Help Concentrating!

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I know a lot of us have trouble staying focused on tasks. I physically cannot sit still doing 1 thing for more than about 30 minutes. I don't know of anything I can do to keep focus.

Does anyone have any tricks they can teach me? Mainly I need help concentrating on writing and studying.

Multitask.

I've already tried listening to music and playing the TV at the same time, but I just wind up getting distracted by THOSE things and neglecting what I'm meant to be doing.

Try to look for anything interesting in the material, and you'll teleport into the future before you know it.

Hmm....people talk a lot about "writer's block," but there's not much about "reader's block."

Kill all background noise and interruptions.

Make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Create definite start and end points to the task in hand, so the remit is simple, clear, and not too daunting.

Try a dual-pass approach - in the first session, just sift through the work and get a feel for the "lay of the land." WIth a bit of luck, when you go for the second pass, your mind will have a better idea of what to do and how to do it, especially if there's been an interval of an hour or two between passes. Sometimes it's amazing what the human mind can achieve unconsciously.

If you still keep losing focus, try to discover what it is about the work that is making that happen. Are there particular points in the text that buck your attention? Try to analyse the moment you lose your grip on it, and see if you can explain exactly why it happens. If you can't do a thing, the next best thing is to work out WHY you can't do it. For years, all I would do was beat myself up for failing, and I made little progress until I began to wonder what was really going on in the detail of the thing.

As a last resort, cut the remit down to shorter chunks - see if you can manage just one or two paragraphs.

But I'd also be looking at the feasibility of the remit. If they're just piling tons of boring work onto your shoulders, I've no idea how anybody gets through that. Also, is the stuff explained clearly enough? Sometimes I've practically broken myself trying to fathom scruffily-written teaching material, because I've assumed the material was clear and concise. If a book just doesn't make sense to you, see if you can find an alternative information source that suits your mindset better.

I couldn't focus when i was at home. Try to study in a school's library, where other students come to do their studies. Also, try to study with a fellow schoolmate or in a group, groups are always more succesful than a single student. On your own, you loose focus quickly. But others around can help you going for hours.

Thank you for the good suggestions, everyone!

Actually, I am not a student. The writing I am doing is my own- working on a novel. Meanwhile, I am trying to study Japanese since I live in Japan. I think a lot of the trouble is that I'm not being FORCED to do either of these things, but that I need to use my own willpower to do them.

I'm gonna try some of the ideas posted here though

Ah yes, the reason I fail to do a lot of things is that I don't really have to do them.

Exactly. I have little motivation to do things, unless I am SOL or something.

Wow! That is SOOOOO me. I find it nearly impossible to do anything that isn't late unless I have some special obsession happening about it. Once it is late, then I am on it with a decent passion.

Oh, what I meant was sh*t out of luck (SOL). Meaning that I won't do something until basically forced to by some outside source.

Same here. Right now, i wouldn't go to somewhat clean my room, but i have to do it, just because two friends come over to watch Copa del Rey semifinals. Sometimes i really hate my laziness. Is the lack of willpower part of AS?

I hate mine too. I like to clean my place though cuz I have OCPD. I cannot stand for things not to be orderly.

But as far as doing anything to try and better my life, I am pretty content to just coast by in the same routine. I watch my co-workers doing all kinds of stuff to get better jobs and move to other places and put forth effort to make friends. I don't do any of that and can't be bothered to. Part of the reason why is that I am happy in the routinized lifestyle I am. The other reason is because changing things causes me worry and anxiety.

I think this must be an AS thing. I read that having great difficulties with change is a trait of AS.

Earplugs, exercise, sleep, decent food etc.

Identify why you are distracted and come up with ways to counter those distractions.

Out of the blue: deep pressure works wonders for me. Sensory vests, weighted pads/blankets, what have you. they are awesome. It relaxes me when I'm a bit too hyper for the task.

1. Doing at least 30 minutes of yoga or some other form of exercise every day. I do freestyle yoga poses or stretching any time I have something in the microwave and other random times during the day when I'm at home, and it helps a lot to keep me focused the rest of the day. Slow, controlled stretches, imagining each tiny tear in the ligaments and other tissues is my grown-up version of biting myself or slicing myself up with razor blades

2. Meditation is hands down the best thing I've found for concentration, anxiety/stress reduction, and general mental defrag. Got serious about this only 6 months ago, but haven't missed a day since and do not plan to.

Any meditatively practiced exercise can help for this kind of thing, but only if practiced consistently.