Trouble focusing

[Into The Light]

i've been having difficulty focusing on day to day things as well as work (just where i'm at right now i guess). i was just wondering how other people have coped with that. i would like to be more focused. any suggestions besides riding it out?

 

[suewatters1]

I am sorry I can't help you ITL because I am in the same boat as you.

Sue

 

[Mari]

any suggestions besides riding it out?

:noidea: Feeling just the same way today and just hoping tomorrow will be better. I was hoping to get something done today but it feels hopeless. Yesterday I went to the store for an item which they did not have so I bought something else and went to another store. At the second store I forgot that I had not bought the item at the first store so I bought something else and went home. Now I have to go back to the store. Mari

 

[ladylore]

Here is a thought ITL.
When I first went to the addiction counsellor I couldn't commit to anything and all I wanted to do is run. So my therapist suggested that I commit to going for the next two day of Daytox and for only two therapy sessions. Then I could allow myself to quit. The trick was to recommit myself every two days for another two days.

So I am thinking for you - you may want to do that with work. Also commit to focussing on a task for a half-hour, not even worrying about the next half hour. Once that half hour (or whatever time limit you want to set for yourself) is up recommit to continue the task at hand after a break or start something else that needs to be done.

Giving myself an escape route and a way out is the trick for me. If I think I am stuck and can't leave I can't focus on anything.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[Into The Light]

thanks so much for that idea, ladylore!

i find myself being very scattered with my focus, and constantly jumping from one thing to the next. i can't just do something, no i need to walk away and go do something else and then go back and walk away and.. well it takes forever to get anything done this way. 5 minutes of this, 5 minutes of that, then i just go sit in a corner and avoid it all.

so i really like your approach. i'll try it and i hope it'll work for me :crossfingers:

maybe it's a form of anxiety? it's been a long time since i've been able to work on a given task for a serious amount of time.

 

[ladylore]

I'm curious - let me know how it works out for you.

 

[Into The Light]

i will in the meantime any other ideas are still welcome

 

[suewatters1]

ITL Do you have ADHD?
The way you describe jumping around from one thing to another made me think of me at home start something and not finishing it.
I have ADHD and was only diagnosed in 2004.

Sue

 

[Into The Light]

it makes me think of adhd as well, but i don't have it. i was never like this until i got hit by depression a few years ago. i seem to have lost the ability to concentrate that i used to have. i am hoping though that in time i'll regain the focus.

 

[Daniel E.]

Also commit to focussing on a task for a half-hour, not even worrying about the next half hour.

I like that 30-minute idea. I will try that now, and I just read this:

Eugene Schwartz, a highly paid, master copywriter, lived and died by his pocket timer set to 33 minutes and 33 seconds. He discovered that was his optimal time period for maximum productivity.

How to Turn Your Ipod Into A Motivational Timer Persistence Unlimited Goal Setting Blog - Setting and Reaching Your Goals

I also listen to music while I work, and, lately, I find it helps seeing household chores as exercise since I like exercising but hate cleaning.

 

[ladylore]

I forgot about that one Daniel - the fun factor. Putting on the tunes on is very important indeed.

 

[Into The Light]

great link daniel :goodjob:

i would also stop calling it chores, and substitute it with a neutral or fun word. the word "chores" alone makes me feel depressed already.

make it fun and it gets done

 

[Daniel E.]

i would also stop calling it chores, and substitute it with a neutral or fun word. the word "chores" alone makes me feel depressed already.

Yeah, it's so fun it should be illegal

But, seriously, I often do enjoy it to some degree once I have started, more so than watching TV.

 

[adaptive1]

Yes, I am hugely struggling with this as well. Right now I feel like I can follow a minute of a conversation, I cant follow what I read and my attention is split in two. What I have been doing is making a to do list and I dont start the next item until I finish the first, I am writing everything down. I do the easy things first and if there is something a bit harder I do it in little chunks. My house and everything is hard to keep organized so I am doing the same thing, I do something little every day, like today I did my kitchen. I am also getting a lot of exercise and sleep, what ever I can do helps and then I am trying to practice concentrating on things. I have to say it is kind of hard to the point where it is a little bit of scary. I hope it doesn't last. I feel for you on this.

 

[sister-ray]

ITL, cant really offer any advice. Ive been like it too recently, jumping from one thing to another, I have to really push myself to get things done like form filling and get the whole thing completed instead of leaving it half done,, theyve taken my benefit away again so having to deal with all that again, I think with me Im like this with the things I dont really want to do/or feeling I shouldnt be doing, I feel there are better things to do,, When it comes to watching a dvd or tv programme Im ok because I enjoy doing that.

 

[Into The Light]

that's how it is for me too. i'm ok with things i enjoy but anything else it's really hard for me to work on.

i just have to keep trying i guess.

 

[sister-ray]

ITL, I tryed to have one day a week where I did all the things I really dont like doing, like form filling, housework etc get it all out the way and then I could concentrate on the better things the rest of the week, it worked for a while but then it got too much doing it all in one day. the only trouble with avoiding things and leaving them is that they still there, nagging at you, so it better to try and push yourself to get them out of the way or else they ruin the good things you do. Today I have an appeals form to fill in it 7 pages long. I have to do it because it needs posting tomorrow, it will be hard as I have some dvds I would rather be watching,, and would rather be playing with my budgies too, I shall I have to be tough with myself to get it done..