
Ask HN: I lost my ability to focus for hours on coding. How to regain? - codesternews
I lost my ability to focus. I check social media and youtube frequently while doing work. If I do not do that I feel some void and feeling of losing out(I do not know how to express this).<p>How to regain my focus and avoid this trap?
======
MaulingMonkey
There's a lot of factors that might go into this. If you're hungry, sleepy,
undersocialized, unkempt, unfit, depressed, in a loud, messy, and distracting
office, with unclear and unexciting goals, large monolithic tasks without
clear breakdowns on how to move forward, constrained by slow tools,
management, or blocked on dependencies... well, it'd be no wonder you wouldn't
want to work!

Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise. Dress for success. Socialize, integrate with
the team, find the goals that will motivate you - be that helping out your
work buddies, or building that sweet new piece of technology.

You want to have energy, health, mood, and motivation. When any of these
suffer, your work suffers too.

Don't be afraid to use whatever tools you have at your disposal to cut out
distractions and inhibit bad habits, but don't tyrannize yourself either.
Working 8 hours straight isn't necessarily your most productive option.
Consider scheduling breaks - but use your tools to limit your distractions
outside of said breaks. Find a balance that will let you keep your mood up
while also getting good work done.

~~~
unmole
> Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise. Dress for success.

One of these is not like the others. I can understand emphasis on dressing up
in contexts that involve _selling_ \-- a product, an idea or even yourself.
But what does it have to do with focus?

~~~
MaulingMonkey
It doesn't necessairly need to be "dressing up" per se.

But if you're showing up to work poorly shaven, wearing stained sweatpants -
you're going to be at least a little more self concious, a little less self
confident. Nobody's going to lift your mood with "hey, looking sharp!". It's
going to reflect in your body language, and the body language in your peers,
even if it's largely on a subconcious level.

It's potentially the difference between being ready to walk to lunch, or a
meeting, or an interview at a moment's notice - ready to actually tackle the
work and the day - vs being ready to go to bed at a moment's notice.

------
DennisP
This is a common problem. The book _Deep Work_ goes into it in detail, and has
some research-based techniques to fix it. Basically it boils down to removing
distractions, and determination, gradually building up your brain's ability to
focus again.

[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X47ZVXM](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X47ZVXM)

~~~
01100011
If I try eliminating distractions, I just end up daydreaming. I spend most
days at work just reading the same shit over and over with nothing sticking. I
manage to get work done in rare bursts after exhausting my brain with
distractions.

Fwiw, I'm in my mid 40s and have less than a year of treating my sleep apnea.
I'm pretty sure I've had ADHD my whole life but blamed other things until
recently. I'm trying to resist getting medicated, but I think I might it to
get me focused enough to work on CBT and meditation.

~~~
sys_64738
Don't medicate but challenge yourself. Learn a new editor while doing your
job. Try using Windows instead of using a Mac. Try typing only left handed.
There are varioud challenges to overcome boring assignments. Also try a
standing desk so if you skive then you must stand up for fifth teen mins.

~~~
internet_user
the worst advice ever.

If you have medical issues - take care of medical issues in the best way
possible.

Challenging yourself = denying yourself treatment.

Challenging yourself is not a treatment for something like sleep apnea.

~~~
bobydonahue
Yes but the evidence for ADHD is dubious. We have a long way to go when it
comes to understanding the human mind. Anyone, not just people with ADD, can
increase their performance with narcotic stimulants. Just don't be
disingenuous about it.

~~~
adamzk
Just because ADHD is poorly understood and often diagnosed incorrectly does
not make it any less debilitating to those who have it and certainly does not
imply that they are not in need of medication. Yes the medication can be
abused by those who don't need it to get an edge. This is what makes it a
controlled substance. Opiates can be abused too and have the same effect on
everybody. The difference is that people in server pain need opiates to
function at a baseline normal level. People with ADHD need medication to
function at a baseline normal level. The fact that some people abuse them to
go beyond that is completely irrelevant

~~~
existencebox
> People with ADHD need medication to function at a baseline normal level.

This statement is so out of line I had to chime in. I was diagnosed with ADHD
as a child. I was medicated for a few years, before I stopped taking the pills
without telling my parents (they were being pressured by the private school I
was in to medicate, I was kicked out shortly after they found out I had
stopped.)

Those years are a complete empty window in my memory, and left me with
physical ticks that _decades_ later I still have to suppress, alongside no
actual tools for dealing with the symptoms.

Medication is not a silver bullet. Not all ADHD cases need to be medicated.
Find what works for you, whatever the hell that is, and don't listen to dogma.
For me that was coping mechanisms combined with a realization that much of the
"attention deficit" was because I _didn't want to pay attention to the shit I
was supposed to_ and _that's completely reasonable._ To insinuate that I
haven't tractably found success ("baseline normal") with a non-medicative
approach in my life is frankly insulting.

~~~
internet_user
1) have you ever had psychometric testing done? 2) what are you non-medication
coping techniques?

Genuinely interested in hearing your story.

~~~
existencebox
1\. I might have when I was initially going through a ream of behaviorists,
but I'd be lying if I said I recalled, this was around/after 3rd grade.

2\. In large part, reminders. Notes, lists, alarms (calendar/phone alarms for
_everything_, watering plants to finishing work shit), behaviorally trained
prompts, anything to disrupt the "mental feedback loops" where I can find
myself "unconciously" falling into something like tearing at my fingernails,
reading HN, playing video games, or really any of the infinite things I'll
come up with to not do what I should be doing.

e.g. even right now writing this, I'm being pinged to go back to reading PRs:
after years of having automated browser alerts going "hey you shouldn't spend
time in this video game/on hn, it's been 20 minutes and you have nothing to
show." my brain has picked that up and is able to do it on its own. I found
that hard blocking didn't work since I'd just find ways around it, but if I
can remind myself this is something I _want_ in any way from pragmatism
(mortgage) or emotional (getting wife nice things) whereas the games/Hn are
actually _unwanted_ (despite what the dopamine might say) it's easier to force
myself to focus on something I don't want, even in bursts. (getting myself to
internalize and BELIEVE those facts took years and I still fight with
sometimes when willpower is low.)

This was a bit of a ramble, and I'd be remiss to mention that the motivation
to use the prompts would be missing without the philosophical context I assign
to the things I do. (Disclaimer: I recognize not all people can use this
technique, I simply use the fact that I have strong long-term motivations
against my bad short-term focus) I mentioned it in passing (mortgage, wife,
etc) but really finding things I _WANT_ and using my brain's likelihood to
fixate on those, especially in periods of distraction, I can tie those things
back to what I SHOULD be doing and create a virtuous cycle. Contrivedly:
Distracted looking out a window at garden. Fuck, I can't afford this garden if
I don't go back to coding. (Dang, this HN post is getting long. Better get
back to work so I don't work late today and can spend time with the wife when
she gets home :) )

------
satokema_work
The real trap is feeling like you need to be focused eight hours a day when
it's not strictly needed.

There's an occasional crunch where I have to heads down get something done,
but in that case there is actual motivation to be heads down and get things
done.

I find a due date way more motivating than a mere thought of "I should be
working...".

Overall, if I'm not already focused in, it's because it's something not as
important as other things in my life.

------
benttoothpaste

      echo "127.0.0.1 facebook.com twitter.com ycombinator.com youtube.com" >> /etc/hosts

~~~
MaulingMonkey
Windows Edition (admin command prompt):

echo 127.0.0.1 facebook.com twitter.com ycombinator.com
youtube.com>>"%WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"

------
jakegold
Momentum!

At least for me, productivity requires momentum and being at a standstill
feels like quite a hurdle. So at least at first, work on something you're
really excited about. Something that won't feel like work. It could be a small
project you couldn't otherwise really justify spending time on, but do it
anyway. Visualize the end result, get yourself excited, and finish it.

Once you've gained some speed you should be able to tackle other tasks and
projects. Social media will start to seem less compelling than it does now.

~~~
afarrell
The browser extension named Momentum is also useful for this.

------
julienreszka
I had that issue two months ago. I digged into my calendar and found out
that's when I stopped going to the swimming pool, doing enough physical
exercise.

It's old knowledge but : "A Healthy mind needs a healthy body" stays true.

~~~
01100011
I tried exercise, and now that's all I want to do. Ugh...

~~~
RandomInteger4
I know that feeling; it's addictive, because it feels so good. Make sure to
take rest days, otherwise you might injure yourself from not giving the
muscles and tendons enough time to repair.

------
addcn
When this happened to me I got a ton of advice (similar to what’s been written
by other posters) and it was all great.

But to make any of it to stick I had to stop thinking of my productivity as
some intellectual problem and myself as the master of my attention.

You’re not in control of most things. You’re trying to steer an elephant.
Accept it, it’s easier and it’s true.

Then — with a slightly more realistic view of yourself set up processes and
guardrails to keep your brain in line. Stimulus control sounds like a good
first step. Check out StayFocused for Chrome and then delete all other
browsers.

Add or remove one thing a week until you’re where you want to be. Good luck.

~~~
avtar
I came across this discussion and this video recommendation one after the
other :)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu4Yvq-g7_Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu4Yvq-g7_Y)

------
dorkwood
I've had this happen before. For a six-month period I was able to finish my
day's work and then head home and spend another 3-4 hours focusing on my own
stuff. After having a three-week vacation, I lost this ability. I couldn't
focus anymore. I was back to being a regular person.

Things I did to get my focus back:

One is that I introduced sugar/caffeine back into my diet. Drinking a sugary,
caffeinated beverage improves my ability to concentrate significantly. While
this might not be right for you, you might find that some of your other
dietary choices are affecting the supply of glucose to your brain.

Another is routine. If you had the ability before, you can get it back again.
One thing that helped me return to my groove was listening to the same music I
used to listen to while concentrating. Having an album in the background on
repeat can work wonders. Maybe there are some other important concentration
triggers that you need to tap into.

Lastly, maybe your work just isn't that interesting. Rediscover what things
you actually want to be working on. Get excited about something again.

------
afarrell
Use tools such as SelfControl.app, ColdTurkey.app, and Freedom to block
websites.

Some people will claim that is a crutch. Thats a great analogy because
crutches help you get things done while you heal.

~~~
SyneRyder
Focus is another one I really like on the Mac - it replaces websites with a
different quotation each time:

[https://heyfocus.com/](https://heyfocus.com/)

On Windows, I add websites to the hosts file as others have suggested: HN and
Google News are the main ones, I gave up FB long ago.

Doing this still doesn't get you back on track coding / focusing, but it
helps. The idea is to break your habit of visiting distracting sites - where
these apps help - but also build a habit of work. The more you make it a
habit, the easier it becomes over time.

------
Darmody
I have a similar problem which is ruining my life. Not only I cannot focus on
my work, I cannot focus on anything. I'm throwing my degree and my life down
the toilet.

There's no light at the end of the tunnel right now. It's the worst feeling
I've ever experienced. I know what I should do but I can't.

~~~
chachan
what if you try to focus on something that you really want to do and not on
something you have to do?. i.e. Plan to visit a new country and work from
there a couple of weeks. Something that I did when I felt like that is check
all the meetups around town and meet really interesting people that ended up
being good friends and help me to see things with a different point of view

~~~
afarrell
FYI, planning a trip to a new country is a pretty Executive Function intensive
task. As an immigrant and frequent traveler, I would say this could be a bit
Hard Mode.

------
jmkni
It sounds trivial, but I find a pen and notepad to be helpful.

I write down a list of tasks I want to accomplish that day, and then tick them
off as I go. Once I get to the end of the list, I'm done for the day and can
have a beer (or go to the gym, depending on the day) :).

Then the next day it's rinse/repeat.

------
halleonard
Recognize that your FOMO (fear of missing out) is greatly amplified by social
media and that using it only makes the situation far (far) worse, leading to
more distraction, leading to more social media use, which feeds right back
into the vicious cycle.

Learn to live without social media -> watch your life improve.

It's as simple as that.

Delete your accounts, including Twitter. Find other ways to stay connected to
timely information. Treat it as a good challenge that you _can_ succeed at, as
something that will make you stronger and healthier in the end.

------
nix0n
Changing the color scheme in your editor can make your work seem novel again.

Electronic music also helps me, but this is counterproductive for some.

~~~
mojuba
Yep, good underground techno mixes at 125 or higher bpm can give you the drive
and concentration you need for extended periods of time.

My coworkers usually get a slight shock when they learn what kind of music I
have in my headphones during work, being a 50 year old guy :)

~~~
stephenwithav
Do you have a public playlist?

~~~
pureliquidhw
Digitally Imported is pretty great. I've subscribed for years alongside
Spotify and prefer it for set and forget playback of a genre of electronic
music. Spotify is for specific playback and discovery.

There may be a free trial, and I think there is a free tier with ads if you
can tolerate them.

------
tomlagier
For me, this means that a) I am not interested in my work, b) I am tired, or
c) I am burnt out. All of these can be greatly helped by getting some good
sleep, and a + c can be helped by having some fun - especially social or
physical activity somewhere new (weekend trip, drinks with friends, etc).

You can try and force yourself to focus with tools and mental tricks, but that
always seems to make me feel worse. Better to get at the root cause, which is
almost always stress or physical exhaustion.

------
elliekelly
I had a similar issue recently and during one of my many afternoons dicking
around on the internet to avoid work I actually found a solution that worked
surprisingly well: FocusMate.com

It's kind of like chat roulette (before it got weird) for study buddies. I'll
admit the premise is a bit odd butt don't knock it until you've tried it.
Essentially, you're paired with a random partner for a 50 minute mostly-silent
video chat. You spend the first minute or two saying a quick hello and each
definitively stating what you're going to accomplish in the hour and then you
get to work (separately - they're very clear it's not for collaboration). When
time is up you both report back on whether you did what you set out to do. And
while you get to work the corner of your screen has a little live stream of
your partner diligently working.

Not only does it help keep me "accountable" and working pretty efficiently for
the full 50 minutes but it's also made me so much better/more realistic about
estimating what can be accomplished in that time.

------
jhare
I had to completely clear my mind of the past, and of what others may think of
my project/code. It's a brand new day, you're breathing, you can truly work on
whatever you want.

When I'm hot on a new video game, I can't wait to fill the most immediate next
hours on doing it. What was that for you at some point? I enjoyed QBasic in
gradeschool and revisiting after years in the field was really fun.

Whatever that code is, I suggest pursuing it even if it's not

a) something everybody on here says we need to be doing

b) related to your dayjob

c) related to that "big project" that you need to do perfectly

I wish you the best.

P.S. strike perfectionism out of your mind

P.P.S: Practically look into using the Pomodoro Method

P.P.P.S: Either start or stop doing drugs. Or see a board-certified medical
professional if you think that would be dope. It is.

edit: formatting as always

------
Raphmedia
Could something else trigger your distractions and then spiral you into out of
topic behaviours?

In my case, that's a chatty coworker. Every time he yanks me out of my flow, I
get the urge to check social networks and have a really hard time going back
to deep work.

------
scotty79
The problem is you mixed work with other things and since other things are
less boring and less challenging your brain escapes to them semi-
automatically.

Quick and dirty hack is change your surroundings. Go to another room, sit at
different desk, on different chair, on a different clean computer (with
different os?). Don't open any of your usual distractions there. Block them in
hosts file (don't even check if you blocked them successfully).

You'll regain bit of your focus. At least till you leatn to slack off there
too.

------
ncmncm
This happened to me.

The void feeling is Depression. Youtube distracts from it, but reliance on
distractors is only a symptom.

There are many kinds of depression, distinguished first and foremost by what
treatment works on each.

That is the reason that "gold standard" double-blind trials fail to find that
anti-depressants work. Imagine if you couldn't distinguish a broken arm from a
broken leg, a broken humerus from a broken ankle. Trials of a cast on the left
lower leg help only a few people, on the right only a few; left upper arm,
right forearm, yada yada. "Casts are ineffective!"

Take the wrong meds, nothing happens. Take the right one, miracle!

There is no shame in medicating a problem: "If you can't make enough of your
own serotonin, store-bought is fine."

It is entirely possible that losing 50 pounds, or exercising devotedly, or
dropping carbohydrates and alcohol from your diet would also fix it. Medicate
first, and then see if those help. There is no end of benefits to these other
measures, but you need to get your brain working right first, or you set
yourself up to fail.

In my case I was fixed up only two days after getting a sufficient dose of the
right thing. A smaller dose had no effect, and other meds had no effect. Some
kinds take weeks to build up before anything happens. I had five serious side
effects (dry mouth, jaw clenching, ears ringing, dizzy spells, one more I
don't recall) that passed after a few months.

You can get past this, with help. Get help!

------
0815test
Use the Pomodoro technique and limit your social media checks (if any) to the
scheduled breaks that the technique provides for you. In general, it's also
highly desirable to enter a _flow_ state as quickly as possible (this is what
"focus" really is, after all) and there are ways to make this more likely,
such as starting your session with easier, lower-stress tasks and moving on to
harder stuff incrementally.

------
muzani
For me, I find this is more about fear/dread. I don't procrastinate on social
media when I'm doing something well.

You'll have to find a way past that fear. You can:

1\. Be braver - admit you're afraid and do it anyway.

2\. Find the root cause of fear. Maybe you've dealt with too many death
marches. Maybe you don't feel like you can meet your expectations. Just
admitting it can make it go away.

3\. Plan it out in a way that nobody can screw it up, not even you.

------
autoexec
I'll probably catch some flak for this, but if this is just a short term
hurdle during a single project get your hands on some adderall. If it
continues for more than a couple weeks even when you're working on something
you are passionate about put the pills away and take some time off away from
the keyboard to try to decide if this is an issue of focus and distraction or
just burn out.

------
vibrolax
I would guess that your lack of concentration is due to boredom, maybe because
you're working on stuff you don't care about. If circumstances requires you to
work on uninteresting things, putting the distractors out of easy reach can
help you grind away in the short term. In my own experience, I needed to
change industries to work on things I found more interesting.

------
Townley
Talk to your supervisors about how you aren't excited about your tasks at
work. If there's nothing they can do about it, quit. Find something that
excites you.

A family friend of mine used to play violin in a traveling rock band. He slept
in the van and loved every minute of it. Later, when he had a family, he
settled down and became a contracted fundraiser for non-profits. One day he
came across a particular non-profit that he loved, identified with, and felt
excited by. He took a 50% pay cut and settled into a permanent position with
that company because "it felt like being back in the van again"

If you're the kind of intrinsically-motivated person who can trick their head
into being excited about 12 hours of being immersed in a problem, then you'd
be an incredible asset to any company that gets you excited.

If you have an idea of what company, industry, or problem that might be (good
news: people usually do), pursue it like hell.

------
mac01021
Stop all use of these sites for a month.

See if other "distractions" take their place.

If no, then you're just addicted to social media and hopefully that month will
cure you.

If yes, you're probably burnt out and need to move to your next exciting new
job, or move house, or go on a road trip for a few weeks or whatever it is
people to deal with burn out.

------
gridlockd
> I check social media and youtube frequently while doing work.

Well, _don 't do it_ then.

> If I do not do that I feel some void and feeling of losing out

This is a _minor discomfort_. You need _learn to cope_. You must be young and
healthy now, but the reality is that down the line, you are likely to develop
some sort of permanent injury/impairment that you will have to cope with for
the rest of your life. Start small, learn to cope with that little bit of
discomfort.

Not to belittle, it's actually a major and widespread problem. Avoidance of
minor discomforts is literally what keeps people smoking until it kills them.
It's what holds people back from achieving the best life they can have because
they avoid all the little risks that add up to big opportunities.

You have a will, you're not slave to your whims. Take control of your life and
earn some self-respect.

------
sys_64738
I have a hard and fast rule to never use a work computer for anything except
work. Also, enforce rationing your use of FB to after 7pm for 15 mins max.
You'll find the hours spent wasted can be summarized in a 15 min block. The
key for me is hard and unbreakable delimiters.

------
ohaideredevs
Regarding the "some void and feeling of losing out(I do not know how to
express this)" \- "The Willpower Instinct" is a book that covers that exact
feelings and how to address it. Unfortunately I am too lazy to find the exact
location in the book for you.

------
RandomInteger4
Something like this requires dedicated and deliberate behavior modification to
fix.

You've essentially developed a habit. Like others have said, this might be
caused by various factors, so look at what's lacking in your life and try to
fix that, but afterwards you may need to create a plan in writing to correct
the behaviors of the habit that has formed, because otherwise, even if you fix
the root cause, the habit might still remain.

As for how? That's a good question that I don't yet have the answer to. I'm
working on the first part myself. After I fix my root cause, I think I will
fix the habit via a combination of lists and daily resets (i.e. no old tabs on
the computer the next day).

------
ktpsns
Social Media Trap -- I installed the Leechblock extension for Firefox which
helped me a bit. Also going to special places like silent libraries is helpful
for me to concentrate. As final escape, think about going offline.
Documentation can be downloaded.

------
mproud
Do it, but something different.

If you are a writer, and you’re stuck writing a book, you write something else
for a while. If you’re a painter, you might try using a new medium.

You’re a programmer, so try tackling a completely different small problem.
Maybe take the opportunity to try a totally new (to you) language — don’t be
afraid to use something _radically_ different. Ever code in assembly? Why not!

Some people work better when they’re “in the spotlight.” Twitch streamers are
often known for entertainment, but actually many coders show up there, too.
You could try starting a stream, and see if you are more focused when people
might be watching.

------
mchannon
This may sound stupid or trite, but have you considered moving into a
management position?

Social media and Youtube may be stealing your attention because you simply
enjoy them more. If coding was more enjoyable, you'd be doing more coding at
the expense of those distractions.

But maybe you just don't enjoy coding your current project. A lot of projects
are not intellectually or morally stimulating, and it's hard to stay excited
about them, particularly if your work culture is the least bit toxic.

Being a manager means dealing with people, and a lot of experienced coders
actually get more out of that than out of JIRA-code-Git-repeat.

~~~
groby_b
It might be surprising, but dealing with people still requires focus :) Also,
instead of code, you write docs - so many docs. Which, again, needs focus.

~~~
giarc
I think the comment was more about the fact that social media is more
enjoyable and therefore drawing OPs attention. If they moved into management,
perhaps that would be more enjoyable and therefore remove the social media
draw. They could have used any occupation not just management. Maybe OP just
doesn't enjoy coding anymore.

------
Debugreality
I wrote a blog about this a long time ago here:
[http://debugreality.blogspot.com/2010/03/hidden-dangers-
of-w...](http://debugreality.blogspot.com/2010/03/hidden-dangers-of-working-
in-it.html)

It basically boils down to understanding the negative effects of your work and
taking responsibility for your mental well being by countering them which is
where work life balance come from.

Previous HN discussion here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1203696](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1203696)

------
TrinaryWorksToo
I found that I do that when I feel I haven't been around enough people.
Perhaps upping the priority of talking with people, anyone can help you feel
better. Does this seem to resonate with you? It could be any reason

~~~
viburnum
I discovered this about myself too. If I’m spending enough time with actual
people I don’t care about my phone or social media.

------
craftinator
Watch more porn, or get laid more.

I was having focus issues, because coding is fascinating but not inherently
sexy to me. After working on a problem for a while, the enjoyment of the
problem would become overshadowed by my sex drive, and I would start to find
anything else more interesting. Ended up being my body's way of reminding me
that I should make some babies before I died, so I was subconsciously
distracting myself away from anything fascinating that wasn't the opposite
sex.

~~~
hi41
Realize that promiscuity is a disease vector.

~~~
bouncycastle
The OP was crude and perhaps hinging on taboo, but there are well established
schools of psychology on the topic, namely Freud's psychoanalytic theories
come to mind.

~~~
craftinator
I'm actually really curious why you think I was being crude/taboo here. Maybe
just a cultural difference? I spent most of my adult formative years in the
military, and there's been some cultural friction ever since I ended my
service. An explanation of your opinion would be quite welcome!

~~~
bouncycastle
What? I was defending your comment, seeing the downvotes!

Crude, well... to be honest, because of the slang words, eg. 'getting laid'
and your argument could have been framed better to be more intellectually
stimulating. Taboo, well.. because I don't see anyone else talk about this,
yet it's such an important topic of human psychology / sociology.

~~~
craftinator
I understood that you were defending it! The downvotes were a bit confusing to
me also, as I felt pretty well founded in my original comment. As I said, I'm
more just interested in your reasoning that I was being crude and taboo,
because I have a background that seems less common among HN posters. It would
help me better understand the downvotes!

I definitely could've swapped out "getting laid" with something more elegant
sounding, such as "engaging in intercourse" or "stimulating a release of
oxytocin", but I assumed that "getting laid" is both socially acceptable and
has a well understood definition. Apparently HN disagrees!

I don't consider sex as a subject to be taboo, especially from a health
standpoint. People get degrees from major universities that are entirely sex-
related. So I guess I'm just a little confused by all responses, especially
the one from hi41. Thanks for explaining your reasoning, it's good to hear the
process behind these differences in opinion.

------
nikivi
I wrote some things that help me focus here:

[https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/focusing](https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/focusing)

Mostly it’s about practicing mindfulness throughout the day, setting goals,
GTD approach of task management and using tools like Focus for automated Focus
sessions throughout the day with breaks in which I am allowed to read news and
relax.

~~~
nestorherre
Just logged in to say that the tips on your wiki are pretty good and overall
all the info in there seems pretty valuable, bookmarked. Thank you for this!

Also, might give me some inspiration to make my own wiki ;)

------
orev
It’s a vicious cycle.. the more you distract yourself, the more your brain
wants quick hits, so you feel the craving for more distractions. There are
many ways to help outlined by other comments here, getting exercise probably
one of the most effective. However any solution will involve you making a
conscious effort to pull out of the cycle and change your habits.

------
Insanity
When you are coding, or when you are working? I'm asking because perhaps you
just don't enjoy your job. Can you still code for some hours when you're
working on side-projects or learning new things?

I have no useful tips to add beyond what's already been mentioned here. The
only thing I can suggest is to clarify if your _job_ might be the real
problem.

~~~
mac01021
Most programmers don't spend any amount of time on side projects. Maybe the
all, like me, weakly aspire to, though.

~~~
Insanity
It's still a valid question to ask though.

And many people do program outside of work. Not necessarily big projects, but
things like AoC, ProjectEuler, or just learning a new language/framework.

But yeah - I believe more programmers don't rather than do.

------
stunt
if you are asking it here, I assume you did some online research too and I
believe that you already know all the solutions. For most of the people the
problem is not sticking with these solutions and not being patient enough to
get the result.

I’m married, above 30 with a lot of things going on in my life. And often my
co-workers make joke about me going into ZEN mode when working.

Don’t look for a magic tricks. It is as simple as you hear from everyone. You
just need to be patient and stick with them long enough for your brain to get
use to it.

I’m careful about eating and sleeping. Having enough fun. I put my phone away
while working and resting. I use Pomodoro technique to make sure I have enough
short breaks and I have a goal. And I know very basic of meditation breathing
technique (learned literally in 30mins). I only drink one cup of coffee on the
morning and one cup of tea on the afternoon.

~~~
sreyaNotfilc
I agree. Remove the phone will pay dividends. I started leaving my phone in my
car after work and already I'm seeing benefits with my afternoon/evening. I'm
able to get more done as well as have a full night's sleep.

There's something about the phone that just keeps me distracted. So, I just
don't bother with it.

------
6ue7nNMEEbHcM
Heavy metal helps for me. Try Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dream Theater,
Moonspell, Therion, etc. all this works for me. And stop visiting those
websites of course ;-). Make accessing them harder, you could add the
problematic domains to /etc/hosts to resolve to 127.0.0.1 or something like
that.

~~~
jmkni
I'm the opposite, I need silence to focus, I find music distracting!

------
chiffre
If you are not against some help from technology, then there are software/apps
that block internet access for social media web-sites etc e.g. freedom.to

You could also try browser extensions, e.g. for Firefox: Mind the Time --
shows stats of internet usage; LeechBlock NG -- blocks sites.

------
afarrell
Recognize what unmet needs your habits are grasping towards.

If you spend too much time on facebook, it could be because that is the
lowest-effort way to keep up with friends you value. Message 4 of them and
schedule a time for a phone call. Better yet, schedule a _recurring_ phone
call.

------
ErotemeObelus
No you didn't. This is an emotional problem masquerading as a cognitive one.

This happens to me at my three-hour university lectures. Some days I am
emotionally tortured and cannot focus at all. Some days I am emotionally
healthy and can focus through nearly the whole thing.

------
mleonhard
Find a good therapist. It may even be free, depending on your health
insurance. My therapist has helped me discover the root causes of mental
habits that are holding me back. Now I'm making progress on them. The sessions
are worth my time and money.

------
bartimus
You might be genetically susceptible to distractions. Some people are just
better at focusing than others. It's perhaps not where your power is.

The best solution is to simply delete all your social media accounts that you
don't use professionally (strategically).

------
brlewis
Is the lost focus for the work you do as part of the job you described
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18400859](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18400859)
?

------
practice9
In my experience, only regular meditation sessions and physical activity (i.e.
working out) will help.

Also look into your diet, too many carbs / sugars could make you sleepy and
are not good for your concentration skills

------
sorryforthethro
Self-fulfilling prophecy, probably a reason you want to be in this trap

------
jsisto
Uninstall Instagram and Facebook from your phone. Block them and other time-
wasting sites on your computer. Start training yourself to not be distracted.
This is what has worked best for me.

~~~
halleonard
Same here.

The quicker you distance yourself from social media the healthier you will be.
There's literally everything to gain by leaving it behind.

------
DoreenMichele
Look to your health. Eat right. Exercise. Clean your workspace. Etc.

------
rootusrootus
I think you answered your own question. Ditch the social media. It only hurts
for a bit, and then you start to feel better and wonder why you were so
obsessed to begin with.

------
moltar
It happened to me on a job that I hated. Doing something you like might fix
it.

Try a side project or some library or module that you’ve always wanted to
write.

------
gremlinsinc
depression, anxiety, and adhd (inattentive), had me troubling to stay focused.
I lost 90 lbs (515 down to 425) since September, started seeing a therapist,
and start adhd meds... the crossfit/keto/fitness + adhd meds have had the
biggest effect on mood, depression, and focus. I'm taking 50 mg if Vyvanse and
it totally keeps me balanced and focused.

------
leesec
Adderall. Truly.

~~~
RandomInteger4
Adderall is good for focus once you break the habit of social media / youtube,
otherwise it just makes you really good at focusing on social media / youtube.
I know this from experience.

------
dhruvkar
I lost my ability to focus for ~6 months.

I started working on something that I cared about.

Slowly, over 3-4 months, I regained it.

------
jcmoscon
Maybe the DMAE supplement could help your brain to regain focus.

------
codeful
it sounds like addiction to me. Some people are more sensitive to all kinds of
addictions than other.

------
blueboo
Work is work

------
jnurmine
Caveat: I can only speak for myself and don't know if these are extrapolatable
to others. I can't say I'm an über-focus person, probably mediocre, but I use
tools to help be better. I know co-workers who would be in a deep focus while
the house is burning around them, and I'm not at that level.

TL;DR: Reduce cognitive load.

Rule 1. Make your environment conductive to focus.

If you are in an open office, you have a shit sandwich to start with. So
isolate yourself from the cognitive "filth and rabble". Long time ago I worked
with a guy who built a cardboard wall and then wired a camo net over his
cubicle, but maybe one doesn't have to go to such extremes.

Headphones: Use headphones and music to drown out co-workers talking and other
noise. I don't play my absolute all-time favorite tracks on repeat, I play
something I merely like: noisy stuff like some desert sludge metal or stoner
rock -- I sort of tune out the music and the music drowns out all the noise.
You'll need to experiment what music works best for you. I use Spotify and try
to improve my playlists with new interesting music.

Tune your programming environment to have a look-and-feel that fades to the
background. Nicer and duller colors. Learn all the shortcuts to be effective,
and learn a powerful editor which gives you macros and regular expressions and
whatnot. The less mouse you need the less mini context switch which is better.

Turn off audio notices, turn off all blinking "hey you have mail".

Rule 2. Coffee/tea in moderation.

Too much of too strong coffee within too short time makes my focus become
scattered. My mind starts to get racy. The best thing is to dose coffee such
that one doesn't go over the limit. A tea in the morning a few hours after
waking up works quite well.

Rule 3. Notes and checklists.

It helps to be a compulsive note-taker. Before I start anything, I make sure
to have a vague idea of what to do, then I make a checklist. I write down
notes and think of next things to do while waiting for something. I do "self-
retrospectives": when I'm done with a few hours work, I go through it and make
notes and checklists of next things.

The checklist lives all the time, new things get added and old points get
marked as red cross (not done, bad idea, didn't work, etc.) or green tick
(done, clear, good idea, etc.). I use a program called Zim but you can do it
with any editor.

Rule 4. Train your memory.

I've noticed it becomes easier to suppress problems from tiny context switches
that way. One is less likely to forget the context prior to the interruption,
and the notes help a lot with this, too.

Rule 5. Rest to recover.

When you're not at work, you're not at work and you should not be thinking
about work either. Exercise, read, do something else you like.

