Focus is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. Attention has also been referred to as the allocation of processing resources. Generally these questions deal with improving one's ability to concentrate on a specific item ...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
How to focus on reading while the TV is on [duplicate]
My girlfriend loves watching TV but I like to read. I have a lot of trouble focusing between the noise and visual of the TV. I still want to spend that time relaxing with her because we're lucky to ...
1
vote
1answer
52 views
Productivity trainer audio similar to fitness trainer
When we go to workout with a trainer or use a fitness training video, the trainer goads us on to train harder and push ourselves even further. This helps us to push ourselves beyond the limits we ...
2
votes
2answers
153 views
Effective method of thinking beyond the first idea
As the title says, do you know any effective ways of escaping the trap of thinking about a problem only in the terms of the first idea/solution that came up?
I have encountered this issue both in my ...
6
votes
6answers
308 views
Can Noise Cancelling headphones knock out people speaking, announcements, etc?
Often when people on this board have wanted to reduce sound, nearby conversations people have recommended noise cancellation headphones. I have never tried these but have been told they cannot knock ...
8
votes
6answers
671 views
I don't want to study. I don't want to think. I want to have fun
I always end up playing a game or something when I'm supposed to study. Hey, having fun is a lot more fun than studying, right? What can I do to make the consequences of my action seem more real? I ...
11
votes
9answers
441 views
How to keep free from thoughs while meditating?
When I sit for meditation, there are a lot of thoughts come to my mind. How can I be a free from thoughts while meditating?
10
votes
5answers
282 views
How to trick our minds into doing mundane tasks?
There are some daily tasks I am too lazy to do: simple cleaning, washing dishes, etc. When I have no other pressing tasks, I end up not doing these simple tasks. However, when I have something coming ...
6
votes
2answers
184 views
How to do intellectual work pressed by deadline under extremely bad emotional conditions
Which strategies can help you get your intellectual work done, under these conditions:
Work of an intellectual nature (e.g. PhD thesis, scientific paper, etc)
Strict deadline because of life ...
9
votes
8answers
323 views
How to remain calm during a tense period?
I am working in a bank as an assistant of one of my seniors. One day one of the bundles of account-opening forms was lost. I became much anxious and was thinking about an way out. I was continuously ...
3
votes
2answers
201 views
How do I maintain consistency when learning a new skill?
Sometimes, I find it difficult to maintain focus when learning new skills, especially when I'm just getting the hang of it. Most times, it's due to being distracted by learning another skill. How do I ...
6
votes
5answers
289 views
Hating sleep at night because of inadequate feeling of no achievement during the day
I've been having a hatred for sleep and when i mean hatred i mean a feeling of not wanting to fall asleep because i feel i've done nothing during the day to achieve my goals.
How can i stop feeling ...
3
votes
5answers
183 views
How to safely and effectively ignore irrelevant external stimuli?
I have come to realize that a lot of mental energy and focus is wasted on the intake, filtering, and processing of what ends up considered completely useless sensory input. Things like various types ...
7
votes
5answers
225 views
Why is my productivity the lowest in afternoon?
Is it just me or is productivity low in the afternoon for general population? I find that I'm unable to do simplest of tasks between 1pm and 5 pm.
3
votes
1answer
107 views
Improve productivity in a non will job
I need help. I am a software engineer but i didn't opt for this career by will. I did it because of family pressure. I wanted to be a cricketer.
I have got good results in all my exams and also been ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
How to keep focus in a loud environment? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Loud conversations in workplace
I need to work in a loud environment and I can't move into another place. It's hard to focus because of all that noise. What can I do ...
12
votes
6answers
367 views
how to keep focus in long term?
My problem: I can't keep focus on a few selected areas. Part of the problem is that I want to learn too many things simultaneously. But another, more serious problem is that I can't keep the same ...
3
votes
2answers
99 views
Keeping focus in the now during intense situations
I have read Eckhart Tolle's, The Power of Now.
I saw value in the idea that when your focus is completely present, there is quality in what you do.
I've applied this and it works for me, where I ...
1
vote
2answers
56 views
How to set targets for two equally important tasks?
I always find it really difficult to set my targets, from my perception as both works are equally important for me.
My situation is- Currently I am working on a project that really needs my ...
0
votes
0answers
90 views
What is the most effective activity to recover productivity? [closed]
Everyone knows that taking a break can increase productivity but what is the most effective way to take a break? Is there a correlation between number, length and frequency of breaks to productivity ...
7
votes
1answer
214 views
Separate personal life from work: deal with distracting emotions
Is there any established technique to deal with distractions coming from personal life?
For example, how to concentrate after a discussion (not work-related)?
22
votes
12answers
755 views
How to concentrate without external stimulants?
I'm a programmer and my work requires intense mental focus.
My goal is to get 8 clean, productive hours of programming per day.
I tried this yesterday, and I managed to get only 2:35 hours of clean ...
12
votes
3answers
888 views
How to stop mind from drifting off while reading?
Lets say I'm reading a text on programming language which has some example on poker. As soon as I read it, my mind drifts off about some related things around poker, like probability, last time I won, ...
15
votes
6answers
445 views
How to setup linux as a pure working environment
I am a freelance programmer and I suffer from procrastination - a lot. When I manage to dive into work I really enjoy it, but then after a while something crosses my mind, and I have strong urge to ...
8
votes
2answers
125 views
Deciding what to study while job hunting
I'm job hunting again. When I find a tempting position, one that looks great in every way except it requires some skill "ABC" I'm not familiar with, I get a book or find online tutorials, and study ...
4
votes
0answers
68 views
Good resources to try Mindfullness technique [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to avoid mind drifting while listening?
While reading answers to few questions on this forum I read about "Mindfulness".
I have problem staying focused during ...
6
votes
2answers
523 views
How to avoid mind drifting while listening?
While talking to someone at work or even on the phone I often find myself drifting off where my attention wanders off. This happens even during short say 5 ~ 10 minute conversations.
If while talking ...
9
votes
4answers
603 views
Why am I not able to motivate myself to code?
I have got an idea that can make a good app for web and mobile. I tell myself to design the prototype so as to see how people take it. The problem is when I sit to code, I can't get things done. I ...
-1
votes
2answers
208 views
how can i design forms like this [closed]
i see such awesome personal productivity forms here.
http://davidseah.com/productivity-tools/
How can i design a form like this?
7
votes
1answer
128 views
How to get to back to your goals after a stressful project or period of time at work?
well, I have goals that I work for, but frequently, let's say every few months, I get consumed totally by job stress, and this stress may long many weeks because of the nature of our job, so that I ...
10
votes
5answers
257 views
How to stop misplacing things?
I have a big problem of forgetting where I have put things. I always seem to forget where, for example I left my papers, keys, etc.
Is there a way I can remember all the objects and where I have ...
10
votes
2answers
476 views
Complete loss of focus / wanting to work
I work on my PC all day, every day, even when I get home.
I am a programmer, theres no getting round it, and I love it!
But recently I have been having 'programmers block' or complete lack of 'want' ...
2
votes
2answers
204 views
Downside of energy drinks [closed]
I usually drink a few energy drinks during a week, because it really helps my productivity, I can focus on tasks easily, even on those boring ones. I'm better in processing information too. I prefer ...
7
votes
7answers
633 views
Does sitting with back straight really improve focus (and productivity)?
As part of my work, I am required to sit on pieces of furniture without any back support eg. Bar stool. My teacher reprimands me when I slouch saying that my focus will suffer if my spine isn't ...
0
votes
3answers
195 views
I am very distracted by noise, are there good headphones that can help with this? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Best headphones/earplugs to drown out loud nearby conversations
I am very distracted by noise, are there good headphones that can help me?
I wasn't sure if this ...
11
votes
10answers
3k views
Best headphones/earplugs to drown out loud nearby conversations [closed]
I'm a programmer in an environment where people talk loudly. Nearby passionate conversations can be distracting when i need to concentrate.
I'm sure I'm not alone. What headphones/earplugs would ...
10
votes
4answers
1k views
My open office is not effective in increasing my productivity, how can I counter this?
We have an open office (no cubical walls) that is intended to increase productivity.
However I find that the increase in distractions, both sound and visual negates this due to the difficulty in ...
2
votes
0answers
61 views
Nutrition for Programmers to Focus and for Clean Mind [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What nutrition is best to stay productive throughout the day?
These days even though I am having a good night sleep (I suppose so) and eat nuts, health diet such as no ...
1
vote
2answers
148 views
How to deal with problems associated with dyslexia?
I think I might be dyslexic . Here are the reasons why:
I seem to forget the same words over and over again (don't we all?). I find it difficult to remember names of people after six months (even ...
6
votes
6answers
462 views
What is the most effective way to get into 'the zone'?
The zone: "A place were you do focused work without the existence of time."
You have been in 'the zone' when a couple hours have passed without you noticing it. When you're into the zone: you work at ...
16
votes
8answers
596 views
Be able to focus and read books when your partner watches TV
I like reading books a lot. Usually have only time for that at night, after work, but at that time my wife likes TV a lot and specially zapping; continuously jumping from one channel to another. I ...
5
votes
3answers
655 views
Peer review: my personal productivity system.
I would like to tell you about my personal productivity system and get your opinion, since I think it could be enhanced, but right now I do not know how would I do it.
Ok, so I have all information ...
11
votes
3answers
832 views
How to keep focused without losing interest?
I am not sure how common is this, but I experience loss of interest pretty often. Unlike many people, my problem is not in starting things but in sustaining the interest.
One day, I decide that I am ...
8
votes
7answers
213 views
Dealing with distractions during wait
The biggest problem for me are distractions that slow down my progress. Too often instead of pushing the main task forward I switch to the other task/check my email/etc. It doesn't mean I'm ...
12
votes
5answers
435 views
Mind keeps wandering during conversations
I have trouble remembering instant things in mind. It really feels weird when I am talking about something and then I ask the person talking to me as, "Excuse me! Where were we?." I have been told by ...
4
votes
2answers
146 views
How to engage those dreaded tasks on time
I am an MS student and I also have a part time job. I am facing the same producticity problem that has bothered me during my Bsc.
As to organization, I have a calendar on my desktop showing important ...
0
votes
0answers
96 views
Which term is better, unitask or monotask? [closed]
I consider these to be synonymous, but which one is more commonly understood and preferred?
7
votes
4answers
394 views
How to improve concentration on more important priorities than facebook?
I used to be a very focused student in school.
But after coming to college after i got access to unlimited internet,freedom my concentration has fallen very steeply.
Even while studying for my final ...
7
votes
4answers
177 views
Is there an adopted strategy for dealing with cell phones ringing in the office?
I work in office with a kind of a cubicle farm arrangement where sound propagates no-problem. When a cell phone not in silent mode rings it can be heard in at least 10-meters range and therefore ...
8
votes
5answers
810 views
Why does the Pomodoro technique recommend writing down every interruption?
The Pomodoro technique suggests that internal and external interruptions of a task should be annotated (e.g. with a ' or -).
What is the purpose of doing this? The only reason I can imagine is that ...
7
votes
3answers
495 views
How can I make my evening work time more productive?
I have always been at my most productive in the morning. However I have recently had a child which has required that I rearrange my schedule somewhat. I still wake as early as possible and get work ...
