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How to stay focused at work and on things you like doing?

Inah

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!

Parents
  • Inah said:
    focus music/ sound

    This is usually a good one for me. However, I cannot focus on what I’m doing if it is vocal music (UNLESS I am playing the same song over and over on repeat). I find that video game music does very well for enhancing focus, since it is usually instrumental driven. If you’re into Nintendo, I’d recommend the Nintendo Music application, it’s a great resource for tons of music. You have to have a Nintendo account for that, though.

    Have you tried giving yourself sensory breaks? I think there’s a specific name for the process (I forget), but you could focus in on your work for say 15-30 minutes, then allow yourself five minutes of a break. Then repeat. It takes willpower to get yourself to switch between tasks, but for some people (myself included) it sometimes help.

Reply
  • Inah said:
    focus music/ sound

    This is usually a good one for me. However, I cannot focus on what I’m doing if it is vocal music (UNLESS I am playing the same song over and over on repeat). I find that video game music does very well for enhancing focus, since it is usually instrumental driven. If you’re into Nintendo, I’d recommend the Nintendo Music application, it’s a great resource for tons of music. You have to have a Nintendo account for that, though.

    Have you tried giving yourself sensory breaks? I think there’s a specific name for the process (I forget), but you could focus in on your work for say 15-30 minutes, then allow yourself five minutes of a break. Then repeat. It takes willpower to get yourself to switch between tasks, but for some people (myself included) it sometimes help.

Children
  • in reply to profdanger

    Yeah I cannot function either if it’s vocals, the best for me has been this one https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=jvM9AfAzoSo&si=6ZIVB7n7cDPZ4XlV or coffee shop background noise (for some reason I find it soothing if I cannot make out one speaker but when it blends into one mash - also I hold a special place for coffee shops in my heart.

    Do you mean pomodoro? This is literally what you describe, you’re on for a few minutes and then take a break. If so, yes I have. I found it works for some tasks but not for all of them. Like if I work on something which has a chunky structure (eg working through sections of data where I can identify a break) it works, but not if I need to read an article or write a paper, both requires more flow or sustained attention.

    I do struggle with keeping the willpower to finish the current round of pomodoro if I am not engaged (which is likely the reason I used the technique in the first place) though. I think the crux is finding it personally meaningless or externally dictated that gives me a hard time staying focused. And I know that you cannot pick your favourites when you are employed but still find this fact hard to accept (sorry bit of a tangent here)