

You're Distracted. This Professor Can Help - iProject
http://chronicle.com/article/Youre-Distracted-This/138079/

======
eddieroger
Alright, I managed to read it. I guess that makes me a hero in this thread.

The professor uses mediation to hone focus, then hyperfocusing on a task. It
sounds a lot like a fancy description of the Pomodoro technique, except that
the argument is that meditation can extend the amount of time we can give to a
task. The other central argument is that we can't actually multitask, and it
does more damage to try. The point of not being able to read a whole book
seems like bunk to me, though, since I read for recreation, and it takes the
amount of time it takes. I can't sit and read a whole book, just like I can't
sit and watch a whole season of a television show.

I don't buy in to Pomodoro since I think it hurts to force a time limit in
either direction, but I do believe that hyperfocus helps get tasks done. I
notice this most of all when coding. I will fall in to a deep zone and just
go. Eventually, something will bring me out of it (either hitting a wall, or
finishing a block of functionality, etc), and that's it for a while. I will
toggle out to Facebook or something and recover. Eventually, I'll go back.
This cycle has been successful enough for me, just not forced to 25 minute
blocks.

The one big point I did agree with is that, in a way, I have become a slave to
my phone. I react when it dings, without much respect for what I'm doing. Just
last week I disabled notifications for my work email, and have been much
happier. I still see the badge count, but that's under my control to check,
and I just don't. Same for desktop notifications - they're off. As important
as I like to think I am, my email can wait, and I'm starting to think the same
way about social notifications, although they are still more sparse and don't
really hurt my focus.

~~~
shardling
I found meditation really did help me a _lot_ in graduate school. And I'm
talking only 5 to 10 minutes a day.

It shouldn't be so surprising that an ability to concentrate is a skill that
can be improved, and that the best way to improve a skill is to directly
practice it!

> The point of not being able to read a whole book seems like bunk to me,
> though, since I read for recreation, and it takes the amount of time it
> takes. I can't sit and read a whole book, just like I can't sit and watch a
> whole season of a television show.

I don't that's what the article refers to -- it's finishing the book at all,
not just in one sitting.

~~~
bjf
> It shouldn't be so surprising that an ability to concentrate is a skill that
> can be improved, and that the best way to improve a skill is to directly
> practice it!

This is an important point that I feel many students do not understand. In my
experience most people view focusing as a natural ability that you either have
or you don't. I agree that one can be predisposed to getting distracted, but
as with many predispositions, it can be overcome with some effort.

------
crusso
The article is really long for a subject that might interest people who have
difficulty focusing for long periods of time.

~~~
zxcdw
For this exact reason I closed all the other tabs, closed my phone and made my
browser fullscreen. It went well, but about halfway I kept grabbing my phone
just to force myself to put it away.

I think I need help. :/

~~~
vanderZwan
Acknowledging it is a first step. Also, this is another layer of distraction
removal:

<http://readable.tastefulwords.com/>

~~~
yareally
Removing the clutter is a good solution. I've been doing that for a while to
make it easier to read, but I didn't think about it having the side effect of
eliminating distractions.

I use viewtext (similar results to the parent's solution, but less
customizations).

<http://viewtext.org>

------
10098
I read it just to prove myself I don't suffer from distractitis. Alas, while
reading I:

* had an urge to check facebook

* had an urge to check e-mail

* had an urge to check linkedin

* though "man, this is too long, maybe I should read it later"

It's scary how I don't even notice these urges and just act on them when doing
other, more important tasks.

~~~
ams6110
I find it's a lot easier to get through longer articles if I print them and
don't try to read them on-screen. Something about reading from a physical
piece of paper really makes it easier to focus. You can't ALT-TAB to another
application. No alert popups from your chat client. You can underline, make
notes in the margin, etc. which also helps.

~~~
purplelobster
Just curious, I just can't understand how underlining in different colors and
taking notes in the margin helps anything. I recall trying to take notes in
university classes, but I just stopped, since taking notes at the same time as
listening to a lecture makes it difficult to follow the lecture (that you're
there for in the first place). In the end, I didn't take notes for 4.5 of the
5 years I was in school, and had good grades. But maybe it just worked for me?

------
14113
I'm currently at uni, studying computer science. I can very much relate to the
problem of being unable to read a book to completion, however I fundamentally
disagree with the reasons given in the article. In my experience, it's not a
problem of attention, but simply that I don't have the time to read. I love
reading, and wish I had more time to read; pre-uni I read, or programmed in my
spare time, but now I'm at uni I find that how my time is distributed has
fundamentally changed. today, my time is split between the masses of
coursework I have, societies (computing, music and sport), and sleeping. I
personally think that it would be far more powerful to study a group of young
people who have far more time and fewer commitments. I sometimes feel that my
generation has some of the highest commitments and workloads ever which is,
admittedly, compounded by different forms of media, and this is really what is
damaging the skill of long form reading.

just my 2c

~~~
zxcdw
If it is honestly true that you simply _don't have enough time_ because there
are too many tasks with higher priority no including just leisuring time on
Facebook or HN, then to me it sounds like you are a person with outright great
time management abilities. For me, I spend 90 % of my free time doing
completely useless stuff like browsing HN many times a day, hanging out in
IRC, chatting on Skype etc. and it feels that I can't get things done which I
should, and even would want to. This includes reading some books which
interest me, programming and general tinkering with things which _once_ used
to be the most interesting thing for me.

My point being, for someone who can manage their time almost perfectly,
perhaps reading a book is just about managing the time, but for us who
can't... It's not so simple. :(

~~~
14113
I will admit, I don't manage my time tremendously; I get up late, I go to bed
late. However, the time in between is spent doing the things I mentioned
before, not on idly flicking between youtube, facebook etc.

I'm not sure - I may suffer from the same problem the article is describing,
but I definitely feel that reducing (or changing) the workload (at least the
mental workload) would allow me to manage my time better.

------
redmattred
I almost made it half way through the article before I went to go check the
comments about it on Hacker News!

~~~
gre
We need a hero. Will someone please read the whole thing?

~~~
greetings
I did. It is a good read.

------
graeme
I've found the pomodoro methods helps with this. As the top comment mentions,
this may be a crutch, but for me it's a useful crutch.

I've found one other tool helps. Some tasks don't require internet. For those,
I unplug my router for the 25 minutes the task requires.

The added barrier of physically restarting the internet removes the temptation
to check email etc. and means I expend less willpower while doing the task.

------
shocks
I am in this thread instead of working.

D:

------
jere
Sorry, a distraction: is anyone else reminded of the copper bowl in Anathem?

