Data, focus and context

[Anamarija]

Even in years I have manage to change my priorities in life I still fighting with focus and spending my time and energy in the most constructive way. I work only in season, so I have plenty time trough to rest of the year to work on my self. But I still think that I'm to slow and I like to learn to be more focused.

Usually spend most of my time on internet collecting & sharing data and many times trying to do lot of things in the same time. With a distraction around me I easily become anxious and restless. So easy to loose focus and on the end of the day I feel exhausted and doesn't feel this great feeling when you know that you spent your energy and time in something valuable, like a building a context.

I found this great article about context and I like to share it with those that have a same problem with me. (Also, this article now you can read on Croatian, Danish)

Evidence is mounting that our haphazard info-consuming ways on the web are adversely affecting our neurological and cognitive functioning - as well as wasting time by making us far less efficient - and far more distracted - than we think we are. The internet is a wonderful (read: essential) thing for humanity, but the way we use it seems to need some tweaking.

According to a study in the Journal of Digital Information, people who read documents online containing hypertext didn't retain as much information as people reading without hypertext. The temptation to click on hyperlinks caused breaks in focus and attention, interrupting the flow of the material, thus compromising memory retention.
Long-term memory is essential for building models, maps, or schemas - a.k.a. context. When we are poor in context, our ability to make informed assessments of incoming information is crippled. New information may be rejected simply because no groundwork (context) has been laid within which to assimilate it. Learning is stifled.

Also, I'm puzzled with this part, because for me clicking for the hypertext is building a context, not contrary.

We pay for our broken attention span in mitigated comprehension and recall. Scattered attention on the internet does not conduce to contemplation and the formation of deeper meaning, or broader understanding through dot connecting, a.k.a. context building. The ultimate example, of course, is aimless scrolling through social media feeds, "witnessing" lots of information while learning virtually nothing from it.

Dopamin-addiction feedback loop

Daniel J. Levitin, neuroscientist, warns us that "Multitasking creates a dopamine-addiction feedback loop, effectively rewarding the brain for losing focus and for constantly searching for stimulation," adding that this rapid switching from one task to another "tweaks the novelty-seeking, reward-seeking centres of the brain, causing a burst of endogenous opioids (no wonder it feels so good!), all to the detriment of our staying on task. It is the ultimate empty-caloried brain candy. Instead of reaping the big rewards that come from sustained, focused effort, we instead reap empty rewards from completing a thousand little sugar-coated tasks."[iii]

This is particularly problem to me especially if I give some information about my self in public I always searching for confirmation. Anyone having the same problem and how you deal with it?

Russ Poldrack, a neuroscientist at Stanford, found that learning information while multitasking causes the new information to go to the wrong part of the brain. If students study and watch TV at the same time, for example, the information from their schoolwork goes into the striatum, a region specialised for storing new procedures and skills, not facts and ideas. Without the distraction of TV, the information goes into the hippocampus, where it is organised and categorised in a variety of ways, making it easier to retrieve.[vi]

The sad fact is that most humans' monofocal tendencies permit the "powers that be" on this planet to get away with rape, theft, genocide, Satanic child trafficking networks, covert population control, and a plethora of other wrongs. Why? Because we do not develop our awareness of a broad spectrum of relevant areas, thus empowering ourselves and thereby making it much harder to dupe and manipulate us into serving agendas set by faceless powers operating from behind the curtain.

Surveying the social media scene, this is another thing that jumps right out. There simply isn't enough strategy, cohesion, or planning going on. We're adrift in a sea of endless data and infinite possibilities - and to a significant extent we seem paralysed by that. The Titanic is heading aimlessly at the icebergs because no one is at the wheel. Where do we turn for direction? How do you apply that hard-won knowledge now? What are the pragmatic action steps? Who will help you do it?

So, my question is: How you managed to stay focus on something? Is it just about practice or there is something else?

 

[Nico]

Very interesting subject. As I found myself working as a programmer, we function by tasks and todo list. We never stop and dwelve into the hard core of the subject. We are working for a client who has dozen of years of development in his own field, we have been engaged has beginners and yet we are expected to produce "value" as fast as the business pole of the company want to, in order to be seen as good actors in the race for competition. Problems and confusion ensue because no one is very knowledgable about the subject and everyone perform tasks upon tasks... Those who truly knows the field are rare and not put in position of teaching. With my coworkers We have been teached a programmation language, that have 50 years, in... 4 months, and beginning to produce right after that without continuing to study the field. So we gain knowledge by trial and errors, it's kind of slow, sources of error and erratic. How to make zombie from greed, aha !

My view on it is to "meditate" before, during and after learning. Taking things as slow as they unravel and leading with your heart and not the head : it's easier to learn and more profound when you enjoy it !

That's said, I am confronted by this binge seeking, because we are too mindlessly focus on the same subject every day, the mind quickly wander to get another "taste" of information, and it switch toward another "field of knowledge", without considering the utility of it.

There are plenty of articles on SOTT about the subject, but when we want to fully acknowledge a subject, a book or more is truly the right piece to be undertook. Being free of being disturb by any kind of emotions, good or bad, is also a prerequisite, AND the goal (freedom :)).

Other tips :
- listening classical/ambiance/binaural music
- reading outdoor in a peaceful country
- beginning in peace and not force the mind, if it wanders, stop let it calm down by itself and return to peace

 

[3DStudent]

I know about the dopamine research-fests. If you must search something, find just the bare minimum, the least that will suffice. When the answer is found, let it go and move on or get back to what you were doing.

Multi tasking has been shown to be less productive. So try to pick one thing and stay on task with it.

Make the place where you work an atmosphere for work. Like they say, don't read in bed, because bed is where you sleep and you can't concentrate in a place that makes you sleepy, at least subconsciously.

 

[BrendaH]

Interesting article!!

[Quote author= Dakota]
So, my question is: How you managed to stay focus on something? Is it just about practice or there is something else?[/quote]

In my case I observed that it depends. There are subjects that are very easy to understand and some that are more difficult because of my lack of knowledge in that subject, and as a consquence of this I can't concentrate. For example when I first read the wave, the first chapter was very easy to understand but when I started to dig into the next ones some things were more complex to understand and I remeber that I was frustrated because in some points I was reading and not understanding a word of what I was reading. I decided to stop and gather knowledge about many of the subjects that were being discussed and I also joined the forum and keep gathering knowledge from different threads and then after a few weeks I decided to go back to the wave and this time was really easy to understand, so my problems with concentration and conprehension were solved. And something that I do either reading online or with a physical book is to have notes by chapter of the more importants concepts being discussed, this is very helpful because it keep your attention to the text and also you can do a review of the chapter with your notes whenever you want.

If you pay attention you'll see WHY you can't concentrate, in my case I found that many times I don't want to keep reading so when I realize this, I stop in that moment and come back later, reading because you just want to end the chapter, article, whatever you are reading and not give the proper attention, would lead you to anything and if you stop to think in that very moment, "what am I understanding, what are the conections of what I'm reading regarding the whole text?" you'll see that you gather almost half of the whole idea.

According to a study in the Journal of Digital Information, people who read documents online containing hypertext didn't retain as much information as people reading without hypertext. The temptation to click on hyperlinks caused breaks in focus and attention, interrupting the flow of the material, thus compromising memory retention.
Long-term memory is essential for building models, maps, or schemas - a.k.a. context. When we are poor in context, our ability to make informed assessments of incoming information is crippled. New information may be rejected simply because no groundwork (context) has been laid within which to assimilate it. Learning is stifled.

I experienced this, when I avoid the hypertext and is an important one and I keep reading, it feels like I have somethig pending to do and this could distract me so I end reading the sentence and I go to the hypertext. But if there are many hypertexts I don't click in them, only if it is important because having lots of hypertexts is really a distraction, at least for me. I agree:

[Quote author= 3D Student]Multi tasking has been shown to be less productive. So try to pick one thing and stay on task with it.[/quote]

 

[Alada]

When we are poor in context, our ability to make informed assessments of incoming information is crippled. New information may be rejected simply because no groundwork (context) has been laid within which to assimilate it. Learning is stifled.

[...]

We pay for our broken attention span in mitigated comprehension and recall. Scattered attention on the internet does not conduce to contemplation and the formation of deeper meaning, or broader understanding through dot connecting, a.k.a. context building. The ultimate example, of course, is aimless scrolling through social media feeds, "witnessing" lots of information while learning virtually nothing from it.

I've been wondering along similar lines, especially within social media and news headlines. It was kind of difficult before maybe but at least people could see results on the ground (think post 9-11 and chain/s of subsequent events), and connect the dots for themselves in a logical way. Even if it stopped at "It's the oil" there was a sense that yes, what we're being sold is not the whole banana.

Now though, I get a sense that what non-MSM peeps can see, and so the dots they can join is SO far removed from the perspective of those who buy into the lies, that it doesn't even register. And there's so much distraction / fake news layered on top of the core problems of corrupt elites, deep state and MSM mind control, the 'left' becoming the 'right', that the chances of getting through enough dots to join seem slimmer by the day.

I know that may seem pessimistic but sometimes you do throw you hands up and turn FB off for a while and recover!

Maybe that can be helpful for some, it's been my tactic for the last few days, just to take some time out to try and get reorganised and refocused. We just have to remember to start again!

Another way is to 'push' through, trying to consciously bring more attention into whatever we're doing can help to sharpen the focus. That seems to make sense in the context of an aim though, if there's a specific research topic or task that it can be applied to. Maybe experiment and see what works.

 

[Anamarija]

My view on it is to "meditate" before, during and after learning. Taking things as slow as they unravel and leading with your heart and not the head : it's easier to learn and more profound when you enjoy it !

Other tips :
- listening classical/ambiance/binaural music
- reading outdoor in a peaceful country
- beginning in peace and not force the mind, if it wanders, stop let it calm down by itself and return to peace

I know about the dopamine research-fests. If you must search something, find just the bare minimum, the least that will suffice. When the answer is found, let it go and move on or get back to what you were doing.

Great advices, thank you both. I will try to implement your suggestions in my daily routine.

[Quote author= Dakota]
So, my question is: How you managed to stay focus on something? Is it just about practice or there is something else?

In my case I observed that it depends. There are subjects that are very easy to understand and some that are more difficult because of my lack of knowledge in that subject, and as a consquence of this I can't concentrate. For example when I first read the wave, the first chapter was very easy to understand but when I started to dig into the next ones some things were more complex to understand and I remeber that I was frustrated because in some points I was reading and not understanding a word of what I was reading. I decided to stop and gather knowledge about many of the subjects that were being discussed and I also joined the forum and keep gathering knowledge from different threads and then after a few weeks I decided to go back to the wave and this time was really easy to understand, so my problems with concentration and conprehension were solved. And something that I do either reading online or with a physical book is to have notes by chapter of the more importants concepts being discussed, this is very helpful because it keep your attention to the text and also you can do a review of the chapter with your notes whenever you want.
[/quote]

You're absolutely right! I have problem with concentration when I don't understand material, but also when I stay on the path and force my self to read further I feel great joy when I finally understand something truly.
Also, I have start to read The Wave couple of times, also read many session in not particularly order, but always failed to do it in order. Now, I write the concepts and try to make my own list. Will see will I succeed to maintain continuity.

 

[Anamarija]

I know that may seem pessimistic but sometimes you do throw you hands up and turn FB off for a while and recover!

Maybe that can be helpful for some, it's been my tactic for the last few days, just to take some time out to try and get reorganised and refocused. We just have to remember to start again!

Another way is to 'push' through, trying to consciously bring more attention into whatever we're doing can help to sharpen the focus. That seems to make sense in the context of an aim though, if there's a specific research topic or task that it can be applied to. Maybe experiment and see what works.

Thanks for good advices.

This days I made, again, list things to do, just to see (in first) what I'm doing all day and how much constructive stuff I can learn and do. And how I feel about it on the end of the day.

I'm trying to follow Gurdjieff's advice to work when you don't want to work.

 

[msante]

Hi Dakota, thanks for bringing this topic...

Even in years I have manage to change my priorities in life I still fighting with focus and spending my time and energy in the most constructive way. I work only in season, so I have plenty time trough to rest of the year to work on my self. But I still think that I'm to slow and I like to learn to be more focused.

An interesting point that I have noticed on myself is that when I have little time to do things I work better. It is odd but it seems that when I have obstacles or limitations I focus better on my task and I am more efficient to manage my time. When I have more free time though I can have many plans and a to do list I am more out of focus and I do not know where to start...

I think that "monotasking" vs multitasking should not be an issue of black & white thinking and to take a definitely choice. I noticed that for some kind of task (specially resolving everyday problems in my job) I can take some advantage of multitasking skills. But it is true that when I want to get new knowledge or approach to a new topic or information I need my mind to be 100% (or as max as possible) focused on this specific task. Even I can be distracted by music in the background, so I prefer look for a peacefull place and time to do this kind of activities.

Evidence is mounting that our haphazard info-consuming ways on the web are adversely affecting our neurological and cognitive functioning - as well as wasting time by making us far less efficient - and far more distracted - than we think we are. The internet is a wonderful (read: essential) thing for humanity, but the way we use it seems to need some tweaking.

According to a study in the Journal of Digital Information, people who read documents online containing hypertext didn't retain as much information as people reading without hypertext. The temptation to click on hyperlinks caused breaks in focus and attention, interrupting the flow of the material, thus compromising memory retention.
Long-term memory is essential for building models, maps, or schemas - a.k.a. context. When we are poor in context, our ability to make informed assessments of incoming information is crippled. New information may be rejected simply because no groundwork (context) has been laid within which to assimilate it. Learning is stifled.

Also I have experimented this effect. Read material on the web that have hyperlinks usually is to me a strong temptation to click on it. I usually open other browser tab to do not loose the original source... but most of the time I end up having 4 or 5 tabs and the main thread tend to be lost.

Just my experiencies...

 

[Anamarija]

An interesting point that I have noticed on myself is that when I have little time to do things I work better. It is odd but it seems that when I have obstacles or limitations I focus better on my task and I am more efficient to manage my time. When I have more free time though I can have many plans and a to do list I am more out of focus and I do not know where to start...

Agree, I'm too more efficient when I have little time.

But now with writing down everything that I want to do trough the day it is like I have put extra pressure on my self, but also great way to finally see how much I did trough the day. The best thing is that usually I indulge my self every time when I don't like to do something, but now I try to push my self exactly in those moments.

Here it is another article with great advices from Sott.net: Countering distraction: How to develop laser-like mental focus

1. Choose only one thing to do (Pick one task or sub-task and stick to it until it's either done or you've decided it really can't be done now.)
2. Your best time of day (Whenever you feel most focused — or are least likely to be distracted — use that time for tasks that require the focus.)
3. Short breathing exercise
4. Mindfulness (While working away at your task, try to bring the mind gently back to what you are doing.)
5. Brief diversion (Studies show that when people take a short break they return with renewed vigour.)
6. Take a walk, appreciate nature & doodling (Even just looking at a picture of nature can help your attention. Try resetting your desktop background.)
7. Refocus (If you are finding this difficult, then use the mindfulness strategy again.)
8. Self-check (However, learning to periodically self-check can improve attention and help people focus better on tasks)
9. Adjust the task (Adjust them so the challenge is in the sweet-spot: not too easy, not too hard. Tasks that fit our skills but push us a bit are easier to enjoy: and so it's easier to focus.)
10. Listen to your body and mind (When the head starts to hurt, the body to complain, then that's the sign that it's time to stop.)

I'm aware that this is rather simple advices but I find them very usefull.

 

[Anamarija]

I just found great video about focus by Daniel Goleman.

Now Goleman comes to Intelligence Squared for an exclusive talk on the themes of his latest book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. Attention, he will argue, is an underrated asset for high achievers in any field. Incorporating findings from neuroscience, Goleman will show why we need three kinds of focus: inner, for self-awareness; other, for the empathy that builds effective relationships; and outer, for understanding the larger systems in which organizations operate. Those who excel rely on Smart Practices such as mindfulness meditation, focused preparation and positive emotions that help improve habits, add new skills, and sustain excellence.

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