Advice about mastering a low attention span

[Just Say Know]

many people are ADHD. personally i am ADHD. and the low attention span sometimes gets in the way of reading books, maintaining a consistent mood, cleaning the house, and motivating oneself.

i find it also gets in the way of meditating; which i have alot of trouble with.

my question is if anyone has any suitable advice on coming to terms with one's low attention span and how a person could possibly focus easier.

i've heard of nootropics but i was wondering if anyone had any good advice or insight on how to increase focus psychologically?

lastly i'm learning that "feeling" my cognition and paying attention to it as well as what i'm focusing on and doing so consciously helps for me. but sometimes i get that fitgity feeling or the need to pace around just to occupy my anxious and sometimes racing mind.

 

[Orion]

I find my attention span getting shorter and shorter the older I get. I guess maintaining patterns does help, but it takes a lot of effort to get one started sometimes. Weed helps. A LOT. Just keep it minimal.

 

[thethinice]

I have read a lot of studies apparently proving ADHD doesn't really exist. Which is odd.
Sure it does, though it may not be easily diagnosed by structural or chemical differences. My oldest friend is diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD and the cocktail of the two was sometimes emotionally overwhelming to him. I remember distinctly that amounts of caffeine helped him concentrate more and he hated his prescription medication. I cannot say that caffeine is a good option considering its powerful addictive potential.
If cannabis helps, smoke or vape away.
I remember a fantastic story about a young girl who was in trouble in school back in the 30's, before ADHD had been given a name. The principal called in her parents, telling her their daughter had a learning disability because she was inattentive and fidgety in class.
Flash forward to the doctor's office and a fidgety young girl sitting on her hands, trying so hard to be patient and still. The doctor took this young girl's mother out of the room to "speak with her privately", and he turned on the radio on the way out. Once outside the room, the doctor only peered back in the window. The young girl, in seconds, was up and dancing about to the music on the radio. The doctor said
"Your daughter isn't ill, she's a dancer. Send her to a dance school."
That little girl's name is Gillian Lynne and she's now a world-renowned choreographer and a multi-millionaire. This is a true story. It also serves to prove how the education system would rather have her gift stifled...
If you read that, I guess my point is do what you love and don't give it up. From my third-person understanding of attention "disorders" the best, low-addiction, healthy, even fulfilling way to handle it is to use it as a strength, if you will. My aforementioned friend is probably the most excellent fisherman I know, having a vast ever-expanding knowledge of aquatic life. He's now riding a scholarship through school, studying aquatic biology, with hopes to enter a variety of fields stemming from his studies, even law. Hope this at least made you smile. Best wishes!

 

[1ce]

I'm a profaine believer in ephedrine. It feels fairly natural at low to moderate doses for me.

 

[chocobeastie]

I embrace my short attention span, if things don't engage me, I don't engage with them! I only focus on that which engages my attention.

 

[RhythmSpring]

Less internet.

 

[fathomlessness]

I have suffered attention difficulties most of my life and only in adolescence was I able to curb it to a beneficial functionality.

By far the best thing for my focus is reading, at least 2-5 chapters and then meditating for a little while and then some excercise. The real trouble I get into is reading for too long and the words blur in to each other and I am distracted on other thoughts or become apathetic. To cure this I also find nootropics help, especially those circulating on the nmda and acetylcholine mechanisms.

Don't take stimulants like coffee and ephidrine, they wear out dopamine and can in the long run cause mild psychosis symptoms... ie coffee syndrome (person running around doing pointless superficial tasks thinking they are meaningful and full of worth because of a hyped sense of purposiveness due to excess dopamine release... ie majority of the work-a-day world in the west!)

Stay calm.

 

[Cognitive Heart]

Brief, mindful and breathing meditation for about 10min once or twice a day may help balance and restore some of these areas of low attention. For me this has helped with improved / increased attention span. Also calmer and less stressed. Wherever my awareness wasn't seen clearly before in a nutshell.

 

[knowingsmile]

First, I echo what thethinice is saying. ADHD isn't a disorder, it's just the way people are. Some people are tall, some people are short and some people are focused and some people are not. Something is only a disorder if it negatively effects the person in any imaginable society. Since lack of focus would be ok in a conceivable society, it is not a disorder.

Unlike height though, attention span can be altered. Practice helps like with everything else. Just keep at it and don't give up, you can change if you have the will to. Meditation is definitely key, do it as often as you can. In addition, keep up your awareness constantly. If you begin to notice when your thoughts are wandering, you can stop it when it happens and eventually avoid it entirely.

Best of luck,

may peace be upon you

 

[Just Say Know]

I have read a lot of studies apparently proving ADHD doesn't really exist. Which is odd.
Sure it does, though it may not be easily diagnosed by structural or chemical differences. My oldest friend is diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD and the cocktail of the two was sometimes emotionally overwhelming to him. I remember distinctly that amounts of caffeine helped him concentrate more and he hated his prescription medication. I cannot say that caffeine is a good option considering its powerful addictive potential.
If cannabis helps, smoke or vape away.
I remember a fantastic story about a young girl who was in trouble in school back in the 30's, before ADHD had been given a name. The principal called in her parents, telling her their daughter had a learning disability because she was inattentive and fidgety in class.
Flash forward to the doctor's office and a fidgety young girl sitting on her hands, trying so hard to be patient and still. The doctor took this young girl's mother out of the room to "speak with her privately", and he turned on the radio on the way out. Once outside the room, the doctor only peered back in the window. The young girl, in seconds, was up and dancing about to the music on the radio. The doctor said
"Your daughter isn't ill, she's a dancer. Send her to a dance school."
That little girl's name is Gillian Lynne and she's now a world-renowned choreographer and a multi-millionaire. This is a true story. It also serves to prove how the education system would rather have her gift stifled...
If you read that, I guess my point is do what you love and don't give it up. From my third-person understanding of attention "disorders" the best, low-addiction, healthy, even fulfilling way to handle it is to use it as a strength, if you will. My aforementioned friend is probably the most excellent fisherman I know, having a vast ever-expanding knowledge of aquatic life. He's now riding a scholarship through school, studying aquatic biology, with hopes to enter a variety of fields stemming from his studies, even law. Hope this at least made you smile. Best wishes!

i more than smiled!!!!!!!! i was inspired!!!

 

[Just Say Know]

First, I echo what thethinice is saying. ADHD isn't a disorder, it's just the way people are. Some people are tall, some people are short and some people are focused and some people are not. Something is only a disorder if it negatively effects the person in any imaginable society. Since lack of focus would be ok in a conceivable society, it is not a disorder.

Unlike height though, attention span can be altered. Practice helps like with everything else. Just keep at it and don't give up, you can change if you have the will to. Meditation is definitely key, do it as often as you can. In addition, keep up your awareness constantly. If you begin to notice when your thoughts are wandering, you can stop it when it happens and eventually avoid it entirely.

Best of luck,

may peace be upon you

This was also very inspiring; thanks!

 

[Just Say Know]

So before this post; i sort of felt negative about ADHD. thank you all for your support because shame is... unbearable. and i shouldn't be ashamed for the way my brain is and like alot of you stated my attention span can be focused.

once again; thank you all!