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> In retrospect, you should ask yourself what specifically caused you to be a C average student. I appreciate your response. I'm 32 now, and I've had a long

by toop43 7y ago

> In retrospect, you should ask yourself what specifically caused you to be a C average student. I appreciate your response. I'm 32 now, and I've had a long time to think about this question. Here's what I think is the answer: I lack the focus over time which is required to build a deep knowledge or skill. In other words, I get bored or frustrated quickly. Once bored, or frustrated, learning tapers off VERY quickly. I'm not a child prodigy, so learning anything takes focussed effort over time. The second it gets hard, or boring, my ability to stay on task diminishes rapidly. It's not as simple as "grin and bear it", trust me I've tried. In college that's all I did. Grin, and bear the struggle. That's no way to learn. I need to be able to sit, fail, learn, sit, fail, learn, succeed, over and over and over. But for every sit, fail ... a frustration builds. Even the slightest frustration / anger, saps you of focus. If it's not frustration/anger from struggling that derails me... It's sheer boredom. I can sit and read a boring book, for example. But after a few pages, I'll straight up forget what I was even reading. It's like my brain just goes offline whenever I encounter something boring. I have to stop, and re-read whatever it was I was reading. That's truly what it comes down to. I can't sustain focus on something long enough (hours, days, weeks) to become really good at it. For what it's worth - I've been prescribed and have taken adderal. It's a miracle for focus, but I HATE how it makes me feel. My heart rate jumps 10-15 bpm (from ~50 resting, to 60, or 65). I FEEL my heart beating harder, which is not pleasant. Then, hours later once the drug has worn off, I feel down... Depressed, and still my heart feels 'heavy'. Oh and that's on a "small" dose (5-10mg). I can't take the stuff.

derrick_jensen 7y ago
What do you do after you get bored? My Achilles heel has always been too much internet and distractions, and actively removing those has helped increase concentration. Not specifically related, but I personally find that having too many options for what to do generally makes me hop between things too much. I have a theme for every day of the week, and I don't allow myself to work on anything under a theme for another day. MWF are three courses respectively, TH is backend for a side project, weekend is frontend for a side project.
- toop43 7y ago
  > What do you do after you get bored? Anything else. I'm not sure it matters. The boredom is the problem, not having options. You could lock me in a room with nothing to do but read a book about thermodynamics, or study algorithms, and as soon as my interest starts to fade... my progress slows DRAMATICALLY. What am I doing in this locked room, other than reading?? I don't know, probably just staring at the wall thinking about something else. Then realizing I'm wasting time. Start reading again... Lose track, get bored.... Stare at the wall and think about something else... Realize I'm distracted, start reading again... rinse, repeat. Will get through an entire chapter, and barely remember what I actually read.
  - mindcrime 7y ago
    Have you tried the Pomodoro technique[1] by any chance? If not, it might be worth a shot. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
bpizzi 7y ago
> I'm not a child prodigy, so learning anything takes focussed effort over time. Like (almost) everyone else here. > The second it gets hard, or boring, my ability to stay on task diminishes rapidly. Bis. The thing is to be resilient: keep doing it (staying out of your comfort zone) and eventually you'll push your limits, like everyone else (just ignore the very few geniuses that clearly have some special genes). The other thing is that it looks like you stayed in that comfort zone for a while, and 2 months is way too short for efforts to have effect. The hard truth is that you may have spent some years in that dreaded comfort zone, and those years are just gone. What you'll you with the incoming years is totally your own business, but whatever you do, just remember: you won the lottery the day your were born, just be happy with yourself for the simple fact that you live :]

by toop43 7y ago

derrick_jensen 7y ago

What do you do after you get bored? My Achilles heel has always been too much internet and distractions, and actively removing those has helped increase concentration. Not specifically related, but I personally find that having too many options for what to do generally makes me hop between things too much. I have a theme for every day of the week, and I don't allow myself to work on anything under a theme for another day. MWF are three courses respectively, TH is backend for a side project, weekend is frontend for a side project.

toop43 7y ago
> What do you do after you get bored? Anything else. I'm not sure it matters. The boredom is the problem, not having options. You could lock me in a room with nothing to do but read a book about thermodynamics, or study algorithms, and as soon as my interest starts to fade... my progress slows DRAMATICALLY. What am I doing in this locked room, other than reading?? I don't know, probably just staring at the wall thinking about something else. Then realizing I'm wasting time. Start reading again... Lose track, get bored.... Stare at the wall and think about something else... Realize I'm distracted, start reading again... rinse, repeat. Will get through an entire chapter, and barely remember what I actually read.
- mindcrime 7y ago
  Have you tried the Pomodoro technique[1] by any chance? If not, it might be worth a shot. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

bpizzi 7y ago

> I'm not a child prodigy, so learning anything takes focussed effort over time. Like (almost) everyone else here. > The second it gets hard, or boring, my ability to stay on task diminishes rapidly. Bis. The thing is to be resilient: keep doing it (staying out of your comfort zone) and eventually you'll push your limits, like everyone else (just ignore the very few geniuses that clearly have some special genes). The other thing is that it looks like you stayed in that comfort zone for a while, and 2 months is way too short for efforts to have effect. The hard truth is that you may have spent some years in that dreaded comfort zone, and those years are just gone. What you'll you with the incoming years is totally your own business, but whatever you do, just remember: you won the lottery the day your were born, just be happy with yourself for the simple fact that you live :]