> I don’t even think that a better class of distraction necessarily means high-brow, or educational.
>
> For me it’s much more about it being something that genuinely fixes your full attention.
This is quite similar to what I'm currently learning in my training/coaching on how to deal with my AD(H)D.
ADHD is for a large part an inability to consciously direct attention to where it "should" go. Both hyperfocus and distraction (aka impulsiveness) are two sides of that same coin.
My training is a lot about becoming aware of when this attention switching happens¹.
And then about choosing to act on it and direct it. Which is often not the hard problem with ADHD. It's more the "going on sidequests without knowing you go on them".
So my therapist also teaches me to allow "good" sidequests. E.g. cleaning the bathroom (when I should be making breakfast) is fine: as long as my agenda allows it, I then have a clean bathroom.
And to be aware that some sidequests are luring exactly because they stimulate me more. So to seek that stimulation in other tasks as well.
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¹ e.g. I didn't notice that I opened HN, read a random article, jumped in the thread to talk about it. When I was actually proofreading a boring report. Now that I think of it, I was also updating some software in another window, also not the work I "want" to do.
Some hacks I use to become aware are "leechblock (firefox)" and "digital wellbeing (android)". Just timers and blockers that show me "you went on a sidequest again..."
Yes, side quests, rabbit holes, tangents. These days I can stop and consider how many layers deep I just went, then pop the stack, or realize that the value of the original task was disproportional to the distractions' time and effort.
When you become better grounded in core values that matter, and you place values on your time and energy, then you can develop habits to stay on task.
WebAnnotations (& note taking) remain super high interest to me, as tools for thought & tools for sharing over what might otherwise be quickly lost experiences.
https://web.hypothes.is/blog/annotation-is-now-a-web-standar...
We have these great podcasts, these great feeds, but we don't have much to deal the memories, to retain the better parts; we are still awash in distraction that won't add up. Being able to engage more closely with the text, to highlight, markup, tag, share would bring a level of thought, depth, and reviewability to our distractedness where our own time spent can help us better calibrate ourselves forward.
Semi-related to the article, the Smash Brother fighting game creator Masahiro Sakurai recently sort of apologized to players who've spent thousands and thousands of hours in game. Some apropos musings followed,
> time - especially how it's conceived before starting a game - is better thought of as a cost of sorts," he explains
> "In the modern world, you're constantly competing with everything else," Sakurai continues. "It's a battle for people's time. Even if someone has lots of free time on their hands, that means something different now than it did in the past. There are always things to do. The question is: how do people choose to spend the time?"
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/super-smash-bros/super-smas...
People around me who have ADD claim that the right amount of distraction increases their focus/productivity. I cannot personally verify.
For me personally, little distraction is good. And the distractions should be ones that don't suck me in - a window to look out for a minute is fine, a video game to play for a minute is disastrous. For me.
I don't have ADD, but I have clearly observed that listening to a YouTube video of people talking while I work increases my productivity.
I think it's because when I lose focus of my code, I will just end up listening to the video for like a minute, without having to even switch to my browser window. Without that, I would have the tendency to open Reddit/Twitter/this site whenever I get slightly distracted.
This of course requires picking videos that are both very long (don't want to go looking for a new one every 20min) and very casual (I don't want to have to actively listen to it).
Could this be a generation thing? My dad used to be bewildered at my listening to music while I would do homewok when I was younger.
With Discord and Streaming being a big thing maybe you could build up a certain mind set where having a background narration helps?
I'm totally speculating, as YouTube videos completely wreck my focus. Though I drive while listening to them, or with podcasts.
I often make decisions on background noise with regard to verbal/nonverbal tasks, needing a rhythm, or needing to block out some other distractions.
Try instrumental music when you have verbal/intellectual needs. A good Latin dance channel helps me get in a rhythm for physical housework and stuff. If others are bickering around me, time for earphones or some encouraging spoken-word.
Sounds like talk radio could work for you too.
This makes me wonder if you would do well working in an internet cafe, or even an open office.
With ADD (now called ADHD-PI) distractions sure increase my focus and productivity- but only on/towards the distraction itself.
ADHD includes hyperfocus, trouble transitioning, and time blindness... "a video game for a minute" is about the worst thing you could have, because by the time the "minute" feels over, it has actually been all day!
It depends on how interesting the thing I'm needing to focus on is. If it's super interesting, I just block out external stimuli, since it will actually aggravate me.
The flip side is if I'm doing something boring, I have to have some other distraction going to keep the dopamine flowing, because the regular task isn't creating it. It's usually something pretty simple, a background TV show (mythbusters/how it's made/DDD, etc), youtube build videos, or up-beat music. Something novel enough to keep me interested, but not so interesting that it takes my attention away from my target task.
And yes, meds. They let me enact such a plan, letting me manage the executive dysfunction which would otherwise throw a spanner in the works.
For example, the right music is important for getting in the zone when programming.
It's like the music keeps parts of my brain busy so they don't distract me.
I couldn't disagree more, at least in the examples that the author gives.
Everything in moderation. Screens (and for children), particularly.
The author's perspective comes off as someone who's trying to justify their questionable choices to themself.
I didn’t read it as arguing no moderation. He explicitly says that TV only during travel and while prepping dinner.
What I interpreted him saying was that if you will have a distraction, make it high quality. In a similar vein, it’s why I spend toilet time on HN vs IG.