Psychiatrist's Tip for Increasing Attention Span
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- čas přidán 25. 01. 2021
- Learn more from Dr. K in his Guide to Mental Health: bit.ly/3RK0sBk
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Reddit, CZcams, other social media platforms use an algorithm to maintain your attention. How does one stay focused in a world of algorithms? It can be hard. In this video, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist gives his tips on how he stays focused and stays productive in a world of algorithms.
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#studying #internet #focus
Someone should create algorythmic education, that makes focusing on learning addictive
Dude... Thats a million dollar idea!
I make a separate youtube account and only sub to channels that are either motivational or related to my field, and click not interested for reccomendations that don't fit what I want the channel to be about.
That's why I want to hear the rant on the Education System. I think if school was so awesome, it could become addictive in a good way.
@@TheFishFTW well yes, thing is that doing this could prove to be quite difficult, because making educational content that people actually retain and apply to whatever they're learning and simultaneously stimulating the brain and releasing dopamine and other endorphins. If you look att apps that promote learning made fun, they are oftentimes just as unengaging as any other educational unless the end user is actively looking and willing to learn by discipline. I'm not saying no one should try to do it, it'd be revolutionary, i just think it would be hard. Perhaps futuristic ideas like neuralink could enable precisely this.
That literally misses the point of this whole video. You're kidding me right.... Then you have not conquered the root of the issue that will still be problematic in other areas of life. And you won't have attained patience
I've literally stared at the wall for an hour wandering in my mind now, hoping, that I'd find motivation to keep working (im in home office)... i just realized that just looking at the wall was more entertaining and fulfilling than actually working... what is wrong with me man
Ikr WHATS WRONG WITH US
I would say that you don't really like your work
Change job or consider the possibility od depression.
Maybe something’s wrong with your work and it’s just not for u lol
Same with studying man , i literally did everything except studying
I think the problem is with the work because at least if you aren't really invested or care about it or you're being pushed to do it then it won't work that way
TLDR: How to focus in a world of algorithms? Stare at a wall.
watch paint dry dot com or something
lol
You're missing the most important step; tolerating boredom. You're not staring at a wall and planning your future or thinking about what you would rather be doing. You are staring at a wall and learning to be okay with that.
Thanks. @@Kojitsu
My dad always said one of the problems today is that people don't just sit with themselves. They never just let themselves sit and think. He would say the best thing is to let your brain have down time to be still and let your brain sort itself. It's processing time, and our brains need it. And your sleep definitely improves if you allow your mind downtime to think before you try to sleep.
Agreed, that’s what I do quite a lot ^^
Yes, I do that sometimes with a notebook. I just put all my thoughts on paper so I don't have to think about it later when I try to sleep.
No one cares about your dad dude
Oh wow I actually do that every night, I didn’t know other people did that too lol. I try to take at least an hour to just lay in the dark and think, because if I don’t then the entire time I’m trying to sleep my mind is racing.
It's too true... people I know can't even take a shower without having music on or they fall asleep listening to a video it's like their attention always has to be on something that isn't their own thoughts
The only issue I have with this is that without external distractions my mind is still capable of going into endless thought chains for hours, day dreaming. I'll isolate myself to study and still I'll just be sitting and thinking random stuff. So, I try to distract myself with things I do not like, for example doing chores or talking a walk or exercising a bit. Seems to bring back my focus.
YES. Exactly. If I stare at a wall for 1 hour it will end up being 2 hours of me thinking about legit ANYTHING it always entertains me.
hi friends
edit: to be clear I'm not trying to be creepy, just trying to show that I relate in an "original" way
fr, I may have learned that technique early in life cos even with my extensions putting down discord and video games, I will study for a few minutes and suddenly get distracted by my own thoughts and daydreams
bro addicted on day dreaming
The issue is the same as what happens in isolation in prison. You're used to a certain amount of stimulation and you're brain will make shit up to keep the amount similar. You need to focus specifically on something boring, and just train that up. I try to focus on the feeling of air entering my nose, but there's plenty of alternatives. Hope this helps.
if this technique works, it technically hurts our channel. so make sure to like comment and subscribe to balance it out :^)
Approved
Sounds like a trap, don’t trust him ;)
Any Idea how often we should try this exercise
I was just about to say "so you are trying to convince us to unsubscribe?" Aint gonna happen buddy!
@@rorydunne8261 i’ve been trying it once per day at least.
All these short videos on yt, insta, tiktok and reddit play a huge role in short attention spans. They literally train your brain to focus on one thing for a matter of a few seconds or minutes before scrolling on. When we watch CZcams we're always looking for more dopamine by reading the comments while the video is playing or searching for another video to watch during the video is on.
You caught me! I’m outta here, thank you for the indirect call-out
Damm it!!! He got me ): 💢💢😡
Ummm 🤔 Yep, I’m trying to learn new topics but if the video is longer than 15-20 minutes, I’m outta there.
So I just did the "easy" challenge Dr K. suggested and went for a 1h walk without my headphones. I had my cellphone with me but only checked it twice to see how long it had been.
It was an interesting experience. My mind started going to all sorts of places. I randomly started counting the steps in my head or replayed voicelines from podcasts I listen to in my head over and over. I also noticed things I never noticed before, like how the hairs on my ears make a weird sound when they scrape the inside of my hoody when I walk. Stuff that you don't really pay attention to when you are mentally occupied with different things I guess.
Towards the end of the walk I was falling back into "normal" thought patterns, starting to think about what I'll do once I get home. I guess that's also to be expected to an extend.
Overall a really cool experience. Give it a try!
I tried to do it but forgot to set a timer. I basically relived my 2020 depression.
I do it nowadays more often because I noticed listening to music while walking is making me tired. But maybe it's because I live in Europe and in a small town, taking a walk is very enjoyable usually. Looking at mountains and listening to birds chirp, people talking and laughing is very relaxing and I tend to just be in a moment, nit thinking about my work and studying
Yeah i reazlied that too, Whenever i cannot listen to music i’ll replay music in my head or podcast in my head somehow
@@pickle1517 omg I thought I was the only one who replayed music in my head hahaha lol
what made this difficult for me before was that my suicidal ideation tended to increase when i was alone with my own thoughts so ive always run away from that via youtube. after medication though, i feel more comfortable with my own thoughts
Tolerating boredom is way easier than closing random videos and go to study.
Is it? I can close them no problem. Only to open them back up 2 minutes later because I'm bored.
@@bennymountain1 second action consist of 2 parameter : closing random videos and go to study. After you wake up, if you tolerate your boredom and go to study, it would be much more easier than watching some videos and go to study.
But study is more addictive than random videos. But only if you have freedom of education.
@@alwynwatson6119 I cannot think of a more boring task than studying apart from literally staring at the wall/ceiling.
@@bennymountain1 this is 2 years old but that’s where self discipline comes in I struggle with it but even if you have the urge you just force yourself to not look at it. During the hour your impulsive urges are your worst enemy
I just finished staring at my wall for an hour. No joke, about 30 minutes in I trusted a fart and shit my pants. I don't know if thats what Dr. K wanted, but it happened.
It's a ok bro. I bet you weren't bored anymore though! This has definitely happened to me.
bruh wtf i’m crying
wait, so did you sit w/ shit in your pants for 30 minutes...
Lmao now you should observe what it feels like to have shit in your pants. Be with that feeling for a second then wash yourself up with the same awareness. That'd be interesting.
GG
I legit started laughing so hard when he said "Stare at a wall for 1hour and amazing things will happen". 🤣🤣 Its like a parent convincing kid to do stuff
I 100% would fall asleep
@@_lil_lilvalid. Naps can be useful :-)
This exercise was so much harder than I thought! 1 hour felt like 5. My experience was very enlightening. I had no concept of time but first I went through looking to solve all my problems, I know that I struggle with perfectionism so I started there. By minute 15, I thought to myself, “Ok, I figured everything out, I guess I don’t have to do this anymore.. Dr. I said an hour so I guess I’ll wait. About 30 minutes in I had a tremendous amount of anxiety, wondering if I forgot to set my alarm and convincing myself that I was not doing the exercise correctly and was wasting my time. About minute 40 I broke through and realized I didn’t solve my perfectionism at all, I was still looking for the perfect way to do nothing. It sounds insane! The last 20 minutes I was so happy that I got something out of this and when the alarm went off, I was ecstatic. Today I’ve been going through your perfectionism videos and working through the grieving process. Thank you Dr. K!
this reminds me of journalling
- Dr.K. "Bitch we're gonna study today" *slaps mind across the face*
That last segment sent the whole idea home. He perfectly summarized it humorously.
The best is when you think you have your addiction beat, and then all of your professors assign CZcams videos to watch.
This is so true xD. That is why I found a plugin for your browser that allows you to block certain parts of CZcams, that way you won't get distracted even on youtube (Unless of course you go out of your way to search content up). If you haven't tried it out, just search up "Distraction Free CZcams", better than always getting distracted by it.
Ummm.... one alternative could be is to download those videos via a third party app ( like CZcams downloader )
and watch them in VLC. That was CZcams thinks that you've never watched those
Learn to ignore the suggestion tab. Don't even look at it.
@@awsome14619 there's browser extenstions for that - dftube
open in private tab
I actually came up with a technique a year ago that's pretty similar. Whenever I feel like I can't focus I just sit upright in my chair, make sure I'm relaxed, close my eyes and try to not think about anything. At first it will be impossible but with every passing minute the chaos in your head becomes quieter and quieter. First you will feel the need to watch CZcams, grab your phone and so on as if your life depends on it but after some time you will be perfectly content with just sitting there. Then your mind reaches like a "blank status" and when you look at your book again you won't have any distractions in mind. Once your mind gets scattered again after having some work done, you repeat the process but then it won't take as much time as it did at the beginning. Try to not think about the time you spend while using this technique, do it as long as it takes whether it's 1 minute or 60 minutes.
Basically mediation
just say meditation
Sounds great, thank you for sharing 🙏🏻
so you meditate?
That’s…not what this is.
I tried not using my phone, computer, watching TV, or using the internet for one day, and I was really going crazy. It was like I was having addiction withdrawals.
this is a huge thing. Participating in way too much high stimulus, low value activities.
Care to explain?
@@williamfuentes6524 Well like, surfing youtube for 3 hours provides hella stimulus, but it doesnt provide longterm contentment/satisfaction/accomplishment, like working out per se. Does that make sense?
@@calebcool2171 yeah that makes perfect sense.
That's such a great way to put it. Thanks~
@@Cwyan-wv1hj Great! If you struggle with this, then we're in it together 😊
That explains that, when i unsubbed a shit load of channels, i was constantly bored, because all the normal youtube videos I could browse through were so boring. So I spontaneous picked up reading books again, and I read 100 pages on saturday, which is crazy tbh..
That's awesome, good for you! I myself started reading a book a couple of months ago and i only got through 100 pages over 3 months.
I didn't have internet for a few weeks
and I gobbled up books too
luckily I had those
Damn... Gg
I really like how he connects our lack of attention to social media. Most people that question why their attention span is short wouldn’t think to blame social medias addictive algorithm. Nice video 👍
But people with short attention span can’t use social media. It is easier to stare at a wall for an hour than it is to spend five minutes on TikTok.
@@alwynwatson6119 wrong
@@alwynwatson6119 they can, if their max attention span is 2 minutes, they can definitely watch a 30 sec tiktok vid
@@alwynwatson6119 objectively wrong
@@alwynwatson6119 nop
I can easily do hours of just thinking if I'm in the right headspace. In fact, aside from CZcams and similar, a big source of my procrastination is just staring blankly at the screen with my mind just all over the place. I can't help but feel like that beats the purpose of this, even though I realize not every exercise is suitable for everyone.
That’s how I feel while sure I do get distracted by CZcams a lot of the time I’ll put my phone in another room and force myself in a room with just my study books and me and for hours ILL DO NOTHING I JUST SIT AND THINK. Thinking is far too entertaining beats studying
@@allanthomson9372 hell yeah. If u train your imagination it gets better
One thing that helps me is to try and relate my scattered thoughts back to the studying, might help you. ik I'm kinda late to the party but whatever.
i thought there was something wrong with me. I'm glad I'm not the only one
I just... become the algorithm.
algo
*Epiphanic music plays*
PRAISE THE ALMIGHTY ALGORITHM. IT GUIDES US AND IS US AT THE SAME TIME. TEACH US!
Neo?
"And all you have to do is avoid going into CZcams by tolerating boredom."
Uhhhhh, Well you see...
Yeah, I know. But it's the easiest option you've got. Alternative is worse.
Thing is, I don't need the algorithm to get distracted. Like, I feel like I am very comfortable with boredom, maybe even too much, because I often purposefully sit in boredom so I can explore all the thoughts that come to me. However, when this happens during studying, it can go on for half an hour that I am thinking of random shit while forgetting that I was studying in the first place, and I literally don't feel bored staring at a wall. I spent most of my Middle and High School 'studying' staring at a white wall because my parents were strict about PC use and phones were not as advanced, so I'd literally sit with a book open and stare at a wall for hours, because being forced to study is not an effective way to learn. I despise the concept of studying because it defiles the beauty of learning. I have been made to hate knowledge because it was forced on me. It took some time to realize that studying and learning are not the same thing. I love learning, I hate studying. That's why I watched hundreds of videos to LEARN many things, but can't STUDY what I have to because it's poorly presented and forced upon me. There's a lot wrong with the general system of living currently, not only is it that there are so many psychologically hidden traps like Dr. K described, but it's also that you are forced to inefficiently study dry matter that is often outdated or mostly irrelevant, just to repeat it like a parrot. Modern life/Internet has enabled us in many ways to think and learn in ways that made our brains have higher standards of learning that traditional education can't keep up with and it's sad that there's such a discrepancy between our potential and what we end up fulfilling. (I'm supposed to be studying right now btw, and look what I'm doing instead....)
Holy... You put it in words so perfectly, thank you. Your comment made me remember something from my highschool years. I consider myself as fairly good in math, but I hate going to classes and being forced to learn strictly by schedule. I love learning math and the high it brings me when I get too focused on the learning part, but I absolutely despise how it's supposed to be done only 'by instruction.'
@@kjellmeh Happy to hear you like it! It really is a special kind of high when you get into the zone/flow state and things just fall into their own place.
I usually never read text walls like this unless they are properly segmented into more digestible parts, but something drew me to this comment.
I agree with everything you said and I think that it is insane how much easier it is to digest educational content when its presentation is more modernized with the goals of entertainment & education coinciding.
This video is a perfect example of that.
Wow dude, this comment really spoke to me.
Very much agree 🙏🏽
I've found that avoiding Instagram and opting for interesting long form videos like restorations, machining, science and other interesting topics has helped me a lot to regain my attention span, enough to watch hour long videos on things I'm studying for
1. I started turning off my internet during the morning, and it’s made it so much easier to resist algorithmic distractions. Highly recommended.
2. In my high school we had a version of after-school detention called “tank” that involved sitting still & quietly facing a blank wall for one hour; if you weren’t still & quiet you’d have to do it again until you were successful. Shortly after I graduated they stopped using it as punishment, because it was as a cruel and unusual. So I find myself kind of... conflicted, because clearly it is good training for the mind to deal with boredom, but it also does feel like a pretty extreme punishment to inflict on high school kids.
A lot of training is hard and could be seen as abuse if you were to force someone to do it. But when you do it to yourself, it's fine. As long as you chose, or the choice happens in you, you'll accept it.
Sorry for the answer to an old comment.
Maybe limit it to 20 minutes? Yea, a full hour, repeating, is pretty harsh...
@@mnkeymasta No, its harsh because its forced and any mess up causes the process to repeat. If you do it yourself youre doing it voluntarily and probably in the comfort of your home. No repeats either.
@@ren.8137 Also the repeting part, a kid with ADHD would be there for the rest of time.
I had to rewatch this video like 5 times i wasn't paying attention.
same
I had to cover the chat with an empty window so that it doesn't distract me, lol.
Why? The video is actually interesting.
@@alwynwatson6119 it's not about being interesting or not, but about attention span.
@@BBaaaaa Well then just extend attention span the required length while watching the video.
I am a 13 year old who is proud to say that I never got addicted to TikTok and I quit using it for more than a year now, I can say, my life got better without all the Dumb Sh|t that is going on right now on Tiktok, My attention span never dropped and I easily watch through 30 minute videos (Mostly Geography, History, And people crashing minecraft servers using dupes)
W
Salc1?
That's pretty normal tbh. my attention span got lower but when I watch a video about a topic i'm interested in I can sit there for hours watching.
@@secretook he talks alot bs sometimes
@@Mrek_Travo when I want to show my friends something longer than a minute they are visibly annoyed, that's because they are used to these videos on tiktok
It’s been a steady snowballing of all of this since I’ve been born tbh. Not sure if I would be diagnosed with ADHD but the hardest part is realizing I’ve almost never tolerated boredom to begin with. The external world is fundamentally so stimulating and satisfying even to just observe
(I have literally done almost the entire Toronto-Tokyo flight by just staring out the window)
Distracting myself with Dr. K to not feel so bad procrastinating. Classic technique
Lets hope this blows up, because a lot of people deserve to see this.
Please Algorithm, do your job!
I'm just going to like every comment to increase engagement metrics.
@@Colmoreilly21 You are the best kind of people CZcams has to offer, thank you.
@gibbdude agreed
@gibbdude "This video contains hAteSpeAcH and was therefore deleted. We are "sorry" for this."
Well, if this video works, then most people will get off youtube after they watch it. YT's algorithm takes that into account. You never want your video to be the last one watched (unless it is after a long string of watching your videos). So the algorithm might not actually push this as much automatically, assuming more people close youtube after this one.
Something to note: This only works for mild to moderate ADHD. Like this would work for me now but that's ONLY because I'm on a moderate dose of strattera. Pre-medication me can and has stared at the wall for hours and completely forgetting I was doing anything at all.
I was just thinking about whether this would actually work for me because I would probably end up thinking all kinds of shit and daydream up some magic or fantasy thing, fully forgetting myself
In all honesty, spending that time non digitally would probably be a good idea but still, I don't think the exercise for me would achieve what it does for me
This is exactly what I needed right now, thank you Dr. K! You have changed many lives and are so intertwined the the media and currrent problems, we need more people like you :)
For years I couldn't do productive but "boring" things I wanted and nothing helped until today this lesson really helps!!! I just did 5 hours of learning html&css, that's more than in last few weeks combined. Thank you for teaching us these lessons, they are very helpful.
where did u learn? I wanna learn to code but dont know where
@@sage4848 I don't know if you still need this but for Java I'm using MOOC
Its a course and I bet it has other languages too! Good luck on your journey
I've always been skeptic with videos like these, but I do have a lot of respect and listen to Dr. K's words. This one hit home and I think my therapist is nudging me into this direction. I can't wait to bring it up with him in my upcoming session soon. Thanks Dr. K!
This is really informative. I love how he's seriously, without getting distracted by the chat explaining all this. I also love how he uses "GG"
@HealthyGamerGG I want to thank you for what you are doing! There are far to less people out there who really want to help and educate. You are a man of positive karma. Stay strong and healty!
"I'll take anything! Anything, master, anything!" -Doctor Kay, 2021
Me: loads up youtube, sees dr.K vid..
1 second in
AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS AVOID GOING INTO CZcams....
me: fuk
@TABARNACUL meta af :'D
I resonated with this so much. I feels like I can't focus my attention on anything unless it'sd entertaining enough, like I constantly require immediate stimulation to be able to care about something. When I'm driving, and have nothing to do, and am bored out of my mind, I think of tons of things to do, but when I get home I end up doing none of them. It's made me feel like I'm a factory reject for so long.
This is extremely true. About a year ago, I was put in the position where I coudnt use my pc for about 2 months. I remember waking up in the morning, and told myself I was going for a walk, and immediately I jumped out and went for a walk followed by a trip to the gym. I felt in so much controll, cause I didnt have my pc of all things. This video really explained to me what actually caused me to be so productive those months
This is seriously what I've been struggling with for the past few days, so thank you so much for this! Will definitely start joining your streams after I finish everything I need to accomplish.
This reminded me of some Reckful streams where he would talk about how boredom is literally the worst thing he could ever imagine.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the alcohol consumption helped Reckful’s state of mind either. He will be missed.
Rip
Rest in peace.
This combined with boosting conscientiousness, weekly trauma-cleansing, daily meditation and, in general, detachment from your own feelings and thoughts (because you aren't either of those) will bring you very far if you keep working on it
May I ask what "trauma-cleansing" is?
This might be one of the most helpful videos I’ve ever seen. I’ve gotten so many good insights from your content but this one feels like a game changer. Thank you!
This is fantastic. Great use of the blackboard for this one.
"It's just your little brain... against hundreds of millions of dollars worth of engineering, that is designed to prey on your neuroscience. You're outmatched, you can't win that. The key is to not stop into the ring. The way that you don't step into the ring is to tolerate boredom."
"Easy mode of staring at a wall is going on a walk."
I like that metaphor of Arjuna's horses, too.
Thanks for making this! And thanks for doing what you do!
Funny how my little brain defeats hundreds of millions of dollars of engineering is going to pray on my neurology every day and never lost once. It’s almost as if a short attention span is a fake problem that people invent just to be lazy. He goes to show that people would rather spend hours watching random boring videos than do anything productive because they’re inherently degenerate not because the factors that are out of their control because dealing with boredom is a decision not a skill.
I saw a comment on another video of yours that said your videos are the opposite of clickbait because you get so much more than the title says, this video is a great example.
I really do appreciate the dude that made this video, I remember about four years ago I was questioning why my mind was struggling with focusing and staying present in the moment and I didn’t have the knowledge I do now on all the things targeted to make us distracted and less motivated. But everyday now is a challenge to be better with my time management and one day at a time to put my phone down and ground myself and enjoy life and it’s silence like when we were kids and nature and life was so much more peaceful but I really do appreciate the video and how it puts it into simple terms on how boredom is the key to fixing your attention span right after finishing this video I tried it out and my mind feels a lot more relaxed and I was able to ground myself in the present a bit more, I work security and all you got is time on your shift so it’s hard to not to scroll or be constantly looking for dopamine hits on Instagram reels and tik tok but imma continue to do the one hour challenge, thank you!
That is by far the most helpful and interesting video I've watched on your channel. I love to educate myself, learn new things and think about different topics, but most of it comes from algorithmic sources, which makes studying on longer and boring assignments unsatisfying for my mind. I don't think the wall thing actually works for me though, because I can spend hours thinking, daydreaming and creating stories, and it's all far more interesting than studying. Next time I'll make a goal to not have satisfaction at all focusing on the assignment for an hour, so maybe the flow state will turn in, which it usually does actually, but it's hard to control the time. Thank you for making this type of content accessible, and have a good one!
Man... what he calls boredom, I call my favorite form of entertainment. Getting lost in my random ass thoughts. Daydreaming. Whatever.
You don't have to tolerate it if you learn to enjoy it.
He's not talking about normal daydreaming here, getting lost in thought is a deep burden when the mind can't focus. If someone daydreams all the time to the point they have trouble reading a book, studying or watching a movie it's not the creative mind at work but a lack of control, usually related to our immediatist society, the amount of fast content we consume on the internet, etc
@@caswerion1939 idk but even i find my thoughts more entertaining then internet 🥺 and i actually want to stop it, can u suggest anything
you have maladaptive daydreaming
Sorry, my attention span isn't enough to watch this video.
You are both entertaining and educational, so I convince myself that watching this video is productive when it is probably best to study right now.
One reason I like meditation is that distracting thoughts tend to jump around in a forest rather than staying on a particular tree. Diffuse thinking vs. focused thinking. Interesting note, focused thinking is distracted thinking, but the boundary is smaller, like a tree vs. a forest.
Side note, I like the illustration of leaves, trees, and forest rather than big picture (which is actually a small thumbnail) and low-scale resolution (which I can confuse with low-quality resolution, which I then confuse with low quality. It is an artistic tool to have lower quality resolution to focus on shapes and focal points, but I don't think most people are artistically intuitive).
You guys should make a "healthy gamer VOD" playlist or channel. The VODS are too high quality to be lost forever on twitch
Me watching this cause i got distracted from studying and opened up youtube xd
yep same
Man, that is amazing! You have presented this in such entertaining form and kept the depth of ideas
You’re right in that learning to tolerate boredom would help, but I’ll raise you in that we should go back a step further and find ways to potentially eliminate boredom altogether - the fractured patterns mentioned seldom happen during activities that are highly stimulating, such as gaming or browsing media.
Converting your “needs” into “wants” has been beneficial to me. The NEED to do something comes with urgency and pressure that doesn’t always factor in desire, but when you WANT to study you’re fueling desire free from pressure.
I've been staring at a wall for an hour each day for 17 days in a row now. I have untreated ADHD, although I have been taking modafinil for the majority of the 17 days. Here's what I've learned: My attention span is marginally better, but it's certainly not improved enough to be worth the time expense of doing nothing for an hour.
I have seen one drastic improvement in my life from doing this, one which is very much reason enough for me to continue: this is a fantastic foundation for building a repeatable schedule. It doesn't matter what time I wake up, I know how I start my day. After a few days of wall staring I decided to add something to do next, and given that I've already spend an hour doing my schedule doing the next thing feels more natural and easy. So now I'm staring at the wall for an hour, then spending an hour exercising. Next I started writing things I could do that day for 10 minutes into a notebook after I'm finished staring at the wall and before exercising. Today I added reading a book for 15 minutes after I exercise.
In summary this has been extremely helpful for me, just not for the reasons described in the video.
I used to do this when going to the doctors/dentist/any waiting room - rather than go on my phone, just stare at the wall. Walking with no audiobook sounds painful though - must give it a go.
This is one of the single most applicable videos I've ever seen...so good bro
Please keep uploading to youtube, i love the streams but i have a tight schedule and being able to watch videos at 1.5 speed is a life saver.
So... I did it. I put on google stopwatch, set the time for an hour and sat here staring at a wall.
I went into it expecting torture, but what I got was surprisingly peaceful. It was a serene experience, I thought a lot about my past, why I am where I am in life. I thought about motivation. I realized I had a lot more of it than I thought. About half way through I asked myself "why am I even doing this? No one is making me? Is it for bragging rights? If so I could just stop now, lie about it in a youtube comment and get ALLL the internet points"!
Then I realized I needed to do this. For the sake of every comic undrawn, every song unwritten, every story untold. The very same imagination that offered to give me respite from my self-imposed time out--I aspire to share that with everyone, so that, wherever they may be in life, whatever they're going through, they can just forget about it for a little while.
Further in, I realized I've done this before. When I'm sitting in class and a lecture bores me, I drift into my imagination. When I'm in a car for hours (I have no phone) I stare out the window and imagine anime fights playing out on the road, or on top of the buildings. It almost felt like it would be cheating to slip into another daydream, so I told myself no... It's just me and this wall.
Toward the end, I began to ask myself how long it had been. I was tempted to look, but resisted the urge. I'd lost track of time enttirely. I couldn't tell if it had been 10 minutes or 2 hours. Then I heard the timer beep. Honest to goodness didn't think an entire hour had already passed.
I'd like to say I feel different, that after my hour I've transcended mortal limitations but... I feel the same.
Where do I go from here? Do i do this again? Do I try being productive now? Maybe I should've fully understood the point of the excersize before I subjected myself to an hour of wall staring?
For the people who need to use CZcams for productivity (tutorials, guides, etc) there is a chrome extension that lets you hide certain parts of the site, such as the recommendation tab or the main feed. Very useful
How to use
tell us how
wow. amazing work my guy, that was so clear and so well done. the airplane example was really wild, it showed me just how dependent I am on having something to do. thank you so much for this, i think it is going to help me a lot even through the rest of my life. it is really groundbreaking for me. thank you again!!
Thank you!! I've learned a lot and it has helped me understand my mind better!
I think for many it's not a matter of tolerating boredom, but a matter of tolerating performance anxiety and self-sabotaging
Underrated comment :)
!!!
Hello Mr. Therapist. As you mentioned the 1 hour method I literally out of spite (since you mentioned it's very hard) sat down and stared at a wall for an hour. I pulled through. That was the first time I had ever been alone with my thoughts for such a long time ever. Learnt a lot new. Actually if you are seeing this I would really love to be on your channel. Have been a fan for a long time and have actually completely quit social media and started working on bad habits because of your videos. Lots of my friends say I'm a great example of horrid mental health haha but I don't think thats true, but I might be an interesting case study for you. Since I have had at least 8 therapists and none of them have helped me. The reason for me wanting to come on is because I literally cannot make friends. I don't know the reason and I have tried literally every method. What I think might have impacted this is the fact that I was a semi influencer (hosted meetups, got recognized on the street). And maybe this messed me up since that happened when I was 16. Also for more intrigue - now I'm 21 and I also just moved to a new country and my entire old friend group blocked me :D But I won't get into the reasons. I don't have a lot of faith that this will interest you but I hope it does....
Loved the video! Keep up the great work dude, you're literally changing my life right now, thank you so much for the content :)
This concept has made me cry. I finally get it. Bless you
Being completely alone only with one's thoughts can often be as captivating as engineered distractions. When I was younger, I also experienced uncontrollable urges to endlessly scan my skin for "defects" and rip them out with my teeth. I could easily do it for hours.
Doctor, I admire your passion. I am a former "heavy gamer" struggling through uni. Your videos are extremely helpful. Sorry it took me so long to leave my thoughts here. Please keep doing what you do. I really have faith to your goal, I think things will get very big for this project soon. Thanks again. Cheers!
Thank you for providing such a valuable perspective on the problem. 😊🙏 I greatly appreciate it. 👍
"And all you have to do is avoid going into CZcams by tolerating boredom"
God damn. That's an incredible opening line. 4 seconds of a 1260 second video, and he nailed the most powerful message. A+
Switching off CZcams
I'm literally watching this as a way of distracting myself from my work... what am I doing
stop normalizing it in brainless youtube comments and start doing something about it
You are making a productivity investment, sacrificing productivity now for productivity in the future, assuming you practice this.
Unrelated but, I use the middle mouse button to scroll a lot. And your name destroys my scrolling technique. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
The person who helped our mental health so much and helped us go through hard times
So glad i saw this today. Ive been having this exact problem recently and had no idea how to fix it untill now, so thank you.
I needed this. Gonna try it now. Thank you.
i agree lately i just "sit" in boredom, or meditation. or the curent activity without thinkiing.
for exemple at food store i walk slowly and dont rush alley for item.
people find it weird that im a bit like a monk spaced out not stressed.
i love those moment, become a eternal now, and the mind get very quiet
even with minimalism lifestyle and home, i just sit there calmly with unclutered room. so peacefull
20 minute video on how to increase attention span.
Bro. You got me for like 90s max.
and this is why its a problem
Thank you for posting this video it was very helpful as background noise for me to keep my focus on laundry
Great video, much appreciated!
I only needed to listen to the first 40 seconds to realize I need to quit the game in the background at once and go back to studying. Thanks for that! Will certainly watch this later though when it's not longer distracting me. ;)
Just in time for the first week of my new semester. Thanks a ton
You dont even know how much you help me.
Thank you.
You are scrolling through the comments, so you are distracted while watching a video about distraction
If an hour is challenging at first, you can always sit for 10-15 minutes with nothing but your thoughts. The call here is to endure the suffering which is boredom. Now, there is another possibility when you complete your study of the book or activity where it is incumbent upon you to judge whether the time you spent was worth organizing the scattered thoughts that broke focus on an activity. An example of what I mean is when you see someone review a video game, and it is only taking into account the first few parts of the whole game. It is the nature of reviews to see how a story will wind up based on what happens in the first five chapters of the story. When you see someone react in a certain way which you perceive to be negative, it may be a good indication that you need to work on your patience in others.
This video really helped this morning. I have been putting out the task of decluttering my house for months, so I took the advice from this doctor and "grounded" myself, essentially no internet until the task is done. I put off the task for 30-45 minutes and then got so bored that I started decluttering the house. I am now done. Thank you so much HealthyGamerGG ❤
as someone with ADHD I find it hard to even watch videos without pausing! When you first mentioned sitting with boredom, I challenged myself to not pause this video. It was hard but rewarding! I'll use meal times, and lack of screentime before bed as extra exercises to practice dealing with boredom. (this video reminded that when I was a kid, I didn't have a phone so after finish whatever I had to do in class I would read the textbook out of boredom! I need this energy back in my life lol) also whenever I get forced to not do much like during long car trips, I feel calmer. I think less stimulation brings a lot of peace to the mind.
I was on the coaching program last year and tried staring at a wall for an hour. It was surprisingly interesting. 8/8 would recommend
Me focused: "And then you get a ping from your phone *discord ping* oh whats th- ah shoot." Wasn't expecting this to be quite so immediate
Imagine getting free help from this man. Such a huge win
Thank you for your thoughts on the matter, this will be a worthy challenge and an adventure for the mind. May your life be long and fruitful.
I just find it ironic how i had to use the advice in this lecture DURING THIS LECTURE
So you're recommending zen style meditation? There's a lot of zen stories where mastered find enlightenment after staring at a wall for years.
Going on a brief walk around the block while studying has been the biggest productivity helper for me, great tip! It's a way to stretch the body, clear the mind, and get a new perspective. Allowing for essays to effortlessly be written in a day.
been watching dr k this whole day. i feel very productive :D
On the concept of walks: Big brain people used to take walks to the countryside but the countryside was more or less "stable". So I think that if you plan on taking the walk approach, walk around a place that you always walk, and avoid introducing novel experiences, because your mind will also treat the walk as a novelty chase otherwise.
You explain the benefits of meditation in a modern way. Well done. Meditation is a PRACTICE, and we get better at it.
“Anything master please”😂
thanks for making this video, i learnt some important insights
This is the best f- ing video I’ve seen in my entire life. Thanks!
My mind is so scattered I can't even finish this video in one time...