Writing and Productivity

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At least once during most days, something takes control of my brain. It might be a technical problem to be solved (today it was getting a virtual NT4 machine to boot on my dad's computer), it might be a new idea for a project, it might be a website with a huge archive of interesting posts to read.

Once that idea gets into my head, it seizes control of my attention and I can't focus properly on anything else. If I try to spend time on other task, I find myself distracted and disinterested, and I get little done. Most often I end up flitting back and forth to the brain-thief, in a state of disorganisation, and achieve nothing on either task, while my stress levels steadily rise.

This is the dark side of hyperfocus. When it's directed, it can allow you to pour enormous energy into a task, excluding all other concerns. When it's bad, it can steal your attention away from the things you want and need to be doing, and leave you frustrated and unproductive.

Hyperfocus is a major symptom of my ADHD, but it's also something that a lot of creative people suffer with - as I've said in previous posts, there's a lot of blending between "normal" creativity and ADHD.

Fortunately, with practice and - most importantly - awareness of the mechanisms of hyperfocus, you can harness its light side for good and protect yourself from the worst of the dark side's damage.

The first (and most important) step is just to be aware when hyperfocus has you in its grip. Monitor yourself for those times when something has a magnetic pull on your attention. From time to time during your day, particularly when you feel yourself getting stressed and frustrated, take a step back and look at what you're actually doing - hyperfocus gives you tunnel vision, so you may not even be aware that you're locked in until you make a conscious effort and survey your situation.

The next thing is to ask yourself whether the thing that's got you locked on is really urgent, merely useful or an active waste of time. If it's urgent, it's all good. If it's useful, is there something more important you should be doing? If it's a waste of time, it's time to get it out of your head.

And getting it out of your head is the only answer to hyperfocus. Not fighting it, because an obsession opposed just grows. Sitting there telling yourself "This is a waste of time, I shouldn't be doing it" will just make you feel resentful and resistant, and you're likely to strengthen the focus out of sheer bullheadedness.

There are two ways to get a brain-thief out of your head: Closure and hand-off.

Closure: Size up the thief, and decide how much time and resources it will take to finish it completely. If you do have fullblown ADHD, think carefully - your judgement of the time required may be a little askew. If it can be done in an hour, and that's an hour you can spare, do it. Don't sit there making yourself feel guilty, acknowledge that in the long run this will make you more productive, and just do it. You'll get a boost of energy and relief from letting the hyperfocus dog off its leash, and when it's done you're free of the distraction.

Hand-off: Give yourself "interim closure". Find a way to unload that thought into a safe place, where you know it will not be forgotten. If it's a website, bookmark it somewhere you can come back to when you have time. If it's a project, take ten minutes to write down all your ideas and plans, and store it somewhere safe. Schedule a time when you know you can come back to the thief and give it the attention it craves. Then take a moment, sit back again and say to yourself "That's dealt with". Really visualise the task as locked off, in safe hands. Make it a complete thought in your head, not a loose end dangling. Then get on with your day.

Labels: ADD and ADHD, creativity, distraction, hyperfocus, productivity