Concentration

Maj

Emperor
Joined
Nov 4, 2001
Messages
1,073
Location
Ottawa, Canada
Anyone else but me have trouble concentrating on their work or pretty much any task of importance to their lives? I can hardly sit down for more than three minutes to read or write a piece of literature save only if it contains material of great interest to me.

I can barely keep focused on the words of others unless they not tingle, but barrage my interest with sentence after sentence of earth shattering facts and opinions. This lack of attention usually leads me to fall apart during sessions of small talk or even lengthy and deep conversations as my mind wanders off and my train of thought leaps tracks in much the same way this word association thread works - at the end of each thought there lies an idea which starts a new thought which is usually only made relevant to the prior thought by the starting/ending idea. Did that make sense?

The only activities that I can lend most of my attention to are vegging out in front of the television or cooking.

Even when writing lengthy posts I can't sit down for more than a paragraph or so. I have to stand up, pace and think, sit, look at what I wrote and what I'm replying to, stand, pace and think, sit, write another paragraph, stand, etc. It can take me up to half and hour to write down a few damned lines. Write now I'm forcing myself with every ounce of will in me to sit down and try to write this without adding to the trench.

Misery loves company and while I'll say that this "condition" does not leave me miserable, the consequences it can lead to sometimes really put me in the dumps.

Right now I have to write several mini-essays for my sociology class. First I have to read an article and then following that summarize it in about a page. Sound tough? No. But for me it can be an ordeal. I take responsibilty for my actions (or lack thereof) but sometimes I wish I could harness my wild (and often useless) mind and point it towards the goals I've set out for myself.

Some of you may be thinking, "ADD case" but I may beg to differ. There are occassions on which I can lend my undivided attention to even the most mundane speeches and readings. But more often there are times when I drive myself insane trying to throw my attention at something only to have it bounce around...sometimes leaving me throwing things around that aren't my attention and don't bounce. I'm writing this on my...fifth keyboard in two years I reckon.

Anyhow, just wondering if anyone shares any of these symptoms and can offer a remedy of sorts. The last ditch resort in my books is drug therapy. I have a strong belief that any neurological agent that either adds compounds or stimulates those already in my mind are more harmful in the longrun than helpful in the short-term.

This if the first post I've ever written in its entirey without having to once get up. I rarely smoke but right now I could really, really go for a cigarette. That makes me a hypocrit, doesn't it? :)

- Maj
 
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a joke or not, but it seems really weird to me that you'd complain about not being able to concentrate but be able to write a topic as long as that. I don't have problems concetrating personally, but I just didn't want to read all of that so I skipped right to the end.

Anyway, I'm guessing that you're one of those people that can't concentrate because at any one moment you've got twenty things going off in your head. If that's the case you need to mello out a little. Find some quiet place where you won't get distracted, make all the voices in your head shut up, and do what you need to do. It's no easy task I admit, but it's do-able if you've got a little dedication.
 
I agree with BlueMonday, I rarely get as drastic a concentration problem as your describing, but I find having a cool head and listening to some light music (not punk, punk is for driving) on low volume helps me, but everyones different, maybe a guidance counsellor can help better then the CFC-posters can.
 
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