Difficulty concentrating. Anyone else?

[hamsterjill]

I’m sure I’m not alone but I’m having a hard time concentrating on every day chores, etc. What should take 15 minutes seems to take an hour. (Checking DU all the time is probably part of that problem!)

I’m taking self-imposed breaks from the internet, but I’m still having the problem. Any sage wisdom? Anyone else combatting this?

It’s been raining and messy here for the last three days and I think that has contributed to the overall down. Hopefully will clear off later today.

Should I start taking ginkoba perhaps?

[Dennis Donovan]

1. I have sort of the opposite - I can't stop concentrating on the news

[woodsprite]

2. I've been having trouble concentrating on work since 9/11.

An 8yr respite when Obama/Biden lead the country. Now this all just makes it 1000x worse.

I work on the pc and am on the internet and email all day long. Now I've added Zoom and MSTeams. It's amazing how much chatter our IT group can create in a day that's NOT work related.

I'm trying to use the TomatoTimer web site. You start a 25min cycle, then can take a short break (5min) or a long break (10min). It's helping a little bit.

[hamsterjill]

4. I'll google that.

Thanks.

[HarlanPepper]

3. Nope. Doing just fine here.

[UpInArms]

5. I keep becoming too fixated on the numbers

and the weather is crappy ... am hoping for a bit of sunshine ... in any version

[Mike 03]

6. You're not alone.

My half-finished taxes have been sitting on my desk for over a week.

I am forgetting little stuff because thoughts are racing through my mind. I'm not worried because I'm recalling everything I read about COVID-19. I'd say I'm having no trouble concentrating on news, but i'm letting a lot of other stuff "slide."

To divert myself, I'm reading a great book about WW2 called "Wages of Destruction" and it's both diverting but also relevant because it does illustrate how a massive world event can consume so much focus and expenditure, both in psychological energy and physical exhaustion.

Maybe this distraction is the proper response to something this serious.

[DarthDem]

11. That sounds like a wonderful read

Thanks for the rec! Very timely and possibly even uplifting as well.

[hamsterjill]

12. Maybe it is the proper response.

It’s still irritating though. Your approach sounds like a good one. I’m going to force myself to finish what I need to do and take a couple of hours and continue watching “Picard”. I’m about mid way through it and it hasn’t impressed me yet, but several friends are encouraging me to stick with it because, they say, it gets better.

Here’s hoping!

[CrispyQ]

7. It's like a cloak of bad news hanging over your entire life.

I think a lot of rich people thought the crisis Trump would face would be nuclear and that reasoned people could talk him out of dropping a bomb, so the risk of voting for him seemed small. Oops.

[CTyankee]

8. I am writing another book and was very well concentrated on that when this happened.

But I am now having problems concentrating and tend to wander off subject and have to self correct. WTH? This is a big waste of my time...

Thank goddess we are healthy here and have neighbors and family who pitch in.

[cyclonefence]

9. Yes

I have lots I could be doing around the house, like putting away laundry, but I can't just do it. Sometimes I can start a project but can't finish it. I went through a frenzied cleaning, and I have a paid writing project to work on, but I just want to watch old movies--and I fall asleep during them. Plus, and perhaps related, I've gained five pounds in the past two weeks.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Exactly how I have been feeling.

Winter was rainy and cloudy, not as much sun as normal, and trump was trump, and now virus.
Really was not much interested in doing stuff except laundry and cooking.

spring hit with a rush, but the virus "out there" is a constant concern. We can hunker in the house, it's what we do anyhow, 2 retired hermits with all the books and music in the world at our finger tips.

If the internet goes, tho, I am not gonna do well.

[gristy]

10. Watch Cuomo's morning briefings

The NY Times had it embedded live on their front page today. He was great. In particular he talked about a new test being developed to identify those who have been infected already and so are immune and could go to work or be put to work. And he talked about pivot points and how they are already studying how to turn the economy back on.

[hamsterjill]

13. Cuomo has been the saving grace.

I wish we had him in Texas!

[Lars39]

14. I'm feeling an urgency to get things done,

to organize, to be prepared, to be on top of things.
Feels worse than "nesting" when pregnant.

[BigDemVoter]

15. Am having the same problem.

I'm having difficulty focusing on anything to be honest.

[Laelth]

16. That's called depression.

Yes. I am feeling it too. It's not that ordinary tasks are more difficult or take a longer period of time, for me. It's mustering the emotional energy to attack these necessary tasks that I find difficult.

I feel you but can't advise you.

-Laelth

[RAB910]

17. Could be stress related (consider the crisis we are in)

I suggest trying to manage stress first

[I_UndergroundPanther]

18. I find myself procrastinating,sometimes

My attention is as good as expected with ADHD &meds.