I’ve lost my ability to concentrate. I knew this before I started my time off, but thought it wasn’t so bad. Hey, maybe it’s actually a sign of being a good multitasker. Obviously, that is crap.
Now that I’m on sabbatical and I really need to concentrate. The external distractions I can deal with: shut off email and IM, take the editor full screen. What has me concerned is even with those tricks I still have a hard time. It’s me. My mind wanders. I think about of that other thing I was going to do; wonder what’s going on with that news thing that has no immediate bearing on me.
As Yoda said, “you must unlearn what you have learned.” I’m trying these things:
- Reading. Not blogs, but books. Business stuff is OK, but fiction is better. Best: dense science fiction — that requires concentration. I don’t view this as entertainment (which it primarily is) but exercise.
- Coding. Anything less than a three hour block of time is almost worthless. But once the Flow comes, it is sooo good.
- Watching lectures. The drier the better.
I’ll report back in a month if my concentration is any … wait, what was I saying?
I could have told you that. On the other hand, your experience should mean that you have trimmed many paths that you would have chased earlier.
Interesting Sef – I’m taking time off too and suffer the same problem. I can barely finished a headline before mentally wandering off. I’ve also been traveling though, so when i have time to be still in my home, i’ll see whether i can read a book cover to cover. Will let you know!
You might also want to look into setting up a personal kanban to track your personal projects as well. I find them invaluable.
Not germaine to your stuff, but with respect to coding in the context of establishing a family household, I find writing out specifications in a formal notation (something like Z) _really_ helps too. E.g., I know what I want, but how do I express it in a way that I can just glance at it three weeks from now and have a full context switch into coding mode? Z is compact and precise, allowing me to swap large amounts of mental context in a small amount of time.
Z notation also has the nice benefit that you can double-check your work (e.g., does this procedure match the expectations of that procedure?), improving the correctness of your code. But, that’s only if you’re interested in that kind of stuff — use TDD otherwise.
The important thing, though, is the use of the notation itself, and the act of writing the specs. It’s like shorthand for a court or meeting note-taker, only tailored for coding. OH, another benefit, you can use it while on the train. Computer not required.
Nice excuse to learn about z notation Sam, thanks.
If you’re looking for exercise to improve your concentration you should look into meditation. (zazen may be a good place to start for this)
Yeah, I consider that the “big guns.” Maybe…
Thought of you when I saw this: http://zenhabits.net/focused/
I suggest you begin a daily formal mindfulness routine. Nothing fancy, 10-15 mins will do.
I’ve been using the Headspace app from the guys at http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/
There are also lots of options out there in podcast form depending on what you’re going for.