/hob/ - Hobbies

2) Focusing
The ability of focusing is lost in the 21st century. Learning without focusing is time wasted so you have to improve your ability to focus. Average attention span of a young adult is 72 second[1].

Benefits and use of focusing skill:
-High level of productivity
-The ability to learn hard things faster

So, how do we work without distraction? There are various methods:
-Pomodoro Technique: A good technique for entry level and quite popular. Work for 25 minutes without any distraction (no phones, and if possible no internet). Give a 5 minute break and again no phones, no social media no music.

Even though pomodoro is a nice technique, it doesn't improve your focusing skill, you can't work 25 minutes for your entire life. Thinking deeply means working with the same focus by constantly increasing the hours. which brings us to monastery technique.

-The Monastic Approach: Study like a monk, without internet and any sort of social interaction. For most of you this is not a viable method, you shouldn't have any other responsibility than your main focus.

A more viable approach that is better suited for most people is to study like a "monk" for 3 or 4 days of the week and use internet moderately the rest of the days. Still requires very careful planning.

-The Rhythmic Approach: Determine the time and the place you will work. Examine a week of your life and determine the best time for study, and work in those hours every week. I think this is the best approach for beginners.

-The Journalistic Approach: Switching into deep work mode whenever possible, even with an unpredictable schedule like you are a journalist. Requires a high level of discipline and mental agility. This is very hard for beginners.

How do we improve our focus:

Gaslighting Yourself: The brain processes tasks with an intense focus when there is an impending deadline, which helps prevent distractions and increases productivity. Suppose you have a task that is due in a week, but you mistakenly record the deadline as tomorrow in your planner. Imagine the task's deadline is actually tomorrow and start working on it. This creates a mental urgency. As you begin the task, the thought of the imaginary deadline will create a sense of urgency. Your brain will try to mobilize all its resources faster to complete the task.Even if the real deadline is far away, the perceived urgency will cause the brain to focus more intensely. This leads to quicker thinking and better concentration.Set small goals for each day. These smaller goals become more meaningful when tied to the imaginary deadline.This technique should only be used once or twice a week to avoid excessive stress. Overusing it could lead to burnout and higher stress levels.

Otizmwalk is a strategy that combines physical movement with mental focus, helping to develop your concentration and problem-solving abilities. Here's how to apply this method. Select a walking route where you can walk uninterrupted. Make sure you do not have your phone with you, as distractions can break your focus.Before you start walking, bring to mind a problem that requires mental energy, like a task you need to solve or a page you need to write. This should be something that requires your full attention.As you walk, keep your mind completely focused on the issue at hand. If necessary, verbalize your thoughts out loud to clarify your thinking. This will force you to concentrate deeply on finding a solution.Continue focusing on the problem during the entire walk, trying to mentally work through it. If distractions arise, gently refocus on the task.

Time Blocking method: Write down the jobs you have to get done, plan your week day by day and hour by hour using this method. There are lots of resources on this so you can look it up.

"A generation that cannot endure boredom will be a generation of little men, of men unduly divorced from the slow processes of nature, of men in whom every vital impulse slowly withers, as though they were cut flowers in a vase." Boredom is one of the most important that gives life to creativity, do not kill your creativity with social media.




References:
Cal Newport – Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
[1] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cognition/articles/10.3389/fcogn.2023.1207428/full

one thing i realized about "learning" is that it's not a simple linear process and usually the most mainstream "common sense" approach is always misguided in some way and you have to tinker and experiment and dig deep into successful people's descriptions of what they did in order to find what exactly got them to that point. the reason people fail to learn is because the instructions are generally bad, they're based on some idea of how things are supposed to be learned. you sit down, open a textbook or go to class and then you learn, but it's never as simple as that. to learn math, you need to go beyond the textbook and really gain an intuition of the objects themselves and then, if you're successful, the formal crap takes care of itself because it flows downstream from a good intuitive understanding. if you want to learn how to play an instrument, you don't start by memorizing a bunch of music theory, you have to ultimately tinker until you find a feedback loop that actually works and lets you improve. if you want to learn a language, you don't study grammar, you gradually build an intuitive understanding by exposing yourself to simple sentences and working your way up to more and more complex language until you acquire it subconsciously. that's the kind of shit that you only figure out through trial-and-error and experience.

which leads me back to focus and discipline, things that people try to brute-force even though a lack of focus and discipline just means that your "learning" method is frustrating and isn't bringing you tangible results. once you find the right method, the work becomes natural and compelling, no need to fight yourself and keep hitting your head against the wall. when things work, it's easy. when things do not work, change your approach until it's easy.

>>68096
I dunno setting concrete goals only makes me less motivated generally. I will just look at it and think "woah I have to do that much?" and lose heart. If I just keep it vague I will feel okay as long as I make any sort of progress, instead of comparing with the specific end goal.