I was supposed to do boring life stuff today but I got heavily sidetracked by trying to model a physics problem.
This sort of distraction happens a lot to me, when I'm meant to be doing one chore but drop it and do a different one when I see it needs to be done. Like needing to clean the stove, then noticing the cupboards aren't clean, and then staying up late cleaning my kitchen from top to bottom. The sort of thing where it's hard to find motivation but once I do then I'm unstoppable.
I have a friend on adderall, and how he describes that drug it wouldn't work to help this because it helps you focus, but not necessarily on the right thing. He once took it to finish an assignment and then got fixated on a videogame instead and played it until 5am.
I think it will vary depending on the person, but for me I work best when my time is deliberately segmented: I set timers for tasks to help me stay focused. 45 minutes is my go-to, but I have timers in my clock app labeled for different things, like an hour "break", the 45 minute timer is labeled "busy", I have a 20 minute one called "distraction". I will set the timer, and when it goes off I know I either need to switch gears or restart the timer to allow myself to keep going, but only for that second (albeit sometimes third) time, but once that beeping starts I know I need to take a break or switch gears. This has really helped me with studying and remembering to go to the bathroom, or even just to get up and stretch. I will also use timers for laundry, since my washer/dryer have a display that says how much time is left, so I'll set a timer that matches those and then try and do as many chores as I can during the time it takes to wash my clothes, or play a game during that time. Idk how applicable this will be for everyone since it's pretty specific, but maybe something along these lines will help others. I think spending time on things that flex your brain muscles are worth exploring no matter what, but like a lot of things it comes down to how disruptive it is in your daily life. Best of luck OP!
The timer thing is a good idea, I was kind of realizing while it was happening that I got nerd-sniped, but let it happen anyway and got carried away. I think I'll start using timers. I ignore my bedtime timer too often.
It'd be nice if there was a way to have a count-up timer that went off, like how soccer games work. Where there's an end time set, but you can see how much time elapsed. Where you can still add more time, but it adds it to the total.
That way it'd mitigate the thing you talk about where you restart the timer and keep going a 2nd or 3rd time, since you'd still be able to easily add more time, but you'd also see "I already spent 2 hours of my life on this rabbit-hole, i don't want to add any more" and the timer would give you a reality check. That way you avoid the way I treat my alarm clock, where I keep snoozing it when I know I shouldn't, and get to the point where I forgot how many times i snoozed it.
Maybe I'll try and learn how to do this simple idea in an android app, it seems like a good beginner project.
Since taking a break after being burnt out on school, I started actively trying to learn stuff on my own, get back into my hobbies, and it's pretty fun. Idk how 'useful' it is, but it feels better than vegging out on tiktok like I used to. TFW when it's 4am and you stayed up many hours longer than you intended watching video junk-food.
Burnout is such a bitch, that's awesome that you have rekindled some hobbies!! I'll add a caveat that it took months to pavlov myself to fully respond to the timers, there were definitely some times at the start where it didn't even register that an alarm was going off right next to me lol. If you do end up getting a counter to work after time has passed, lemme know or maybe make a post cuz I would love to try it too, it's a great idea!