How do you keep distractions away?

Hello lainons! While programming or studying,how do you manage to stay focused? I myself thought that switching to i3 and making distracting programs harder to reach might help stay productive and I also will try to use the stayfocused extension to block out distracting websites.

i just try to balance my studies with a healthy dose of practice, that makes it easier to deal with theory. I also try to study more than one thing at once, or do a side activity that requires focus, for example, reading a fantasy novel and a technical book. When i distract myself with the fantasy novel i won't be in another planet when i get back to the technical book, it's easier to mix the two than if i were to pause the technical studies to play stellaris for example. In fact i only play video games or watch a show after i'm done studying for the day, i can only read fiction or listen to a podcast in bed (no web browsing while doing so). I basically try not to multitask while i'm studying or taking breaks from studies, the act of not multitasking makes it a looot easier to keep myself focused over long periods of time. Also i always want to learn a lot of things at once, some of them are more interesting than others, so i do learn more than one thing at once. Right now i'm learning Drupal for work, i hate webdev and i feel like a cheap whore for doing so, so to balance that i'm also learning Rust and reading linux from scratch. Get bored from one, hop to the other. The secret to existencial never having the chance about it! Drink and snort your troubles away, Ha Ha Ha!!

>>12351 Honestly, just music. I listen to instrumental music while studying or doing other tasks and it just helps me focus more. I know this is a bit of a polarising opinion though, since I know a lot of people who can't study with music or any kind of noise actually. But I personally find silence... maddening. I can't live with it. If you're like me, then I would suggest something like the Mushi-shi OST, or classical piece from Mahler, Bach etc.

The best thing you can do (and this is highly valuable professionally) is to plan everything. Plan all your day. When you study. When you program. When you'll go to the gym. When you play games/surf the internet. [Etc] Then just stick with it. You'll see that it's easier.

I usually avoid studying in my room. When I have to focus I'll move into the living room or some place where people can see me. Downside is it might be a bit noisier, but in those cases I grab some headphones like >>12358 said and play some ambient noise music, only just loud enough to drown out everyone (SUNN O))) is a good choice. Emperor tangerine for worst case scenarios) If that doesn't help I go to my local library. The idea is that if you're in a place where everyone can see what you're doing you start to feel a bit guilty when you've been on your phone or staring into space for too long.

I don't. And this is crushing me in half and nothing I do works.

>>12380 Yeah,my plans also have not worked out that well for me. I sometimes need to do an activity that helps me lose some energy and since gaming is what I do,I really lose too much time with that,maybe I should start doing some workouts again,outside.

>>12377 I like your idea,but I usually like staying at home,rather than being surrounded by people. The type of music that helps me concentrate the most is lofi,the others make me lose focus often.

I visit distracting sites from a separate laptop, so I can’t slip into them while on my computer for work

I try to make sure I get enough oxygen, so I prefer to work outdoors around plants, in the woods, parks, on patios or near open windows whenever possible. I minimize the time I spend in closed rooms with questionable HVAC. To facilitate mobility, I work on a small laptop with an ssd and I have the luxury of 4g mobile internet. I also find that diet and exercise really help me keep my priorities straight. I eat way more fruits and vegetables than meat. On my large video editing workstation everything is separated. I have a user account for work and a user account for video games. My OS and work programs are on a separate SSD from the SSD on which I store all my videogames and saved games. I have a 3rd HDD for storing whatever video/audio I'm working on. The machine itself is air-gapped. Finally, I try to stay sober if I'm in the middle of a project. For me, smoking marijuana is strongly correlated with dropping the ball. I also consider coffee to be more of a party drug than a productivity aid, due to how exhausted I feel a few hours after using it.

>>12351 Check out RescueTime. It's for android too in case you waste time on your phone.

Personal experimentation with documentation ( can link if needed ) resulted in: - stand up every 30 - 45 minutes or so and get the blood flowing again with a few small exercises - exercising in general helps a lot - check your co2 levels if you can. you can buy them pretty cheap or build one yourself. too much co2 in the air really messes with your focus. Many people have proven that's the #1 reason for focus loss - avoid refined sugars, but keep your glucose levels high. complex carbon hydrates like oats work very well - a clean desk and surroundings help too. personally I don't even use window borders, menus etc. to keep only code and documentation on screen. - subdivide your project on paper in the smallest bits possible so they are easy to do and you don't have to focus on the big picture that much since that can be distracting sometimes too - a good color theme ( green colors enhance focus ) for your desktop - hydration

Stay on that adderall honestly

>>12376 This is great advice, and I need to get back to doing this. Back in university I'd write down the plan for the next day on a post-it and leave it by my bed. Just a simple list of actions I need to take, in mostly chronological order of how I want to do them. Sometimes I'd add the exact (down to ~15-30 minutes) times I'd plan/expect to be doing them. You may need more or less structure with how you plan things out, but either way, give writing out a plan for the day a try. You'll find something that works for you! >>12473 >>13023 Yep, exercise has been huge for me as well. Going to the gym might take an hour and a half three times a week, but the return on investment is huge. Just feel so much more focused and energized than when I skip for a few days. Another thing to keep in check is sleep. Get your 8 hours every day, have a regular bed time. This is huge. Aside from these general lifestyle things, one technique that worked great for me when actually studying was the Pomodoro technique (but I've heard others saying it didn't help them at all, so probably suits a certain type of person, your mileage may vary but definitely worth a try).

>>12351 I don't. Typically if I'm learning something nowadays it's for myself. The material is usually interesting enough to keep distractions away. While I was in school though I just started listening to online radios, mainly stuff you might hear on lainchan's radio. It kept my brain in the "oh yeah, I'm being entertained" mode, but wasn't being distracted by it.

I've read that willpower is tightly correlated to the amount of glucose available in your blood. So maybe grab something sweet? No idea if it's true or BS. What am I--a doctor?

>>12351 I didn't read it, but Pocket definitely sold me that article https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-myth-of-self-control