
Ask HN: How to stay focused? - lnalx
There are a lot of distraction to stay focused and be productive today.<p>Some tends to &quot;cheat&quot; with smart-drugs like Modafinil to be on top of performance.<p>What&#x27;s your tip to avoid this non-productiveness?
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sharmi
Having enough sleep so that you wake up refreshed helps. Imagine trying to
develop the next google/facebook/whatever with lots of toxic chemicals
floating in your brain!

Drink some of water when you wake up to hydrate yourself. We often mistake
thirst for a desire to eat or restlessness. So eating or moving around often
does not fix it. Keep a bottle of water nearby always.

Exercise also provides a great start to your day but o ly if you are well
rested.

If there are lots of ideas circling in you head, it is time to pull them out
and put them all on a list. Then prioritize what you need to do first. This
removes mental clutter and give you room to work. It helps a lot if the last
thing you the at the end of the day is to plan for the one thing you will do
next day. This way you will wake up knowing how your day is going to be. This
avoids decision fatigue early in the day. The todo should ideally be one or
two and no more than three.

If you still find yourself distracted, it is because of some uneasiness that
stems inside you. Find its source. Maybe the task you are supposed to be doing
is vague or daunting, or you do not believe what you are doing is the best
approach. Or the project is not what you expected it to be and you would
rather spend your efforts on something more deserving. Whatever it is,
identifying it is half the problem. Even a single step in the direction of
fixing it can give you hope and energy to chug forward.

Meditation is also recommended as a great way to practice focus and
introspection but I have not made a habit of it yet. Maybe soon.

~~~
sharmi
Another thing you could do is keep two different logins in your laptop. One as
a work profile in which you only work and another as an entertainment profile.
So when you log in to your work profile, that becomes a ritual for you to get
into work mode and browser new tabs and the title bar don't give you
suggestions that can distract you. (Though hacker news falls into both for me
and trips me)

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wapz
When I'm determined to do something I believe making a list is the most
effective way to get work done. If I can make a concise, well-divided list of
tasks I want to complete for the day I almost always complete it before the
day's up. I personally just use a notebook and pen and write the list
everyday. There are times when a list item is way beyond the scope of what you
originally imagined and that's okay. Do what you think is a good amount for
the day (sometimes nothing), and continue it the next day (split up into
smaller tasks).

In addition, there are other 30 minute work 'sprints' to keep you focused (I
don't know these 'gimmicks' but they seem to be very effective for many).

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afarrell
* Write out your task explicitly. Break things down into steps explicitly

* Write out the "why" of the task to help you efficiently resolve ambiguities.

* If it is a complex task, take some time to just spend writing down and resolving ambiguities explicitly.

* Pair program, or at least work alongside others who are working.

* Get 9 hours of sleep on a regular schedule.

* Exercise for 30 minutes in the morning or when you feel frazzled.

* If feeling frazzled, meditate. Sit down comfortably and focus on your breath and nothing else. When you notice yourself thinking about something else, gently guide your mind back to your breath.

* Block distracting websites using [https://selfcontrolapp.com/](https://selfcontrolapp.com/) or [https://freedom.to/](https://freedom.to/)

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nxsynonym
"Eat the Frog First"

Knock out the most daunting/hardest/most stressful task first. For me that
usually involves phone calls (yay social anxiety). First thing I do every
morning is make sure all my phone correspondence is taken care of, that way I
don't keep putting it off all day.

For general focus trouble - meditation works wonders. After getting the basics
down you will be able to clear unwanted thoughts from your brain as easy as
you swipe-up to close iphone apps.

Also this is personal so YMMV, but I realized my morning coffee was more habit
than useful. Since I started skipping my morning cup I'm less jittery, less
tired after noon, and the one cup I do drink makes a much bigger difference.

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cylinder
What about actually just remaining committed to one thing, that type of focus?
I feel like a different person every day / week. As if my brain just
completely resets and everything I thought I planned last week now seems
foreign and I start all over again.

That type of focus, not energy / fatigue related focus, I struggle with.

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PatentTroll
I don't find modafinil (or the non-prescription adrafinil) to help with focus,
per se, but nooopept certainly does. Beyond that, I say embrace the
distraction and indulge in it fully, then pretty soon it loses its luster and
it's easier to get back on track later.

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sjg007
It's not clear that procrastination is bad per se. Drugs and escapism might
be. But imagine the future and work to it.

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tixocloud
Chanting, self-reflection and developing my inner purpose.

With chanting comes the wisdom to exercise, have enough sleep and live a
healthy, lifestyle while also being able to declutter my mind and build my
inner core energy.

That for me has been the single most defining activity that has transformed my
life. I work full-time, I do household chores and I continue to work on my
startup and when many asked how I've been able to do it, it all starts with
chanting.

