How To Focus

If I'm ever in a funk and can't seem to focus, one of the simplest ways I've found to snap myself out of it is to physically uproot myself and start working from a new location. Most people seem to underrate the effect that being in the wrong location has for focus. It's especially hard if you're trying to work in a space that your mind associates with an activity like socializing, such as a living room, or that it associates with sleep, like a bed. Your mind shifts into the mode it associates with the space, which is usually not "work mode". This reality is particularly tough for university students with limited apartment space, and it's why I try to leave my room and work on campus if I ever need to get serious work done. It's hard to lock in if I'm tucked in and cozy under my sheets.

A common optimization technique in computer science is to take advantage of Spatial Locality, which is the idea that it's faster for a computer to read memory that's closer to the memory it's currently using, as opposed to having to find and load bits of memory from disparate parts of storage. I find that my brain works in a similar way. There's a lot of mental energy required to context-switch between multiple different tasks, so it's a better use of your focus to try to do one thing for longer, deeper stretches of time, rather than attempting to multitask.

This is kind of an extension of the point above, but I find that even if I'm focused on a single task, having a bunch of in-progress tasks I'm leaving half-done takes up a lot of mental bandwidth. I liken it to having a bunch of old browser tabs open in my brain, clogging up RAM I desperately need for other things. Once I start something, part of my brain is dedicated to thinking about it and rolling it over in my head until I actually finish it and can "close the tab". Handling a bunch of small, quick tasks before my big ones kind of feels like cheating (aren't I just putting off my harder work?) but the benefits to only worrying about one thing at once seems to really make a difference for me.

You've probably heard the advice to block distracting apps before. Most of you have probably tried it at one point or another, only to need to disable the block for some reason and then never turning it back on. I've realized that it's a big ask to try and get people to NEVER use those distracting apps (big tech has done a really good job making itself indispensable). Instead, try blocking it only at specific times which you know are particularly problematic. I have a big problem getting off my phone when I'm about to go to bed or I'm just waking up. I think this is because when I'm tired, my self-control is weakest, and the easiest thing to do is just keep scrolling. So I set my phone to deactivate basically all apps from 12<30am> to 10am, and it's made a huge difference for me.

One of the most powerful, primal human emotions is shame. If you're smart about it, you can use this force as a natural counterweight against your brain's other primal urges, such as the desire for novelty and distraction. Try to set up a situation where it would be embarrassing to get distracted by something. One easy way to do it is to work with a friend near you who promises to bug you if you spend too much time doomscrolling. If you can't find a friend on short notice, I find a substitute is to work in a public space with your screen facing people behind you, so they can kinda see what you're doing if you close your work tab and start watching brainrot YouTube videos.

Sometimes, your body is telling you that you just need a break, and no amount of trying to work will accomplish anything. Don't deny this feeling. I can't tell you how many hours I've wasted trying to work because I had things to do, but my body wasn't going to budge. It's the worst kind of situation because you're not getting any work done, but you also aren't really resting so you won't be in a position to get any work done anytime soon. If your body is telling you that it's really not having it, don't waste time trying to force something that isn't going to happen. Let yourself actually rest for 30-60 minutes, and you'll save 4 hours of pretending to work.

Finally, make sure you keep your eye on the ball. Remember, you're not just fighting your own impulses here—there are thousands of very smart people at some of the richest corporations in the history of the world who spend all day thinking of more effective ways to distract you. Keep your eye out, stay self-aware, and you may realize you've started to spend more time than you want on a particular website or app. Maybe you tried to spend an hour studying but you just started doomscrolling Reddit and couldn't stop. Maybe it was Instagram. Maybe it was Wikipedia. Whatever it is, you should accept that you'll probably need to keep "plugging the holes" in your focus strategy, and be self-aware enough to notice the things taking more of your time than you want them to. Most importantly, don't take it personally. Getting distracted is just part of the human psyche. It's not your fault unless you choose to not try and do something about it.