Got any concentration tips?

[ProxyAmenRa]

I finished writing a 20000 word report last week. My ability to concentrate on anything for extended durations had diminished immediately after that report was completed. Everything has become so god damn boring, I can't sit still and I feel like destroying my surroundings. I have numerous more reports to finish and time is a limiting factor.

I'm in a bind. My schedule does not allow for wasted time. Do you have any tips on how to remedy the situation?


Edit: In conjunction with my diminished ability to concentrate and the relative lack of interest in anything, my want to connect with others has increased but I find most people just so damn boring. Perhaps, the stress of that last report has caused a chemical imbalance.

 

[Dormouse]

Ha. Ha.

I'm sorry, I'd answer but I'm supposed to be writing an essay...

...

*youtubes*

 

[nexion]

I finished writing a 20000 word report last week. My ability to concentrate on anything for extended durations had diminished immediately after that report was completed. Everything has become so god damn boring, I can't sit still and I feel like destroying my surroundings. I have numerous more reports to finish and time is a limiting factor.

I'm in a bind. My schedule does not allow for wasted time. Do you have any tips on how to remedy the situation?

Story of my life.

You won't find many good concentration tips from me. I can't even concentrate enough to go to sleep at a decent time even when I'm tired. I do have one thing, however: Soft music, or, for greatest effect, slow instrumental music, always helps (well, usually, anyway) to either curb boredom or get rid of the feeling of basically destroying everything. Trust me, it sometimes happens to me. Not much I've honestly ever been able to do about it, but wait it out. Alternatively, I suppose any high-energy activity sustained for an hour or two will work miracles.

What I need infinitely more than help concentrating is some reason to be sufficiently motivated to do excellent in anything rather than simply good.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

I hope my current predicament does not last as long as a life time. It would be frustrating to be so frustrated for so long.

I could go for a run, high energy activity as you suggest. Though, time not working is time lost. On that note I am in a situation of diminishing returns. Therefore, a run it is.

---

I want to change professions.

 

[DesertSmeagle]

haha damn. I know what your talkin about. You procrasintate the paper, and then in an explosion of energy, pour all of your focus and energy onto the paper all at once, and get that shit done..

Whenever this happens to me, i feel like i just woke up and the world becomes real again. Go eat some food, or drink some caffeine. Or just go outside. or take a long shower.

 

[nexion]

I hope my current predicament does not last as long as a life time. It would be frustrating to be so frustrated for so long.

I could go for a run, high energy activity as you suggest. Though, time not working is time lost. On that note I am in a situation of diminishing returns. Therefore, a run it is.

---

I want to change professions.

I know exactly how you feel.

True, running may be wasting work time, but if you were to actually think about it, the prospect of working fully unhindered after a run, I'm fairly positive, will save much more time in the long run (I didn't mean for that pun to be present, I hate puns) than continuing to semi work.

Oh... I never read the last sentence in that paragraph. Seems you already understand exactly what I just said.

I could easily go into a rant about how much I hate the feeling that you are in right now (as, said previously, I am often in that feeling myself) but I feel such would be an entire waste of time, considering you obviously already know.

 

[The Gopher]

wait a sec your in australia and you just finished a 20000 word report last week? ahh where are you generally?

 

[Marlene]

Take regular breaks. Set a timer if you need to.

The intense concentration and narrow focus needed for essay writing are stressful for someone who naturally wants to follow tangents.

 

[Cognisant]

Don't think of it as work.

But I suppose that's like saying: don't think of elephants.

Spoiler

Don't even think about it.

 

[bloozie]

Listen to some liquid dnb.

 

[Ska]

Take regular breaks. Set a timer if you need to.

The intense concentration and narrow focus needed for essay writing are stressful for someone who naturally wants to follow tangents.

This.

If you are trying to focus on something that you don't naturally want to do you should make sure that the majority of your other activities are things that you naturally want to do and don't take much conscious effort to advert yourself from doing. With each activity that you force yourself to do it becomes harder to do another activity that you have to force yourself to do. My psych teacher compared this "function" of the brain to a muscle in the sense that it gets tired after a while and needs time to rest.

Alternatively, if drugs are your thing or if you need to get this stuff done, I would highly recommend some speed. That shit is the miracle drug I tell you (solely speaking of the productive benefits...it could also be a miraculously negative...I don't know). Imagine any tangent your mind wants to wander off into....boom! That was the sound of the medication snapping you back to reality. "Focus on the task at hand," it says...

Seriously, if you can get your hands on that stuff, it works wonders.

 

[Trebuchet]

Everything has become so god damn boring, I can't sit still and I feel like destroying my surroundings.

It sounds like you might be burned out. For me, at least, symptoms include cynicism and insomnia, as well as the sort of violent apathy you describe.

I would recommend more exercise, good nutrition, and happy experiences. They couldn't possibly hurt, after all. And they do always help me with concentration, especially if I am burned out.

This advice sounds really banal, but I genuinely do think it would help. Good luck.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

I could be burnt, I won't dispute the hypothesis. Micromanaging people is not fun.

Thank you for all your replies.

wait a sec your in australia and you just finished a 20000 word report last week? ahh where are you generally?

Brisbane, Australia and yes, I finished a 20000 word report last week.

I was tempted to write down my exact address but that would be somewhat foolish.

 

[RubberDucky451]

I find playing music with a very steady beat helps keep me focused. A steady repetitive bass is a must.

 

[nexion]

No no, you need some good, light, instrumental post-rock. Get your hands on as much of the stuff as possible.

 

[Mello]

I'm listening to post-rock right now and I was thinking about starting a thread asking how to concentrate.

I think doing my homework on the bed makes it easier to concentrate.

 

[The Gopher]

I could be burnt, I won't dispute the hypothesis. Micromanaging people is not fun.

Thank you for all your replies.




Brisbane, Australia and yes, I finished a 20000 word report last week.

I was tempted to write down my exact address but that would be somewhat foolish.

well very close but not the same person besides I checked and his not you

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

well very close but not the same person besides I checked and his not you

Is his name Christopher by any chance?

---

Running into someone you know from the 'real world' on the internet would be quite unsettling.

 

[The Gopher]

no sorry wrong guy heheh

In running into someone you know from the 'real world' on the internet would be quite unsettling.

yeah it would be.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

A mutual acquaintance of mine produced a similar size report and has an INXP girlfriend.

 

[The Gopher]

I think I only know one female INXP and no wouldn't be conected I am curious to your location now.

 

[lafmeche]

I skipped over most of this thread because

1. I'm having trouble concentrating enough to even read the damn thread.
2. I'm at work and should not be wasting time like I am.

Anyway, I struggle with concentration problems, and they're (usually) caused by complete lack of interest in what I'm doing. Most school work and 'work' work is just plain not interesting. I want to be learning cool stuff or solving unique/interesting problems, but that's unfortunately not how the world works.

Generally, how I deal with it is by fighting my procrastination habits until I hit what my subconscious mind considers 0-hour, then I go into some kind of super-human OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING mode and crank out the work. These kind of deadline pressures tend to be the only real motivator for me anymore if the work isn't actually important or interesting.

(By actually important, I mean that it would have some kind of meaningful impact on something that matters, not so I can get an imaginary number grade that will be forever meaningless after I land my first job.)

Edit: Borrowed this from the 'You know you're an INTP' thread..

11. You can get a lot done, as long as they're the stuff you're not meant to be doing.

That's another motivator for me: I run out of other things to do and start working on the least painful of my projects, even if it's also the least important.

 

[JarNew]

Yeah, go to a concentration camp

OMGLOL