Stay on Target! Stay on Target!
I read an article about Ritalin and the effects it can have on attention span and concentration. It's mid-afternoon, and I'm begining to waver. Admittedly, I've been coding a fair bit the last few days, though not as much as I was a month ago - 52 hours in a 72 hour period!
I wonder if I have some kind of condition, or if it's the boring, repetitive work that I'm doing at the moment that is really getting me down? Withered in the past has said he thinks it's that. I know taking dexamphetamine (medication often given to children with ADD/ADHD) has in the past given me greater concentration (mum, if you're reading this, it's a common practice among uni students, and no, I'm not addicted ;) Further evidence that this might be the case is that if I'm really interested in a topic I can spend hours on it without any problem.
Or am I just pushing myself too hard? I mean, I wouldn't care if I was working for someone else and didn't feel that I was giving 100% towards the end of the day. Adam and I have talked about how if we're not "in the mood" for working, there's no point sitting at the keyboard just to plug away at a reduced efficiency. It's a nice idea, and actually makes sense, but doesn't help with ever pressing deadlines.
I have a book that I bought a few weeks back about Smart Drugs, so I might read a bit over the Christmas break.
<adds to list of things to do over Christmas>
The irony is I got distracted for a few minutes reading an article about medication that prevents you from allowing external distractions to take over :)
Like we have discussed before, my concentration can be awful at times however I have been working on improving the structure of how I work. I now document daily and weekly goals and log how I spend my working day. Documenting your todo list relieves the stress of tracking this in your head which can inturn allow you to better concentrate on the task at hand.
The fact that you can concentrate on *some* tasks for an extended period means that you shouldn’t need medication to achieve that state.
yeah like mark said if you can concentrate on stuff you like its a pretty good sign that you are normal. Most people can concentrate on shit they like.
After lunch a lot of your blood goes to your stomach to help digest so most people hit a wall after around 2.
For you guys it might be hard to do, although i dont know the full nature of all your work, but maybe rearrange so you have morning tasks and afternoon tasks. Stuff that you need to focus on hit hard in the morning and stuff that is small and easier in the afternoon. Thats what I try to do, heavy thinking stuff, writing etc in the morning, hassling people, making and testing activities, dems, brainstorming with pieces of paper and ideas in the afternoon.
A todo list is good, but I just wonder whether having too much detail in there means youre working for the list or the list is working for you man.
Now Im gonna blog this idea myself