[nick0garvey]

A lot of people in this thread point at motivation or mental health issues. The issue is likely not so complicated.

You have forgotten how to focus. We live in a world where we are constantly distracted. This is forced on us. The apps we use compete over our attention, our workplace expects quick replies over Slack, our free time is always accompanied by a smart phone pushing us notifications.

These effects are getting stronger. Technology evolves new attention taking techniques. Our remote work culture expects faster replies as you are, in theory, always at your desk.

You can address this focus deficiency, but it isn't easy. Put your phone always on Do Not Disturb. Use site blocking extensions to limit time wasters (yes, even Hacker News). Stop being so responsive at work.

The first few weeks will hurt. You won't instantly be able to focus, and you will feel less productive due to the lower response time. But after some time, you will be able to do work others cannot. You can complete the big work you are struggling to right now. Relearn how to focus.

[heliodor]

Huberman has an episode explaining the brain workings of procrastination. Give it a watch/listen to pick up a few tips.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=K-TW2Chpz4k

Edit: here are some summaries:

https://podcastnotes.org/huberman-lab/leverage-dopamine-to-o...

https://healthnews.com/family-health/healthy-living/andrew-h...

[tomwojcik]

Almost 2h? I can't focus that long. Let me know once it's available as a 30 seconds tiktok.

/s

[mrtobo]

You're potentially insulting the reader who was looking for answers to the question.

[joshxyz]

i need it in short little bites.

lmk if theres a twitter thread so i can unroll it with threader app and forget it.

/s

[j7ake]

My experience has been opposite of Hubermans tips.

I find dopamine spiking activities, or putting a body in a state of discomfort (eg intense work out, cold showers) make me procrastinate more.

Doing an intense work out makes me think “I’m done for the day, I have done enough, I deserve a break from whatever I’m procrastinating on”.

[nosefurhairdo]

Huberman is the man. He's also got an episode specifically on ADHD which OP may find valuable.

[oarfish]

Unless you go there for advice on health and sports performance, for which he dissminates much bullshit.

[singedproxy]

I can't believe how much BS you can spit under the name of "science" and none will call you out as long as you say you are a doctor/scientist.

He is almost on par with bro-science fitness youtubers.

[sngz]

example? everything he says seems to be well sourced or cited from other experts in their fields, or if its only few studies and not well researched enough yet he explicitly says so. I keep hearing this claim from ppl but nobody can come up with any examples.

[nosefurhairdo]

Have any examples?

[brainrot]

Thank you I'll (try to) give this a watch!

[hintymad]

> You have forgotten how to focus

It could be due to aging. As people age, it gets harder for the body to release dopamine in anticipation of getting something we done, especially for things that we are familiar with. As a result, one loses focus because of no trickling joy. "Been there done that" in a way is truly a curse.

My own cure is always finding new things to tackle, and tackle only fundamental problems. Of course, my fundamental problem can be trivial to another smarter engineer. The key is to keep myself excited and therefore focused instead of how deep the problem is.

The downside of this approach, though, is that I may have to switch jobs, and I need to work hard to keep myself healthy to have enough energy.

[brainrot]

You could be right, I'm soon to turn 40 so maybe my brain is just slowing down and I can't ask as much of it as I used to. Hopefully a better diet and more exercise can counteract that to some degree.

[brainrot]

This makes a lot of sense, thank you. The expectation to always be available on teams, to reply to email quickly is very strong at my workplace. My apple watch means that even if I'm making a cup of tea, or using the restroom I still see when people are trying to contact me, or when one of the systems sends an alert so I'm never truly offline.

[rtuin]

For this reason I don’t wear a smart watch, but wear a smart ring to monitor vitals and heart/sleep trends. Just FYI.

[eloisius]

Don’t sleep with your phone in the bedroom.