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I did try FocusBooster for a while and now I'm trying Pomodoros. I think my problem is that I try to go hardcore with it at first and work for a solid 10 hours.

I did try FocusBooster for a while and now I'm trying Pomodoros. I think my problem is that I try to go hardcore with it at first and work for a solid 10 hours. Then I burn out from it and don't work for the whole rest of the week.I like the idea of going back to video games or whatever on a more short term basis.

nsxwolf 13y ago
Yes - do that and don't feel guilty about it. If procrastination were a disability, then what you do during the breaks would be reasonable accommodations :)
IbJacked 13y ago
I haven't tried FocusBooster, but lately I've been trying Focus@Will, which plays music mixed in ways to keep you focused. Seems to be working pretty well for me.
yaddayadda 13y ago
There was a famous marshmallow experiment out of Stanfard looking at self-control. It's been followed with many other related studies. One recently had two groups of students do a mental task (if my memory serves, one group had to add or memorize 2-digit numbers, the other group had to add or memorize 7-digit numbers). As the students left the cognitive activity area, they were offered a snack and could choose between fresh fruit or chocolate. The students with the easier cognitive task more often than not chose the fresh fruit, while the students with the harder cognitive task tended toward the chocolate. Again, if memory serves, it was a pretty strong correlation. The points being, (a) at any given moment we have a limited amount of self-control, and (b) that limited amount of self-control extends beyond any single given task or situation. We can increase our overall self-control (e.g., focusing for five minutes can be increased to focusing for five hours), but not significantly in a short period of time (e.g., it might take years to increase a persons ability to focus from a five minute period to a five hour period.
- san86 13y ago
  you are probably talking about this: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703478704574612052322122442.html?mod=article-outset-box http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870347870457461...

nsxwolf 13y ago

Yes - do that and don't feel guilty about it. If procrastination were a disability, then what you do during the breaks would be reasonable accommodations :)

IbJacked 13y ago

I haven't tried FocusBooster, but lately I've been trying Focus@Will, which plays music mixed in ways to keep you focused. Seems to be working pretty well for me.

yaddayadda 13y ago

There was a famous marshmallow experiment out of Stanfard looking at self-control. It's been followed with many other related studies. One recently had two groups of students do a mental task (if my memory serves, one group had to add or memorize 2-digit numbers, the other group had to add or memorize 7-digit numbers). As the students left the cognitive activity area, they were offered a snack and could choose between fresh fruit or chocolate. The students with the easier cognitive task more often than not chose the fresh fruit, while the students with the harder cognitive task tended toward the chocolate. Again, if memory serves, it was a pretty strong correlation. The points being, (a) at any given moment we have a limited amount of self-control, and (b) that limited amount of self-control extends beyond any single given task or situation. We can increase our overall self-control (e.g., focusing for five minutes can be increased to focusing for five hours), but not significantly in a short period of time (e.g., it might take years to increase a persons ability to focus from a five minute period to a five hour period.

san86 13y ago
you are probably talking about this: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703478704574612052322122442.html?mod=article-outset-box http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870347870457461...