Ask HN: How can I focus on knowledge work that I find boring?
2 comments
This might be terrible advice, but I heard a trick that was supposed to help highly-intelligent people with ADHD: take a dopamine break. The idea is that dopamine would also boost executive function. (The real question is where you get the dopamine, but some suggestions were taking a walk.) In general (and for the same reason) you should make sure you're getting enough exercise -- and also enough sleep.
I also had a friend that used to play short games online -- minesweeper, Spider Solitaire, whatever -- and swore that the quick game breaks were part of his "process" (maybe to bring dopamine levels back up)? But this is very hard to explain to co-workers...
For the more general problem of restoring focus: I've tried spending entire days offline -- or at least big chunks of the day. (Take a hike! Read a book! Visit friends live and in person...) Meditation exercises might actually help a bit, but this gets into more general wellness.
And I guess your last option is, of course, to tell your boss that you find the work boring, or, to look for a more interesting job. It's been my experience that sometimes just reminding yourself that you have that option relieves some of the pressure.
I also had a friend that used to play short games online -- minesweeper, Spider Solitaire, whatever -- and swore that the quick game breaks were part of his "process" (maybe to bring dopamine levels back up)? But this is very hard to explain to co-workers...
For the more general problem of restoring focus: I've tried spending entire days offline -- or at least big chunks of the day. (Take a hike! Read a book! Visit friends live and in person...) Meditation exercises might actually help a bit, but this gets into more general wellness.
And I guess your last option is, of course, to tell your boss that you find the work boring, or, to look for a more interesting job. It's been my experience that sometimes just reminding yourself that you have that option relieves some of the pressure.
automate every part of it
I'm really struggling because I find these problems incredibly boring, and I basically cannot make myself sit down and do the work. I try to just stop moving and focus, but I get distracted incredibly easy, always reading the news or browsing HN/Reddit. The longest stretch I've been able to work for in the past couple weeks is a half hour. This is contrast to personal projects - when I find something interesting, I can work for 10 hours straight, totally in the zone.
This is sending me in a bad spiral. I don't get any work done, which makes me unhappy, which makes it harder to get work done, and so it goes. I'm hoping some intelligent people here have some advice or recommendations.
I know that all of the above sounds incredibly entitled - it's a job after all, it's not supposed to be fun. But I'm really, really trying to make myself do this work and I just don't know if I can willpower my way out of this. It's like my brain refuses to work when presented with something I don't find interesting.