:46:23 -0800

How can I focus when severely depressed? I'm a professional writer who suffers from severe depression. I can cope with most of it -- the medication side effects, the anhedonia, and I can manage through the worst lows without killing myself. But what I can't seem to do at all anymore is focus. I can't seem to concentrate on any one thing long enough to complete a significant task or make sense of the things I'm reading or basically anything I need to be able to do in order to do my job.

I'm looking for any and all suggestions about how to get my brain back to alert status, although without any drugs stronger than caffeine. Herbal remedies? I'll try 'em. Yoga positions? Fine. I exercise every day. I take the antidepressants. I feel like I'm doing everything I know how to do, but I just feel mentally sluggish about half the time, and in my job that's completely not okay. I can't phone in the work that I do, and so I'm getting more and more frustrated and feeling more and more helpless, which is causing a feedback loop in my brain that needs short-circuiting.

Here's what I'm not looking for. I'm not looking for amateur psychiatry -- I have a very competent doctor who's done as much as she can to fine-tune the medication that I take. I've been dealing with this crap for twenty years, and I'm pretty clear on the pharmacological side of things. I'm looking for life strategies, diet tips, behavioral changes, that sort of thing.

Thanks!

Can I chew away my ADHD?

sixcolors — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:50:20 -0800

Should I take nicorette gum for my ADHD? Has anyone tried nicorette to control ADHD? What are the side effects? What are the risks?

I am having a really hard time focusing. I had to discontinue my medication two years ago because I lost my health insurance. Without health insurance, Adderall would cost me almost $300. I know I could get generic Ritalin a lot cheaper, but I'm not crazy about Ritalin's side effects.

I tried alternative stuff like omega 3 and choline supplements, removing sugar from my diet, and gettting extra exercise. None of those things really help me, in fact, exercise sometimes make my ADHD worse.

I used to drink caffeinated beverages, it helped somewhat, but it caused me to have longer/painful periods. I don't want that!

How long is the average attention span?

cranberrymonger — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:44:38 -0800

What is considered a reasonable amount of time to be able to concentrate on one task? My job requires a lot of multi-tasking and I find it easy to quickly switch from one short task to another. Since working this job full-time for 18 months, I find it more difficult than ever to concentrate for extended periods of time.

Though I can read fiction for hours, I've always had difficulties focusing on anything 'mandatory' and I'm presently taking a course with a lot of readings. The articles are 20 + pages long and moderately dense - about average for most liberal arts degree type articles.

I read this thread which has a ton of great ideas about improving attention span but I want to know what I can reasonably expect of myself. I've heard people say they spend hours in the library reading and studying textbooks. Are they exaggerating? Are they reading every word? How long is the average attention span? How much time can I expect to devote to studying?

The interweb killed my attention span.

pseudostrabismus — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:41:51 -0800

I have the attention span of a gnat. I find it incredibly difficult to get any meaningful work done. I seriously cannot even get up from writing simply to change a CD without being distracted by something shiny and then falling into a two-hour timewarp and then I look up and it's 5pm and instead of working I'm brushing my cat and I still haven't even changed the damn CD, and nothing gets done.

I think my attention span fell apart for three reasons:

1. I went freelance and now have less external structure to keep me productive.

2. I got a laptop and now spend about 6 hours a day online, sometimes working, but more often clicking around the internet. The ability to keep switching my focus by clicking to a new page seems to have trained me to change mental channels constantly, and drastically shortened my tolerance for boredom. I read an assload of stuff online, and can easily get focussed on something interesting, but if it's boring... NEXT.

3. The work I do now is much harder than the old work.
I did okay when a prof or boss would give me an assignment and a deadline. I could just cough something up, revise it, and get it in on time and reasonably well-done, without caring too much. All my writing was a re-explanation of something I already knew or had just researched, no problem- there's pretty much a "right answer" for that kind of work, and the job is just to write the right answer with some finesse. That I can still do.

But now I'm trying to shift my work, so that I mostly write fictional things that I have to generate myself. There are so many possibilities, none are right or wrong, and just considering the ideas daunts me, let alone writing iterations of those choices. And I really want my writing to be perfect, so the easiest way to do that, obviously, is to procrastinate. There's no deadline, no accountability, and the work itself isn't fun. Sure, the reward of "having written something" is great, but the process of "writing something" kicks my ass.

This is the real problem, I think; how to kill the brain-imps who would rather I have a sparkling clean apartment and an unwritten screenplay forever?

I've read articles on many major productivity websites and the GTD book. They didn't really help. I would rather not go on prescription stimulants (even though I probably do have ADD). I have no substance abuse problems and I'm in excellent health.

So far, the best I can do is earplugs + coffee + a very granulated to-do list + a timer set for short increments of time (10 minutes) to keep me on-track in bite-sized amounts. Those work OK, but there must be more good tricks where they came from.

So hive, what do you do? How do you motivate yourself to work on rewarding long-term projects that are boring in the short-term? How do you avoid the sugar-high that is MeFi and the rest of the web, and focus on the insoluble fibre that is your pet project? How did you train yourself to have discipline?

Thanks.

"5 hour energy" product does more than keep me awake

Niomi — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:14:59 -0800

Lately I find myself using 5 hour energy product even when I'm not drowsy as it sees to significantly improve my ability to focus and socialize. Are there dietary supplements available that will give me the same effect in a more reliable manner? Is this safe? Will my body build a resistance to it? I started using this product to adjust to third shift serving. Now that my sleep schedule has adjusted to the difficulty that working these hours can create, I find myself using it even more frequently. I am more comfortable socializing and better at it, I'm happier to work and I work harder, I am much less likely to forget that you asked for extra napkins with your meal. The energy drinks at $4 a bottle are a little expensive to use once a work day never mind multiple times a day. Plus, as advertised, they only work for five hours. A page from the website (http://www.5hourenergy.com/ingredients.asp) suggests that a chemical called Citicoline may be responsible for increased mental facilities but some googling (admittedly my google-fu is pretty weak) doesn't turn up any way to take this as a dietary supplement. Caffeine may be part of the answer but using coffee or tea has not been nearly as effective as use of this product.

In a search of previous questions on energy drinks and similar problems with focus I read a lot of people advising that cutting out the drink entirely would result in more energy in the long-term. There are also a lot of people that suggest AD(H)D as a cause of this problem. These aren't the answers I'm looking for. If you want more information on the specific sorts of problems this product helps me with, there's a more detailed question in my profile from several months ago.

I can barely hear myself think!

Zé Pequeno — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:02:02 -0800

With all the comings and goings of housemates, my home is a veritable mental aslyum at the moment and I am finding it impossible to study. I absolutely must complete a literature review for my Masters thesis this evening or I am dead. Does anyone know somewhere here in Barcelona that is quiet, cosey, conducive to study AND open until very late? Bonus points if they serve coffee and have wifi. For what it's worth, I'm writing an economics paper on Mercosur and the possibility of it creating an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It involves looking at lots of complicated graphs, hacking through complex economics and finance jargon, etc. so I need absolute concentration.

Diversity/concentration measure for nonexclusive categories?

ROU_Xenophobe — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:20:05 -0800

Measures of diversity / fragmentation / concentration for nonexclusive categories? So I have data on the financial interests of legislators, and one of the too many things I want to do with them is look at the diversity, fragmentation, or concentration of industries represented in the legislature.

This is pretty trivial for occupations, because if your occupation is "Lawyer," it isn't "Farmer." So for occupation, you can (and people have) just used the Herfindahl index from econ. For those playing the home game, this is the sum of the squares of the market shares.

But I have financial interests. And you can get income from a law firm and income from a farm at the same time. This means that I can't directly use the Herfindahl index, because now the sum of the market shares isn't 100%, it's 105 or 120 or 150%.

So does anyone know of a standard method or summary statistic used to measure diversity or concentration where any individual observation can be in more than one category at the same time? Like, something used to measure linguistic diversity that allows people to speak more than one language, or something else canned?

I can think of ways around this -- modifying the Herfindahl, or doing factor analysis and counting the number of recovered dimensions. But if there's something well-specified and simple from another discipline, I'd prefer to use that.

I Have Poor Study Habits

girlthursday — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:00:57 -0800

Help me concentrate better. Okay here's the thing. I often find myself studying for an exam on the previous night or even a few hours before the exam. It's the feeling of urgency that drives me to study and focus on the materials. This is the same thing with writing papers and essays as well. The odd thing is, I almost always perform well. When I am not procrastinating, I find it unbearably difficult to concentrate and then I end up putting it off. I'm worried because I am studying for the MCAT and this is an exam I KNOW I will not do well if I fail to properly prepare myself.

It's compiling right now actually

ghost of a past number — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:25:22 -0800

How do you deal with a long compile time breaking your concentration? I'm working on a large LaTeX document that requires a compilation run of a couple of minutes. The whole text is split in smaller files that can be compiled individually, but I am currently on the final stages, where I do minor fixes and remake the entire build. Waiting for compilation is killing my productivity, as this break is ideal for things like checking MeFi.

Anyone have a good strategy to deal with this?

I need to improve problem solving skills and information processing skills

Niomi — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:13:04 -0800

I have concentration, focus, work efficiency, and motivation issues. I am much more motivated at this point in my life than ever before, but working inefficiently and focus issues make it difficult to sustain. I am looking for lifestyle changes, mental exercises, diet changes, and maybe an inexpensive over-the-counter supplements to help sharpen my problem solving and information processing skills. I take longer doing simple tasks than most people. Sometimes I just pay attention to detail more than is reasonable, most of the time I just loose track of time. I'm not sure what I'm doing differently than other people, it doesn't even seem like it's going more slowly for me until I have to reach a deadline or compare my work to other's. Something that feels like only a few minutes often ends up being 45 minutes.

I have an unusual amount of trouble remembering sequences, lists, tasks, whatever I need to remember. Such as when I had a job as a waitress it is often not an option or not reasonable to write everything down. (sure, I wrote orders down, but a lot of little things come up during this job. It requires extreme multitasking.)

I repeatedly make simple mistakes when it comes to math, problem solving, keeping track of items I have been using regularly in my work area, and even to a lesser extent motor skills. The amount of my mistakes are much more than the average person and are difficult for anyone working with me to manage; this has caused problems in work environments and my marriage. Due to a shrink evaluation when I was a child, I know for a fact I have a very low information processing speed, comprehension of 3D space and number facts.

I'm getting close to 19, this isn't an aging issue. With things like forgetting or making simple mistakes I don't know how to change my life because I don't even realize I've done something wrong until it is too late. Simply being more careful or checking over my work multiple times seems to be ineffective, I often make mistakes double-checking my work and think my original work was wrong when it was my pass-over that was wrong, or I if there is a mistake present I am just as likely to miss it during my double-checking.

The first thing most people recommend to me is medication or therapy. This isn't an issue of me being afraid of the medication or me wanting to hold up to some no-medication ideal, medication is literally just not a possibility right now, so please don't stress that I need to just see a shrink already. No matter how much it might be needed circumstances just won't provide for it right now. I am looking for lifestyle changes (physical exercise is the obvious answer, I'm working on it) mental exercise, diet changes, and maybe an inexpensive over-the-counter supplements (St. John's Wort isn't an option because it makes Birth Control ineffective. I've been taking Fish Oil and multivitamins with no real marked difference.) to help sharpen my problem solving and information processing skills.

I'm starting to develop the feeling that I'm failure on legs, the depression and anxiety resulting from this has only made the situation worse.

* Partial credit: "the guy in B7"

BaxterG4 — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:26:17 -0800

Does loud, distinctly heard cheering (not general crowd roar) "work"? Is it at least benign? I understand that a loud energetic (adoring) crowd gets you more pumped up and assume that's subjectively and objectively established. But does a single person yelling a particularly loud phrase help? Or does it maybe hurt?

Yelling during golf is verboten, but athletes in nearly every other sport praise concentration and focus just like golfers.

Most of my prided work is done with an Undo button nearby. And no cheering. But have you ever been performing and had your name yelled (or even just a general "go!" that was directed toward you) and felt a surge? Or distraction?

Looking for a great routine to start the day

vizsla — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:24:23 -0800

I'm looking for a morning routine to start my daily writing tasks (i.e. dissertation). The routine needs to be home-based, include a moderate exercise routine, shower and breakfast. The aim is to get me feeling heathly and eager to start a long day of creative concentration. I have an Ipod which I like to listen to while exercising. I have no exercise equipment but I am open to the possibility of buying some if it would really make things simple. I'm not looking to become superfit or muscular but of course wouldn't object to such side-effects if they met my main objective! Any advice on how to break up the day with exercise would also be great.

Exit Sandman

freya_lamb — Wed, 28 May 2008 07:57:33 -0800

Why does a lack of sleep make me markedly more efficient the next day? The night before last I didn't sleep much, just couldn't drop off til about 4am. I got up at 7.30am, hauled myself into work feeling like death and then proceeded to have the most productive day ever! Seriously, I was in the ZONE, got more work done in that day than in the previous week and a half. Today, following a fabulous night's kip - I'm back to easily distracted mode.

I've noticed this before - if, for whatever reason, I don't get much kip I'm much more able to concentrate the day after. This runs so counter to intuition/common sense I don't quite know what to make of it.

What's going on? And, more importantly how can I get into a similar state of mind without depriving myself of lovely Zs?

I can't concentrate! Help!

cgg — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:34:25 -0800

How do I get back into the mental groove? Got any tips on how to get back my focus and get things done when I've been thoroughly distracted and just can't get back into it? I'm a software developer, and well, writing code takes concentration and focus. I need advice on how to get that focus back, sooner rather than later, after I've been thoroughly distracted.

(A little bit of backstory, just to give an example: I was doing my geek thing, working on a project. Then I got roped into an work-related email conversation that's, well, pissed me right off and now I'm hurt and angry and trying really hard to just brush it off and get back to work. But nothing's working - i've completely lost my focus, I *need* to get it back, and am now using my precious weekly question to ask the nice MeFi people for advice!)