Hi, I had started a discussion about attention problems a couple of days ago (sorry, don’t know how to link to it, if it’s possible, let me know and I can add that later). Main problems are not focusing very well if it’s something I find boring, thoughts that creep up about other things I want to do or are going on and also being pulled away by thoughts or stuff I’d rather do (the wash!) when I am facing something hard or challenging (like a complex analysis at work or I am learning about something I like but it turns out to be much more/ complex than I thought). At the moment, I have 2 audiobooks open, a game not finished, videos I wanna watch, or - at work- reading emails, doing the wash (WFH) rather than reading up on something or doing analysis (it’s worse at work because even though I know in theory it’s meaningful or important, it’s not self-relevant for me, so I automatically care less). I am autistic and not found to have ADHD (perhaps some traits).
How do you improve focus? What makes you stay with a task you have to do (but find boring personally)/ with something you like to do (but have 4 other things you also like to do OR other thoughts that come up that are fear driven)/ how do you read an academic paper (I work in research and it’s supposed to be a core tool but it’s very difficult for me)? I am trying to find a pool of options that help others.
What I tried myself (with varying success) is
- noise cancelling headphones
- focus music/ sound
- working in the dark
- lying on the floor OR covering my eyes when listening to something
- closing other apps like Outlook, Teams
- DND mode
- switching to audiobooks
- telling myself to stay with this task
- putting my phone away
- pomodoro
- assign tasks to designated slots in my calendar
All I can think of currently. But most of the times, these are not enough or helpful over the course of a whole working day. Thank you!