Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?
Are there any proven exercises or techniques I can adopt that are proven to boost my ability to focus and get in that clear headspace to write code?
Edit: adding some tips as I try to figure this out. Note: not scientifically proven (to my knowledge)
1. Music. which type depends on the individual.
2. Timing. Dead of night or early in the morning when the world is quiet. Not this isn’t a muscle you can flex at any time, you have to just capitalize on the right time.
3. Long shower
4. Caffeine
5. Get out of the office/house go somewhere else (like a cafe)
6. Take a walk
7. Have a beer
8. Write thoughts down in a notebook without any phones/laptop in sight and then jump to the laptop to implement
9. Meditate
10. Lift weights / exercise to work the demons out and quiet the mind
187 comments
[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 241 ms ] thread(1) set a timer for some specific time (say 5-10 minutes to start, could be more once you get experienced; it's important to use the timer so you don't need to think about when to stop.)
(2) meditate by closing eyes, focusing on the breath, relaxing, for a short time. (practice this by itself first if you are starting out) eyes closed is important because the point is to get your brain producing alpha waves.
(3) focus on some object (could be a thing in the your environment, could be something you visualize) and whenever your mind wanders from the object you put your attention on the object and tell yourself "that is interesting but this is more interesting". it does not matter if you are eyes open or closed at this point because the concentration state involves the brain producing beta waves.
I have the app "Meditation Studio" which consists of some softly-spoken people talking you through breathing exercises and relaxation - would recommend for anyone wanting to try these techniques.
The problem is that understanding it rests on something most people have never even heard of, much less looked into themselves: that experience does not actually work how they think it does. Experience seems panoramic, i.e. continuously seeing, continuously hearing, etc. But that's not the way it actually is. Experience actually consists of a very rapid series of micro-messages from the sense bases, and those are stitched together by the mind to provide the illusion of panoramic awareness.
Once that's understood, you can give the real definition of mindfulness: remembering to know what kind of message the mind is currently knowing. This will be like watching attention flicker between knowing information about touching, seeing, hearing, etc. A person is being mindful when they're watching how mind's attention is moving.
Just a few studies (there are countless): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951958/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20065132/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35153701/ https://ju.se/download/18.4662178a174aa5f82061c573/160103080...
ATP can’t be made in the brain, instead it is made by muscles. That’s why exercise and higher levels of creatine are good for cognitive performance and memory.
One of the tips from the video that I really love is called the cathedral effect. It was found that having high ceilings increases your creative capacity when doing an activity.
https://hubermanlab.com/optimizing-workspace-for-productivit...
ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFL6qRIJZ_Y
How to Focus to Change Your Brain - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG53Vxum0as
/s
He could for sure add in some sugar to help the medicine go down, but it would make the already long videos longer.
These podcasts are actually very dense with information once you get past the adverts.
I use RescueTime to stop myself getting distracted and set focus times. While working I will inadvertently start Google to research something and before I know I am wasting time on news, youtube, twitter and what not. Apps like RescueTime help you avoid such distractions by specifying focus time during which it will block access to distracting websites.
Start right when you wake up after a coffee and shower. Don't give your brain any time to get interested in anything else.
Write high level skeleton code / notes to get the juices flowing
I suspect it’s because they needs to have an emotive effect without distracting you from the story.
I should be just fine once I've made it through concentration camp . . .
If I know I wont get interrupted is much better than not getting interrupted. eg if no one is in the house I can concentrate more than if they're there.
I've noticed lately that "not being interrupted" is good, but "knowing deep in your soul that you can't be interupted" is better.
I think Cal Newport or someone was where I originally saw this idea spelled out, and it made a lot of sense of routines that I'd adopted subconciously and allowed me to plan them more explicitly.
I'm currently looking for a way to automate the pause of all incoming comms until the end of a pomodoro period.
Even if one can get exactly 2 hours of work per week done, well, some people just have a disability and not all disabilities are obvious or visible. Modern societies should make up the difference. If someone is simply unable to, I'd be happy to pay those extra 5% taxes to make it possible that they have a normal life by doing what they can and no more and no less.
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for such opinions as, from a European standard, the US has very little like this, but I guess there's no point only ever preaching to the choir / staying within the bubble. This is just how I see it.
I have yet to see whether the methods are scaleable and replicable for me, but a lot of the content resonated with me, especially the insight that concentration to flow states is a skill that can be learned and brought down from 20 minutes to just one with training.
It was an interesting mix of fundamentals from Cal Newport (Deep Work), plus mind emptying exercises, concentration meditation, exercise breaks and group work sessions.
I'll probably dig more into it.
Had a pretty sizeable psychological effect though.
I used to do sessions with FocusMate before which worked, but in a bit of a hit & miss. Key differences to this workshop was the length (blocking half a day, uninterrupted) and the guidance through it, taking away brain cycles for managing.
Still a bit unsure how to fully replicate that experience on my own, but just experiening that someone was able to trigger this kind of focus in me, on a dreaded task, on demand, had a profound effect in me to go try it again.
Thanks. You realized what you're capable of.
When you learn acrobatics, you may research about the shoes and haircut etc. that hinder the least and facilitate the most, but it will remain an ability, a skill, not a prosthesis, not an externally enabled state.
Moreover, it may have meant that since concentration is also a negative state (to gain concentration avoid its disturbances), you have to declutter, not to add further - to remove elements, not to pose them.
Moreover, it may have meant that to learn riding a bicycle, you "do it" (you climb the bike and attempt action), you do not «rely[] on science». The "science" is inside (natural cybernetics, feedback based skill building), not explicit outside.
I think there was a post on hn about l-theanine before.
I have a noticeably positive response to taking Acytel L-carnitine. One pill at night before bed. Taking half the dosage on an empty stomach gives best results, though makes ones stomach a little queasy.
The good news is that "sometimes it's effortless". Consider yourself blessed. For a lot of people that is never true and though they may even achieve some professional success by grinding, it will be joyless and likely not lead to real career satisfaction.
Now in terms of optimizing your coding output, don't focus on minmaxing this as if you were an assembly-line manager trying to squeeze out your next ounce of performance. Instead recognize that coding is a creative craft that depends hugely on your state of mind. Focus on finding ways to recognize and harness the energy overall, but recognize you can't force it. This comes in two parts:
First, if you are procrastinating diagnose that by practicing self-awareness at all levels. For me it can range from something as simple as eating the wrong lunch all the way up to existential crisis about how I'm living my life, and everything in between. This is obviously non-trivial, but it can be hugely important. A lot of folks mention exercise here—and I agree—but I would broaden it to include ones overall physical and mental health. By addressing those things holistically one establishes the conditions to allow inspiration to strike.
Once that is established then you need to recognize and harness the energy when it comes to you. It might be on a schedule, it might not. You might have an understanding boss who gives you carte blanche to organize your own deliverable schedule, or you might need to some stakeholder jiujitsu (up to and including finding a new job) in order to carve out space to make your process work for whoever is putting money in your pocket. The point though, is not to adopt some external productivity narrative (I was brought up with the puritan work ethic) but to instead recognize and optimize for the tao of your own abilities.
I have a cushion next to my desk and whenever I can't focus or don't know what to do next, I sit for ~5-10 min with eyes closed and usually the next best task becomes apparent. I then visualize it clearly and think about the sequence of steps needed to accomplish it.
If I don't do that, I usually find myself wasting extra time before I arrive at the next task, or I feel more low-energy / unfocused that I would have otherwise.
Regular exercise pairs well with this to keep your baseline energy up.
https://examine.com/supplements/theanine/