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What is (hyper)focus like for you? (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-01 22:44:01
Imported:
2023-02

Content

Hello folks!

Time for trying to book part 3. 😀

Once again, if you happen to remember, please let us know if you'd like to be named or remain anonymous if your answer ends up getting used in the book!

If you don't want to be quoted at all, you are still free to comment, but you'll need to let us know that you'd like to not be quoted. 🙂

TODAY'S QUESTION IS...

What is YOUR experience with focus *and* hyperfocus?

What does your focus feel like?

What does your hyperfocus feel like?

How do the two feelings compare?

Any funny stories about that one time you hyperfocused a bit too much?

Do you know how to 'hack' your hyperfocus? Share your tips & tricks!

How do you pull yourself out of hyperfocus? 

Or anything else you can think about sharing relating to hyperfocus! The good and the bad. 🧡 That is, if you feel like sharing any of the bad with us.

We'll be reading and pulling comments all this week! 😄

Comments

Todd Holdsworth

Happy to be named 🙂 Focus is meh. It's like the thing that is necessary at the time, but not favourable. Like doing chores around the house. Focus takes energy - and I don't just mean the type you get from food and oxygen - I mean your life force or emotional energy. For example, at the moment my wife has been battling a long-term health issue, so I've been doing extra around the house on top of the already-massive list of stuff I have to do. One of our kids has ASD and ADHD, so there's already extra time and energy required there. As my ADHD coach has said and strongly encourages, "ADHD brains need playtime", or 'time to recharge the batteries that run down faster than a neurotypical brain'. I haven't been getting much 'playtime' for the last couple of weeks, so while I may have plenty of energy from food and exercise, the life force or emotional energy has been lowering, making trying to focus harder and harder. Hyperfocus feels like the default setting. Prior to medication, if I had to do something uninteresting and I didn't have the energy to focus on it, my focus would wane as fast as every 2 seconds. A day of that is exhausting. Hyperfocus feels good when it's on something I want to or can be doing, and amazing when it's something I'm passionate about (like the default ADHD thing - helping people). When it's on something else it feels horrible, like an invisible vortex that won't let up. I'm so glad I love my job and it has plenty of variety, because I've been in jobs that are the opposite, the worst of which would end up in crippling anxiety due to how stupid my struggles made me feel. I've hyperfocused on something I was thinking about while driving a few times, and missed the turn or exit I was meant to take. I've never had an accident and have been driving for over 2 decades. There was no danger as I was aware of what I was doing and my surroundings, but the remaining capacity I had to think about anything else was taken up. Whoops 😅 One of the things about my hyperfocus I needed wifey to explain to me was how I could possibly be tired after driving for 6 hours. I love driving so much, I just couldn't understand it 😅 But when I'm driving, I'm always monitoring everything and scanning for potential hazards, so much so that if I see or hear one, I can't hear what someone's saying to me momentarily. I explain this to people on the phone in advance so they don't get cranky if I ask them to repeat themselves. I believe it's important to try to make kids with ADHD passionate about cars and driving so their brain will be less of a disadvantage to them behind the wheel. One of the most boring things about my job is documentation. No one loves it. Don't know if you'd call it a hack as such, and as long as I don't have to do it all the time it's OK, but I make documentation enjoyable by applying designs that I feel make them look good, keep my interest and attract people's eyes to the most important parts first. In essence, making them how I want all documentation to be to keep my interest - an ADHD brain. I figure if it can keep an ADHD brain engaged, it can keep anybody engaged! I can pull myself out of hyperfocus by periodically evaluating if what I am doing is in my best interest. If it's not, it can be a struggle to try to focus on the other thing, and can take time to shift it. Sometimes the shift is unsuccessful, so then it's just a battle to stay focused while the remnant hyperfocus of the other thing is constantly tugging my focus in the other direction. My dream would be a world where all ADHD brains don't need medication and can be free to jump from one thing to another, or not, and those people are free to do whatever and go wherever their brain takes them. This appeals to me much more than having to be medicated in order to keep up with the life I've created that's sort of following a neurotypical 'blueprint'.

Nelka

Anonymous, please. Focus is when I am mildly interested in something. When I do whatever I focus on in very short bursts, I can manage to do it. If I try to do it in a long 'one-time' shot - nope, not likely to get done, will not finish ever, and get exhausted, besides. Hyperfocus is when I am really interested. Emotionally and intellectually involved. Loud "I wanna!", sort of. A hack with my hyperfocus is to plan/do something I am really gonna enjoy (and also hyperfocus) on. Doesn't always work, but does work often. A simple example is taking a break from writing to eat and read (enjoy both, hyperfocus on reading). Tends to work only because I learned to notice my body and pay attention to its reactions, so I might notice I hyperfocused and need to go to the bathroom (for a while already), and when I notice that, I discipline myself to go, with the rest following. But it isn't easy and doesn't always work. Funny story: when my oldest was a preteen, I was once on my bed, reading. Suddenly I am interrupted by loud laughter. I look up - my daughter is standing there with a friend and laughing. I ask what happened. She explains that they were standing there (a foot away) and talking about me, loudly, for about ten minutes. And I, of course, didn't notice them. Besides, my kids know that if they need my attention, they must get it, first, confirm they actually got it, and then generally talk a bit slower first, to give me time to get my brain away from wherever it was and into our conversation.

Anonymous

Feel free to quote me by name. I might be late to the party. #ADHD but here goes. My hyperfocus engages quickly and forcefully. I like to say that I am easily entertained because there is very little I can't get lost in. Details fascinate. Only when I get tired or hungry enough or when I truly don't have a grasp on something does my focus start drifting. In some ways, this is very adaptive to neurotypical expectations. People like it when you can show that you are really focused on their problem. Where I run into trouble is that the next person to interrupt me either gets brushed off because I am "working" or they're so insistent that their emergency becomes my emergency. So when I hyperfocus, I feel like the Mom in Mitchell's vs the Machines when she gets captured in the deluxe massage recliner. I will be here for a while.......what?!? Focus is a little different. When the meds are clicking just right and my brain is fed and rested, I can get metacognirive enough to manage the cognitive resources being expended so I am aware of time and space and people around me without getting angry about it. Did I mention interrupting my hyperfocus can make me angry sometimes? So focus is a happy, less extreme place. It's unfamiliar but I like it in small doses. I suspect it wears me out being aware of what's outside my immediate attention though. Funny story this afternoon. My two older daughters made brownies this afternoon (teacher workday). One of them brought me one while I was in hyperfocus mode. She stuck it under my nose. I took the brownie without making eye contact. I started eating the brownie. At some point, she left. As I was finishing the brownie, it occurred to me I really should have stopped long enough to acknowledge her presence and properly thank her for the treat. So I pulled myself out of what I was doing. Imagine pulling apart a warm gooey caramel brownie now. You're trying to keep your hands clean so you don't have to lick your fingers though because you are sharing half with a friend who isn' t close enough to understand finger licking as part of your sharing process. Embarrassing questions came into focus. 1. Did I say thank you when delivered a brownie? 2. My older daughters have a similar frame. I felt the shape and size of those daughters when the brownie appeared. Which one brought it? I was only 55% sure of the answer. So my hunch on a 50-50 guess was right, and I properly thanked and apologized to the right daughter. She understood and wasn't bothered. Is that enabling or an ADHD relationship accommodation? Not sure, but I think it's the latter so long as I'm able to acknowledge and be accountable for it later.

Anonymous

Also, I have found no magic hacks for my hyperfocus. Here's my best. 1. Planning and loud alarms, especially ones that can tell me why they're going off, can help.Digital assistants are awesome! But I can't seem to learn how to escape every time. 2. Find a way to avoid getting started in hyperfocus. It takes constant vigilence to control oneself, but clearing out the mental and physical clutter sometimes...sometimes helps avoid the worse effects of paying attention to now instead of present. When present has already been tended, now can proceed in peace and sometimes even self awareness! But there's always a risk of unintentional hyperfocus on the wrong thing. I've missed days of work this way! Have I mentioned that my wife is waiting for me to join her with a Friday evening beer? Really really should be going. Sigh.

Anonymous

Oh. It's Monday?! All right. Leaving now.

Robert Gottlieb

Me wanting to read a few pages, instead reading an entire book in one sitting. Or me so determined I'm going to fix some code or automate something that is too complex to be completed until either I give up, it gets too late or I figure it out. Mostly it's figure it out.

Anonymous

Karl Fetzer - ok to use my name On the day this question was posted, I set out to do a small task at 11:30 AM with a plan to put it aside around noon, get my lunch (I work at home), and watch a required training video during lunch. The simple task turned out to be more complex than initially imagined and I dove down rabbit hole after rabbit hole trying to complete it. When I mentally "resurfaced" it was 3 PM and I realized I hadn't eaten lunch or completed the required training. Hyperfocus can be a double-edged sword, resulting in a ton of productivity on a single task at the expense of everything else in my life -- sleeping, eating, spending time with family and friends, leisure activities, completing other time-sensitive tasks, etc. One of the most effective ways I pull myself out of hyperfocus is with (audible) alarms -- they essentially "wake me up." This is only possible if I know I'll be working on a task likely to succumb to hyperfocus OR if I have events / tasks that must be performed at certain times (they automatically have alarms associated with them).

Anonymous

You can use my full name and quote me. I think I struggle with normal focus. I struggle to learn or focus on anything that I'm not obsessing over. When I do hyperfocus, I forget to blink so my eyes get dry, I forget to drink water, I forget to use the bathroom and my bladder is screaming at me, but hey my Sims home looks flawless. I lose track of time so easy. Most times it feels like a couple of hours has passed when it's really been more like 6. The two feel like night and day. When I can't focus, it feels like I'm emotionally and mentally slamming my head into a wall. I end up fidgeting and trying to find any reason to do anything else. When I'm hyperfocusing it feels like I'm in a zen-like state, like I'm in my "happy place;" I'm content, calm, no fidgeting. But I've noticed if I get pulled out of that state by other people or my pets I have the urge to snap at them. Then I feel a bit spacey while my brain tries to switch gears. Alarms or asking my partner to tell me time's up seem to be the only ways to get me to stop at the moment.

Anonymous

I am 54 and learned about ADHD when my 17 year old daughter asked to be assessed and was confirmed and assigned treatment. I have since reflected on my own symptoms of ADHD and I am on a wait list for assessment. I routinely experience periods of hyper focus and have been so since my teenage years. My thing is usually video games but it can also be something that is more active such as house repairs. My first memory of hyper focus was playing a coin operated video game at a neighborhood corner store (Jungle King! https://youtu.be/7xSPVr9lzuk). I would spend every quarter I had, go home and out to play more. It was the same at arcades of the day. These days I am in a professional job but will get hooked again and again on PS or Xbox adventure games. Playing and replaying, while fitting my work in between these periods of focus. I often feel guilty that I am not being “productive” though I realize that these periods could be a form of productivity in their own way, like meditation. I am fortunate that over many years I have been successful in my professional roles and now am in a position where I can live comfortably supporting my family in a well paying job. I worry sometimes that perhaps I have been faking it this whole time. Thank you for the opportunity to tell a bit of my story. Anonymous pls if you think this is of interest for your book.

Anonymous

It's me handling stuff I love doing so quickly, and flawlessly that people kinda just look at me with their mouths open. Really love when I get it to happen on final approach, talk about nailing landings, almost don't feel the gear hitting the runway...

Anonymous

My therapist actually put me onto your YouTube channel. (She's a wonderful woman.) I have been struggling a lot lately with focus issues, in particularly hyper focus; when I get focused onto something, it's the only thing I can think of at all. I lose all sense of what's going on around me, and I'm completely immersed in what I'm reading about. Texts and phone calls go unanswered, I forget to eat, I lose sleep. I will quite literally not hear someone talking to me two feet away, and if someone interrupts me, I snap at them. I struggle to disconnect from what I'm doing, and I fixate on it. I'm unable to talk about anything else or focus on conversations with others, or what's going on in my classes. It's much better now that I'm on medication, which I was finally placed on back at the end of January. Still, though, it's hard to pry myself away from what I'm doing. Right now, for instance, I know I should be finishing a homework assignment so I can go down and start cooking dinner, but I have been pouring through all the ADHD information on your channel, because I know so little about what's going on in my own head. I haven't had a lot in the way of resources, and with a family to take care of plus a demanding school schedule, I struggle to find the time to research it on my own. That's if I even knew where to look. If I had to sum it up, I would say it's a focus so intense it's almost unnatural. Sometimes I wish I could focus like that on my schoolwork. Then maybe I wouldn't have to work twice as hard as everyone else to retain the information. You're welcome to use this in your book, of course. You can just call me "Lizzie Lane" if it helps.

Anonymous

When i was at uni i was ALWAYS leaving stuff til the last minute. I just COULD NOT motivate myself, or find the words to say u til the adreniline kicked in. Occasionally this happened with REALLY BIG projects…. Like the time i was basically awake from monday to friday manual drafting a multi level office building (interior design degree). I think i had a couple of 20 minute naps over those days, but it was nuts! The only thing i can put it down to is hyper focus. I definitely couldnt do that now.