Deep Focus: Why Your Brain Needs Understimulation
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- 🩵 Sign up to Milanote for free with no time-limit: milanote.com/elizabethfilips
The downloadable free link to the video summary: go.elizabethfilips.com/supers...
Self-disciplined focus is hard, and it’s not 100% our fault it’s so. Resisting tempations, having willpower, mental resilience and determination against what are (surprisngly and stupidly) interesting distractions on a constant basis makes work and rest feel exhausting. Here’s some of my approaches to making work feel easlier, life more productive and trying to minimise the negative effects of constant screen-time. Hope it helps!
To make your life easier:
0:00 Intro
1:21 Willpower: distractable not depleatable
6:13 Ugh fields: why work is hard
9:50 Procrastination cure: top-down vs bottom-up decision making
WHO AM I: I'm Elizabeth, a medical student, painter and Podcaster in London. I love to think and talk about life, art, medicine, books and meaning. And also how to find the time to do those things. If you'd like to watch me paint and talk about life, I do that on my podcast ( / @feelosophywithelizabe... ) and if you'd like to read my thoughts and book notes, I have a newsletter you can join (go.elizabethfilips.com/newsle....
👽 My Book on Organised Chaos: How to Succeed Without Habits or Consistency: lizziefilips.gumroad.com/l/krcnc
🧠 My Notion Templates to Work Better With Yourself: lizziefilips.gumroad.com
Sources Mentioned:
Willpower, distractable not depleatable: www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/op...
Infomania, The switch-cost effect between work and social media: www.newscientist.com/article/...
Mobile phones and inattention study: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Ugh Fields: / ugh-fields-or-why-you-...
If you want to stay in touch:
💌 My Newsletter - go.elizabethfilips.com/newsle...
🎙My Podcast - / @feelosophywithelizabe...
📕 My Book Club - go.elizabethfilips.com/thepen...
📸 My Instagram - / elizabeth.filips
💻 My Website - www.elizabethfilips.com/
🐥 My Twitter - / lizziefilips
Or leave a comment, I (try to) read 100% of comments :)
🩵 Thanks to Milanote for sponsoring this video! Sign up for free and start your next creative project: milanote.com/elizabethfilips
why do you speed up your videos?
I refuse to use a tool that keeps my own work somewhere in proprietary format.. so when they experience an outage or they go out of business I'm SOL.
I find your videos too overstimulating, too many cuts it distracts from your message :(
Where is the links for last 2-3 videos on notion summaries and notes?
@elizabethfilips tangentially, I think you'd be interested in learning more about non-violent communication (and how it can apply to self regulating)
What I learnt from the video:
1. Lack of motivation is not the problem, distraction of motivation is.
2. Acting quick when these distractions come to the mind is important to maintain consistency.
3. Common reasons for distractions include the mobile phone notifications
4. Ugh field. Outside this video I also read about the “5 second rule” where we must push ourselves on to the task within 5 seconds even before flinching, procrastination seeps in.
5. Your video editing is really good
Thank you!!! These points are very helpful.
i think its 5 mins rule, good points tho!!
whenever I'm very nervous, stressed out, or anxious I will always end up binge-watching a TV show, watching a movie, or playing video games to avoid thinking about it. with time I discovered that does more damage to my mental health than good, so now I deal with whatever is making me feel this way, process it, and let myself really feel it. with time I start feeling better and am ready to deal with the situation at hand.
That is really true. A lot of times it is the procrastination and avoidance of the thing that's causing more anxiety than the thing that we should be worrying about itself. It really comes down to that Nike slogan: Just do it.
genuinely talking
we become numb to emotions if we avoid them for too long
u will lose ur interest in real life if u cannot suffer it without technology 😂
@@beldonhuangif it was this easy eveyone would be anything
u need to listen to ur gut self discipline and self discovery is large journey it takes time
u dont when u will feel good again after being truamtised and depressed by ur own expectations
I swear to god this video just droped on right time, currently struggling with this... You're a life saver Liz!!
Same! Been procrastinating on something fairly important since 5 days and this video broke down the exact behaviour pattern I'm experiencing into units and then offered clear, concise solutions. Felt like a blessing lmao
I know right! I was really noticing how messed up my attention span for the past few days, and this video showed up in my recs. So glad I saw it.
Yepp!
Well, onto the next video!
Eliza, my therapist said I have adhd, asked me to get a diagnosis. I have been stuck in life at same spot for ten years. Failing an exam repeatedly while fully aware what my dream and potential is. But access to a good psychiatrist who can handle adult adhd is rare af in my country.
So just letting you know, I have a section dedicated in my diary to your videos. Taking notes and applying them to my life so I can stop racing a car without brakes. Idk if you have adhd, but these videos are very adhd friendly.
Dr. Tracey Marks is a psychiatrist who makes educational videos here on CZcams as well. She posted a video yesterday about ADHD and executive dysfunction. It complements this video very well, and I think you might find it useful (I know I did!). It's hard to post links in comments, but if you just search CZcams for "Tracey Marks Non-Stimulant Medication" (without the quotation marks), it should be the top result.
I too wanted to write something like this. Thank you so much for doing it already so that I can just reply to it, hey there you aint alone!
Look for ADHD chatter or Rich and Roxy, they have tons of really nice info about ADHD, it might be helpful.
hope u succeed.
Praying you get the support you need and kiddos to you for taking these steps with the videos. Proud of you
I really like your content, but I must admit that as a non-native English speaker, it gets hard for me to understand some words you're saying, so I would love it if you could give us subtitles in English as it would make your videos a lot more accessible. Thank you for all the dedication to these videos, I really enjoy them!
Turn on CC
@@An_Drea_Calling it only has the automatic translation so it's not very accurate :/
She speaks quite fast and the editing makes it very distracting instead of illustrational. Maybe for English speakers it looks OK, but for non-English speakers it is hard to catch on what she says, I agree.
Try to slow done the video, it helped me to understand her. I've watched on 0.75 speed. 👍
@@SrtaNitah or use the show transcript feature in the description? I don’t know how accurate it is though 😂
@@SrtaNitah there's automatic English subs, probably not so accurate but it helped me a lot
The use of the phone/devices or binge watching shows to avoid negative feelings that a task comes with is so real!
Im a med student and I started analyzing how whenever we have a test coming up,my classmates and I arrive at school the day of the test (usually hours before) to “study” and everyone ends up on their phone the whole time whether scrolling,playing,etc but from a place of anxiety,trying to avoid the fact that we have an exam a couple of hours later
Things I learned
1. You don't lack motivation, you're just distracting motivation by distracting your attention.
2. Write down any distraction or thought to avoid distracting motivation.
3. Having notifications on while working decrease IQ by 10. Thinking that you have endless or more motivation helps to perform better, and increase IQ by 10.
4. Jump immediately to planing and avoid feeling 'Ugh'. Planing immediately, will get rid of 'ugh' feeling. What came to my mind is (Noa's video on CZcams 'Noa's genius secrets' by lessons from anime) noa's way to plan, working backwards from a goal. I think it makes the first step so easy that you don't feel 'ugh' feeling. 'The bigger the negative consequences the bigger, quicker and stronger the ugh feel will be developed' Elizabeth Filips.
5. Bottom up is you feel what you need now and you do it. Top down is when you feel a thing you procrastinate. I don't think I got this point correctly
I liked your summary, I found it helpful. I reviewed the content of topic 5 and thought I would try and see if you were right. You are on the right track I would just add that Elizabeth suggests that when you lose focus and decide to do something else e.g. reach for your phone, that this is almost automatic, a top down approach. Basically, reach for some relief. However, she suggests a better approach might be be to completely, shut down, and figure out what you need. Look at your environment, get in touch with your body, your feelings, and try and figure out what you really need. I guess she is saying try and be more conscious of what you are doing. You may very well need a break but why you need it might give you a better solution.
11:27
Me: Turns on CZcams before work despite knowing better
Elizabeth: uploads a video telling me not to
Well played.
Same. 😆
Thanks. With much respect, I am never, ever, EVer bored. Perfectionism leads to paralysis so, I am always overwhelmed then, fearful then, paralyzed. I always appreciate your ideas. Cheers.
its not only u
we all are driven by having perfection syndrome
u cannot even start
question like
what if i fail
and it didnot work out well
i will look dumb and stupid
@@ilv839 We all look dumb and stupid sometimes.
Who else was shaken when she mentioned people dying of dehydration due to video games!🤯
I loved the deep dive into attention, motivation and procrastination, Elizabeth. What I loved most was how you made those complex concepts super easy to put into action, which, honestly, was super refreshing to see.
So many fantastic points were made, but what stuck with me was the connection between motivation, attention, and that "UGH field": motivation is depletable and it usually follows your attention, how even the thought of the task will cause the flinch, leading you to procrastinate.
Thank you for sharing such well researched content! Lastly, a special shout out to your video editing skills, haha. Looking forward to more content!
Cajun Koi! You guys are awesome, so happy to see this
I learned about video game death in junior high around the time Starcraft came out. Apparently it killed a bunch of people in Korea? At the time, I was playing 16-18 hours on the screen, very easy to do. But I'm no Spartan so I'd drink water, use the washroom, eat, and sleep when I had the urge. Those that died must have had some dopamine/discipline reward system...Being weak on discipline isn't always a bad thing...
A video game spartan? 😂Yeah, I definitely agree, their dopamine/discipline reward system was pretty strong to have invested so many hours, but it was focused on the wrong thing. @@XAUCADTrader
These guys be dropping comments like nukes 🗿This is part of some strategy right? 😂People will see your channel with a tick next to it and they'll want to check it out
I’m in my nursing bachelors program and the material is very dry and it requires a lot of motivation for me to complete assignments while also working 12 hr shifts. So this video is very helpful! Thank you !
😂
1. Thank you for putting out your ideas quickly...others often overexplain concepts while speaking very slowly. I usually turn them off or do another task waiting for them to move on to the next concept. While it may sound odd, I had to pay attention to your video to keep up...and for me that's a compliment.
2. You mentioned writing down distracting thoughts. Clearing the mind of thoughts by putting them in a trusted and easily retrievable place is a great point. It's a fundament of GTD, the concept of the "parking lot" in meetings and the 2nd brain concept. It so helps for deep work: meditation, martial arts, creation etc. David Allen's "The mind is for having ideas not holding them." I've found that my mind can create novel ideas and connections when not burdened with remembering to harvest oyster mushrooms or refilling a near empty paint container. Have you found other uses of this approach aside from GTD, meetings and 2nd brain?
3. You mentioned the "Ugh field". I know of 3 applicable examples below. Have you found other disciplines that align or don't align with these examples? Disciplines that don't align might be most interesting.
Fear of thinking of a project especially when you're a perfectionist can be helped by "chunking". Make a plan (making Decision-making "Bottom-up"), but that plan can be broken down into small enough steps that those steps become emotionally divorced from the larger project.
a) e.g. Write the great "insert nation" book can be daunting, so often avoided for lifetimes especially when social media dopamine hits are at hand. "Get a pen", "Write down the first thing you thought of upon waking" tend not to have the trepidation of the large project, are steps to that project and can build momentum.
b) I think the act of planning that you mention is a form of these smaller steps. I haven't noticed that planning activates the performance anxiety at all compared to the first stroke on a blank canvas. Possibly contributing to this is that you can change plans with little consequence compared to a permanent mark on your canvas.
c) The concept of Agile in software development may help. One of the concepts is to delay taking irreversible actions until there is nothing of more value available. e.g. sketch a portion of your masterwork on scrap, prototype a mechanism for your moving sculpture, create a plan...all can be done without notable consequence and advance knowledge, skill and the bigger project. Because their consequence is low compared to something irreversible, the trepidation is lower. Often once they're done, the activation energy to complete the irreversible task is lower due to the preparation and emotional momentum.
4. The idea of distraction from network attached devices certainly is at the forefront currently. I haven't seen any conversation on having a goal so compelling that electronic distractions aren't interesting by comparison. As an artist, have you seen this explored? Personally, having such a goal and a methodology to reach it makes social media/streaming entertainment etc. just one of those things I put on a list to get to someday...with so many more compelling tasks coming first.
That’s why meditation is life saver ❤
Your voice is not annoying, it's the "staccato" style of speaking that is distracting to me sometimes. Other than that your voice is lovely!
Well I’m sure your voice is annoying to someone as well! This is rude! Btw! She has a very good voice! Better than most
This has got to be my favourite channel in this category. The visuals make it easier to retain when you're explaining and I appreciate this kind of help as someone who doesn't find the typical advice (build habits, just focus, stuff like that) hasn't been very helpful. Appreciate you!
Can I just say how much we appreciate the insane quality of your videos and the amount of work that has been done for the animation, music, pacing etc is absolutely wonderful. I remember that people used to asked you to speak slower in your videos and it brings me so much joy to see you pay attention to the comments as well. Thank you as always Elizabeth for the amazing products.
our brain seeks curiosity & always wait for its next stimulating challenge,
otherwise it lead us to the path of never ending procrastination;
I needed this so much right now. I'm preparing for my law school final exams in a few weeks. I also have ADHD and an insane amount of work to catch up on. This video was exactly what I needed to reframe my thinking and keep moving forward. Thank you so much for creating this content.
I swear I had to skim through dozens of youtube videos to finally find this which is giving actual new perspectives and insights. That flinch moment makes so much sense and I love that you showed us how to deal with that in a way that actually works instead of either saying "just do it" oer "go to therapy to resolve the ugh field entirely" which are both technically true but not helpful for dealing with stuff at this very moment. For sure will look into your other videos, too!
You are so inspiring to me! Your videos are so relatable, they make things click in my head and helped me as much or even more than the DBT trajectery that i’m on right now. I cannot recommend you enough to all the people I meet in therapy. You give me the courage to keep learning and working on myself ❤ love you!
I relate a lot when you gave the example of someone with a chronic illness, it always frustrates me when I don't do something that I am actually motivated to do and is very important. The ugh field sounds a lot like adhd paralysis or pathological demand avoidance, always interesting and helpful to learn about these things, thank you for sharing ❤
Indeed! Some people coax productivity out of each other like we are all robots and is quick to blame when someone can’t deliver the results. Most people who have not experienced major medical events themselves will never understand though 😢
You gave me so many aha-moments because I never understood these situations I'm in sometimes where I lack of motivation or I just move away annoying tasks that I have to do. Thank you so much for your videos.
I saw this video while procrastinating, but hey, it was all I needed to hear. Thanks, Elizabeth
omg elizabeth, this intro is everything!!!!
Ay you
Perfect timing, while I used this video as procrastination I am grateful for the timing anyway-it really hit home!
The only channel that gets to the bottom of the issue! Thanks for the wonderful explanation, this really helps me realize exactly what I need to do to regain focus!
Hi Elizabeth,
I just want to deeply thank you for the tips I have learned from your videos. My life has been a chaotic mess. After watching a few of your videos my mind started to straighten out what I was not focusing on and procrastinating on. I have formulated a plan on how to tackle my obstacles. I have learned so much. I cannot wait to learn more and see what else can be achieved.
Thank you,
Tanya
I just identified this as a problem yesterday- this video came exactly on time!!
I mean this when I say "I never comment" but your content is not only so timely but very educational, informative, practical, and necessary. The added visual cues and imagery are very engaging and help for visual learners. Thank you! :)
The Ugh Fields segment was a real eye opener. I have a number of tasks in my professional life that I just realised through mostly negative self-talk I have taught myself to recoil at immediately but didn't quite understand why until it was presented this way.
You always bring such interesting topics to the table 👏🏻
this is confirming a lot of things i already suspected, like taking the most random notes immediately and putting effort into actually finding the source of my demotivation. suffering from burnout and being unable to work at all for three years made me discover them naturally. needless to say, i'd have much preferred other circumstances 😅
as always, your excellent research and flawless presentation (thanks so much for not doing speeding down of your voice again btw! as i said before, don't let anyone tell you your voice/manner of speaking are any less than perfect! being unusual is NOT a bad thing ❤) blew me away and very much boosted my motivation to keep on doing those things and even more. and having all the terminology you found/used now also makes it so much easier to share them too 😊
p.s. my notes have actually started to be much less random since i got a notebook with three sections, which i pretty quickly started to use for either a) neutral things to remember b) inspirational/creative stuff, and c) venting frustrations. it works extremely well for me ❤
oh and p.p.s. also highly recommend pocket sized notebooks with pretty covers and a means to attach a pen - and using ballpens with heat-eraseable ink.
Your voice isn't annoying. Love your accent and thanks for clueing me into top down vs bottom up processing.
Can't wait for 1 Million Subscribers Elizabeth😀♥️
Thank you very much for doing these videos. They're very helpful to me in such a deep way
THIS IS THE MOST RELATABLE VIDEO I'VE EVER SEEN
dude i think your videos have gotten even better
I love these videos, and this is up there with Elizabeth’s best, but what strikes me about it is how this is the kind of person I want to talk to in person, not just watch on a device! Face to face conversation with really clever people is the best.
clever people dont talk to too much people they are home bugs and makes videos in room for hours 😂
This is so helpful. I was struggling about things that stressed me out and my reactions to them, instead of solving them, were usually watch something that’s fun to numb myself. I knew the only way to escape the situation is to confront those jobs but I just can’t…
I will definitely try to at least do something might help me get into the mood of working😭
i like her videos because i don't have to speed them up. i even sometimes pause them to think about the ideas, which is a good thing.
One of the best quality content creators on youtube👏🎬✨
Whatever you explained, I've found it deeply correct with my experience.
Having that random element to the activity to get you out of your procrastinating funk is so helpful. There's dopamine stimulation in the "I wonder what I'll get" factor of the dice roll that makes it more desirable than having a preset list or one thing you do every time.
Great video. I absolutely love your content, it’s been a big game changer in my life. 💜
I LOVE your contents and the effort you actually made for these is insane, I'd appreciate cc (close caption) for next vids tho, regardless im always amazed by your editing style and how genuinely helpful your videos are! Cheers!
You're right on time to save me. Thank you so much for making this video!
Hi Eliza, glad to watch your great content.Thank you for sharing.🌹
When I had my job I noticed that I felt more motivated (yet anxious) to do task and I also noticed my overall life was better because I was forced to be in the present.
Another great video. Great job!
Congrats on 888K followers, you're so close to 1M!!
What would I do without you ? Every video is life-saving. Thank you so much for your work and WOW your editing is amazing
u could do anything u are inspition to many people around u
u are many people's hope okay
The explanation and editing is brilliant
Beautiful, beautiful work of art! ❤
Just wanted to let you know your thumbnail for this video really pulled me in. Your content is great!
Something that stood out for me int he video is ‘Bottom-up processing’ as being present in the moment, acknowledging context and arriving in the body, how do I feel and Elizabeth Filips recommends to respond to this felt-sensation. For example noticing tension in jaw and hands and hunger therefore, asking what the sensations need.
I'm recovering (very well!) from brain damage and this had a profound positive impact on me this week. I haven't worked this well in a long time and I didn't realize how badly my phone was hindering recovery. I know that sounds dramatic, but thanks
make it overdramtic
I was thinking of the same thing on the dice but I was thinking of 12 sided and they were more nasty outcomes. Please keep up your good work. You're beautiful face makes my day a little bit more brighter.
Oh, changing desk setup... i rearrange furniture in the house sometimes as a procrastination of just cleaning the house
Yep. I do this when I'm supposed to be writing. I'll suddenly feel the need to pull the refrigerator out from the wall and clean underneath it with a toothbrush.
@@brindlebucker4741 I am more on the side of lets make the most state of the art furniture arrangement to make 150% out of flat`s functionality, convenience and coyness. not to brag a lot but feel i am good at that
@@brindlebucker4741:Ddd the deep cleaning urge is real when you're really busy
Havent seen your vids in a while as i havent been on youtube but holy crap ! Your quality has improved dramatically
This really resonates with me. I think hearing and understanding these theories may help my productivity. Great video.
I like the way you edit your video, it's pleasant to watch! You're so talented! Thank you for making this video and for your researches, I learned a lot of things, you helped me a lot !
I love thiiiis!!! Thank you Elizabeth ❤❤❤
im hooked i could watch you forever and ever!
Thank you so much 😭😭I have my finals in under a month and you perfectly describe my situation
Yes, I’m the one scrolling endlessly then getting to bed telling myself I’ll study the next day
Thank you a million times 🎉 this video is everything i need to achieve all my goal. Starting my days watching this video 👍
GIRL your video quality is almost that of a movie!!!
Dang that is a very well made intro. Love to see you trying something new
Always great hearing from you!
Steve, State of Mississippi, USA
I was waiting for this! 🤩🤩
As a native English speaker, some constructive feedback: the music is too loud and the microphone quality\distance or your diction makes it very difficult to hear you. Thanks for the effort, 🙏I can see all the work put into this content. Would love to hear it more clearly. Subtitles would help folks that are not native-English speakers. I see in the comments I'm not the only one having difficulties. Wishing you are fabulous 2024🥳
Thank you for your efforts in gathering and presenting these information to us . I needed this . Love from India 🇮🇳❣️.
Thanks for showing your books ❤❤❤
Elizabeth i love your videos so much! thank uuu!
Thank you!! The first person not only telling me to delete the instagram app from my phone. The app is not the problem - yeah, of course it is not helping, but I can procrastinate work even with my laundry.😂 This was well explained and seems to make sense to me.
no instagram is good things if u know how to use it for ur education
Elizabeth I love your videos.
Thanks for introducing the Milanote, it brings back memories when I had to design connection points for Max Weber's timeline, this (that) software is so useful yet was forgotten by me.
This video is just beauteously edited, istg!🤩
I started to deactivate my wifi when i´m about to clean my apartment.
That helps a lot with procrastination.
Thanks for a lot!! these days I have been through the problem like the video said. I learned a lot from this video. Hope it will help
The story-telling is getting more expressive Ms Filips :-)
I love your video, you packed so much information and went straight to the point. ❤❤❤❤Tip: Watch at 0.75 speed to hear her clearly.
you make gems literally, thank you :)
This explains why I usually never keep watching after the midtime ad break.
your videos are so well done and fun :) i think you're just brilliant!
broo THANK YOUUUU FOR THIS
This is amazing! Wow! I LOVE your channel! It's so unique and interesting and educational and helpful for people. Well done! And your backdrop is awesome! I love the artwork and books. 🙂 Subscribed!
You videos really helped me out not only in making my life organized and I became better at maths and physics not only that but i used some of your videos to program an ai the video where you mentioned how we remember things
you are amazing , thank you for this video and every other great video of yours!
Delving into the world of deep focus and why your brain needs understimulation. Your insights are a revelation on the importance of a quiet mind. Time to embrace the power of focus and create a space for mental clarity.
This is something I recently figured out. I learnt how much distress can come from underestimation and reflected from there.
I really like the framing of top down and bottom up. It made me think, "What's the cause, not the side effect?" And it encourages in the moment reflection which is a massive skill to develop and provides a practical way to figure out ways to overcome it.
I have a massive passion in learning different causes (frameworks) of distress and wellbeing/recovery, because i was never taught alternatives to biomedical and this gave me a broken brain perspective when i went through recovery. It's been incredibly confronting, yet super fascinating to reflect and consider the role of over-stimulation and technology on my health and quality of life.
technology is fun
First of all, your voice is not annoying.
Secondly, the written summary is truly a gem for my Zettelkasten! (Of course inspired by you.. 😊)
Well done as always.
Thank you so much. Have a good evening. From Madrid spain ☺👍
I want to thank you for this video. I am sure it will help me! Very recommended.
I was loving your video but I got distracted by the ad and started building a milanote board 😂 the irony of it all. Thank you for the advice and direction 😊
I ususally watch videos in 1.5x speed to save time. May be telling of the kind of stuff i watch, but anyways...
My point is that this video is different. Very well researched, planned and executed. top notch content! 10/10
It wasn't much, after a long time it felt good to be back.
The artistic curation of your videos is genuinely amazing! How do you realize all the animations in real time? I am especially interested in the hand-drawn parts
I’m in love with your content and with you to be honest😂 … your great
Thanks for motivating 😊.
Hey liz, I love all your videos, they're just awesome.
I want to request two videos, one on your academic life, like how did you manage your time back in highschool and daily life tasks with study. Nowadays we are getting addicted to watching series and everything and I want to know if you also watched these shows or if not what did you do for mind refreshment.
Two, can you suggest some good books to read as a student which may help us in focusing or might motivate us for the long run. Lots of love to you from me 💕