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Ask HN: Besides coffee, what could help me focus when I need to work?

10 points by baby ↗ HN
When I drink coffee I can focus for hours easily. Maybe for an entire day. The caveat is that I get nauseous if I drink too much, so I try to drink very little. I also get really stressed and my mood will get pretty bad, especially at the end of the day.

I was looking for other ways to get focused.

32 comments

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facorreia
Some days I find that music helps me focus. I think instrumental music is good for this. Or even just white noise e.g. rain.
wikwocket
Absolutely. It's good to have an "in the zone" playlist of your favorite music. Preferably energetic songs that you can enjoy and yet tune out, so you can focus on the tasks at hand.
cluelessfellow
I came here to suggest (white|pink|brown) noise. http://simplynoise.com/ is a great source.
xor-xor
I use this one-liner:

  play -c 2 -n synth pinknoise band -n 2500 4000 reverb 20
Works like a charm - when I'm working, reading or just trying to get a quick nap in some noisy (sic!) environment.
virmundi
I find isotonic and biaural beats helpful. There are few available on youtube such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w83qmAo5d1Q. Another great source for free tones is http://iso-tones.com/. Here you can download a few focus related MP3s to your device.
baby
This is pretty weird, I just tried it for a short period and now I hear weird sounds in my ears. I don't know if I should keep going on...
virmundi
Do it. For biaural beats you have to have headphones. Isotones don't require them. Not really sure what would happen (aside from loss of effectiveness) if you listened to biaurals without headphones.
xor-xor
I'm not sure if binaurals/isotones are of much use without at least some basic biofeedback equipment, but YMMV.
aryamaan
Hot/luke warm water. I find hot water equally helpful as a cup of coffee. You wont start feeling the effect immediately. You need to get hang of it. After three or four days, you wont feel the need of coffee (at lease it happened with me).
baby
I already drink hot water, Chinese habits :)

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm often doing intensive and effective work while I'm drinking hot water! Don't know if there is a real correlation here.

thedudemabry
Depending on your diet and sodium tolerance, broth can be a good alternative to coffee. I'm on a ketogenic diet (high fat, moderate protein, very-low carbs), so I have a few extra mg of sodium to play with, but I've tried stretches of replacing morning coffee with hot chicken broth and it is exactly as pleasant, without the caffeine ups and downs.
baby
Do you make it yourself? I'm lactose intolerant and I was trying to find ways to get calcium, apparently broth is a good way.
Someone1234
Totally cliche to say but exercise.

For me exercising the day before helps me sleep better that night which ultimately causes better focus the following day.

Just as long as you raise your heart rate for 10-20 minutes it seems to make a great deal of difference.

PS - Obviously consult your doctor before any radical changes in lifestyle. Also don't over-do it all of a sudden, start slow.

BorisMelnik
Just wanted to x2 this post with some experience.

For 15 years I worked out every day. Founded a company, and switched to ZERO workout, lots of coffee and little sleep.

Almost had a physical / emotional / mental breakdown and came to realization it was from not getting any exercise.

That was on Thanksgiving of this year. Been working out and back in the gym 4x per week and my gosh, my energy level is up 500%, no lie.

hashtree
L-Theanine since you are already drinking caffeine.
jimkri
I take adderall, I don't know if you have ever been tested or anything, but I find that I function so much better when I take my medicine. Also I noticed that when I stay away from coffee after I take my adderall I am more focused. If I just drink coffee though I become focused for a short time.

Also like Someone1234 said, Exercise. It helps to clear my mind and focus on what is important at that time. I function so much better after running or doing some type of exercise.

stevenspasbo
I also take adderall, and it really helps.

I also drink a lot of coffee though. Usually 3 cups before lunch, then I'm done for the day.

jimkri
Yea it really does, it also allows me to go all day without eating, which is both good and bad. I was drinking that much too, but I swear it makes me less creative, if that makes sense. I have so many more ideas about stuff when I don't drink my coffee. But that's getting off topic.
baby
I'm trying to stay away from drugs. Coffee is already too strong for me.
GoldenMonkey
I find the Pomodoro Technique helps me focus on one task at a time... even finishing the tasks I would rather procrastinate on. Give it a try for a week or a day. Vitamin-R is a great mac app for this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

baby
I always go back to the Pomodoro Technique, or at least a variant of it:

I set-up a 30 minutes timer. I start working. If I get disturbed I reset the timer.

It's magical but it asks for a lot of mental efforts and willpower. Even to launch that timer now that I know that it will work. Coffee is more like cheating.

rifung
naps, or more generally sleep.
shardinator
Green tea. Once you get to the end of the day have a glass of green tea, there are many varieties so with some experimentation chances are you'll find one you like. Green tea has a little caffeine as well as the amino acid l-theanine which works with caffeine to improve your brain function. My personal experience suggests that whatever it is, there's something going on that works really well.
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jordsmi
green tea, caffeine l-theanine pills.

both still give you the caffeine boost without having to actually drink it all day

bzalasky
This might be counterintuitive, but cut the stimulants and sleep more. I've been way more focused and productive since eliminating caffeine from my system.
vishalzone2002
Listen to your body. But to do that you first need to connect with your body. Meditation helps with that. Start meditating today even if you are doing it for 1 minute. Doing meditation obviously helps with focus. The self control muscle develops if you exercise it. Like you do more weights you start having control over more temptations.

Once you are into it, your body will clearly signal you what are its struggle. Yoga or any other form of mind+body exercise helps you fix it. I am not a exceptional practitioner of above practices. But I know people that do not take any kind of medications not even tea or coffee and have really high focus and energy levels through out.

All the best !!

rrrrrraul
Like already mentioned, sleep. In addition to that, most recently I found that listening to "Tibetan singing bowls" (random Spotify playlist I found) helps keep me in the zone.