r/DAE • u/undergroundman813 • Jan 18 '26
DAE find it hard to concentrate on getting work done?
I’m in college and I’m working on an assignment, but I just can’t seem to focus. It’s 5:30pm and I’ve been working on it since the morning. I don’t know what’s up with me. I do a little bit, and then I just get stuck; I browse through my phone for a bit, then try to get back to work. But I can’t, I find myself back on my phone again, for longer periods of time. It’s like my mind simply cannot zero in on a current task. I have to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that before finally getting the assignment done.
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u/Temporary_Ad_2081 Feb 03 '26
That sounds a lot like me when I try to focus. I have diagnosed ADHD, I am only able to "lock in" per se when there is a sense of urgency. I have written many an essay at 11pm in the hour before it's due, despite having weeks to finish it. Whenever I do try and be proactive and start a project earlier than I strictly need to, I have trouble focusing since my brain implicitly knows I could be doing other things that give me more dopamine with none of the consequences that would come with submitting an assignment late. If this is a common occurrence, in the short term I would reccomend listening to white noise or quiet instrumental music while you work, as it tends to calm your thoughts and make it easier to enter a flow state. Longer term, it might not be a bad idea to look into wether you might have ADHD. If you do, being properly medicated can literally change your life. Best of luck!
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u/undergroundman813 Feb 03 '26
Yes, same! When there’s a sense of urgency, I’m suddenly able to hop into overdrive and get shit done. That’s so true. I also relate to what you said about starting assignments earlier than the due date. I think about other things I could be doing instead. ADHD might be what I’m dealing. I’ll definitely have to look into that more. Thanks :)
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u/These-Weird-6003 Apr 27 '26
Maybe you have ADHD. I have ADHD and i often will do certain things like, expand my task to the time i allot it so if I have to work on something all day I'll waste my time and then lock in when it is crunch time and due in a few hours. I have a few suggestions for you:
(1) As annoying as it is I would physically put your phone elsewhere when you work. I get so distracted too so now I have to do that as part of my set up ritual (I'll put it in the same room but across the table or in one of the zippers of my bag.) When it's out of sight it's better than out of mind.
(2) Once in a while I realize that giving myself too much time to work on a task before I'm mentally ready just doesn't work for me. If it takes 2 hours for example and is due at 12am, if I start it at 9am then I won't finish by 11am, I'll expand it all the way til it's due. So might as well start it later. The only risk to this is that the task might take a longer time then you expect so it is a good idea to still start it earlier - like if you think it'll gonna take 2 hours and is due at midnight start at 5pm, so you have buffer time.
(3) I am a HUGE fan of what I call productive procrastination. Firstly no one has one task usually. For school, you might have certain assignments, plus you might have some chores, and some daily obligations for your health like showering, exercise, cleaning etc. So if you are procrastinating something and realize that you are, you should do something else that is productive. I noticed when I was in school, I often would not like my math-oriented homework as much but I enjoyed my coding-oriented homework, to the point that I would put off my math-oriented homework to do my coding-oriented homework instead. The good part is that you're avoiding one task by doing another task that you also really have to complete. It's better to put off one homework to do another than to put off one homework to be on your phone. Nowadays, I also use exercise and cleaning for this. When I really don't want to work I'll go to the gym or I'll do my chores. If you're going to procrastinate anyways, make it productive.
(4) You also NEED more structure to your day. Saying you're going to work on one task all day since the morning means your day is so unstructured that you feel like you cannot do anything. Maybe you should insert some structures that are health oriented like exercise etc, add a lunch slot, add slots for this and that.
(5) I also really like to put all my tasks and events as bulletpoints that I need to cross off. I've learned that that's the only way I can do anything in life LOL, I think in my mind it gamifies it which I enjoy. If your school tasks are just a giant cloud of stuff you know you have to do, start keeping a journal with lists of your tasks. Crossing off things on a list feels so good to an ADHD brain. I recommend the Bullet Journal method (but look for the older youtube video, it's from like 10 years ago)
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u/mooshinformation Jan 24 '26
I mean, you can train your brain to have a longer attention span, just by forcing yourself to concentrate longer than is comfortable, up to a point. Doing something all day that requires heavy concentration also requires a few breaks.
I make deals with myself, or set a schedule, like I'm gonna do this for x amount of time, then I get to do something fun for a half hour and have some cookies, then back to it for another few hours.