Does your mind ever go blank when your working?

erifdekciw

erifdekciw

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May 3, 2008
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For the past few weeks I've been feeling really out of it when working on stuff. When I'm not working I think of new ideas for campaigns and if im having problems with a campaign I can usually figure out why pretty easily why my campaign is not working...

But when it comes down to actually working on a landing page or a campaign, I just draw a blank. Its like all the knowledge ive learned over the years just disappears and I do stupid mistakes that I know I shouldn't be doing.

Once I get done working and finish the job I'll think its pretty good. Then 10 minutes later ill go back to it and look at it and laugh at the stupid mistakes I've made.

But when I go back to change everything around it starts happening again. I lose focus and next thing you know I feel like I dont know shit even though I know the answer.

I swear I feel like I have alzheimer's or something. Like my brain shuts off when its most needed.

Anyone go through this shit?
 
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hourly. my memory is really bad lately. I forget shit all the time and it's really annoying.
I'm pretty good at sitting down and powering through a task, but I get bombarded with interruptions and they just throw me right off, tough to get back on track and remember what my train of thought was.
 
Happens almost fucking daily unless I get out and do a bunch of shit to convince myself I've got a normal routine. Everyone says this shit but get out and work out or completely change where you do work.
 
But when it comes down to actually working on a landing page or a campaign, I just draw a blank. Its like all the knowledge ive learned over the years just disappears and I do stupid mistakes that I know I shouldn't be doing.
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Is it cause you're getting distracted by other things while you're working on the landing page or whatever it may be? Or are you actually unable to recall how to do the task?

Ginkgo Biloba + Gotu Kola are pretty good mind drugs. If anything they're my personal placebo pills; been using them for so long that even if they don't do anything physiologically I've anchored swallowing them to the state of "Focused" "concentrated" "faster recall/memory" etc..

@medicalhumor --- something as simple as a notepad with a to-do list on it can help for that; just block off all other tasks with a piece of paper only showing 1 task at a time.

I was thinking the other day it would be helpful if there was a program that you input a to-do list into and every so often (you decide) it'll dim your screen a little and the first task will fade into the center of the screen for a few seconds reminding you; until you check it off. At that point it'll dim and fade in the second task on the list - and so on and so forth.

Anyone wanna make this for me? :D
 
I've been using Goalscape lately, and it's been helping me to stay focused on a task. Plus once I've finished a task using it, I can keep it for a template, and use it later to refresh any lapses in my memory.

Goalscape - goal management software tool < not an affiliate, just a happy user.
 
One thing that seems to help me is taking fish oil. Ill take a package of fish oil in the morning and feel pretty damn alert and focused, but usually the effects seem to wear off after a few hours. So I take like 2-3 packages of fish oil a day. And of course exercise helps, But these things seem to help with the focus part. I still have problems recalling a lot of stuff while working.

One thing I noticed is when I get out of my chair and get on my laptop in bed or just get out of this chair that I get more energized and think better. I think this crappy chair and my crappy posture is giving me bad circulation. I might try getting a standing desk or a new chair.
 
Yes. Alot of times I will think for 1/2 a sec: "I hope my mind doesn't go blank" then it immediately does. The best way I have found to combat the blank is to relax my mind right when it happens and continue forward at a slower pace. I'm not sure why this happens but it seems to me that the majority of my work is coming somewhat subconsciously and when I think about the blank my mind goes into a panic and shuts down. It's kind of like when you're playing a car racing game on a console and you get into that mode where you aren't really thinking about the race and you kind of zone out and finish the race 1st but sometimes half way in between you realize you have been in the 'racing zone out' and you start screwing up and making mistakes. If that makes sense.
 
^^ This definitely. Sometimes I'll be working and like you said it's almost subconscious you just know what to do. Then sometimes I'll sit and think about what I did and I start second guessing myself, then usually if I change it it fails. I've tried to just not worry about it and just stick with my first idea I had.
 
Honestly, it sounds like you need a break man, maybe get to exercising a bit, or outside and walk your cat..When I get like that.. I get OFF the computer instantly so I don't lose my drive...
 
Couple of things - do you smoke weed and have you got something away from work that is bugging you more at the moment? If the answer to both of them is no then yeah you definitely will want to build in some recovery time into your day - 1 hour full on work is way better than 4 hours unmotivated.
 
Yep, I get it plenty too. The best thing is to get off your computer and do some short sharp exercise that gets your breathing and heart rate up to reset your head.
 
bobby_custard said:
Couple of things - do you smoke weed and have you got something away from work that is bugging you more at the moment? If the answer to both of them is no then yeah you definitely will want to build in some recovery time into your day - 1 hour full on work is way better than 4 hours unmotivated.
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Great advice, especially the beginning part. I've found that Mary Jane is a great companion after a long day of IMing.

My rest schedule usually consist of an hour of rest after every 3 hours of work. Especially useful in resting my eyes after starring at a screen for so long.
 
Couple things that helped me.
1. Gym
2. Nootropics, (I am still working this one out)
3. Mediatation
4. Good headphones
5. Sleep
6. To-Lists
7. Pomodoro technique.

Just some ideas.
 
This happens to me a lot, when I'm away from my computer I think of a whole bunch of tasks to do and then when I sit in front of the cpu I can't think of anything to do. I find it helps if I write everything down on a whiteboard and make sure it's visible from my desk so I can just look to it when I need ideas.
 
erifdekciw said:
For the past few weeks I've been feeling really out of it when working on stuff. When I'm not working I think of new ideas for campaigns and if im having problems with a campaign I can usually figure out why pretty easily why my campaign is not working...

But when it comes down to actually working on a landing page or a campaign, I just draw a blank. Its like all the knowledge ive learned over the years just disappears and I do stupid mistakes that I know I shouldn't be doing.

Once I get done working and finish the job I'll think its pretty good. Then 10 minutes later ill go back to it and look at it and laugh at the stupid mistakes I've made.

But when I go back to change everything around it starts happening again. I lose focus and next thing you know I feel like I dont know shit even though I know the answer.

I swear I feel like I have alzheimer's or something. Like my brain shuts off when its most needed.

Anyone go through this shit?
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Are you depriving yourself of a regular sleep schedule? Do you eat ecstasy?

I've been getting 4-5 hours of sleep tops for the last 6-8 months and I swear, no exaggeration, I really think I'm operating at a chimpanzee's intelligence level.

I honestly have to think about it for a good 5 min to even remember what I ate for lunch today.. ah chipotle

but in all seriousness its probably lack of sleep... don't trip and just power through it.
 
Dexidrine + ginko w.e. Navuud mentioned + fish oil + coffee + meditate. Messing up one of those destroys my flow, which I've been doing too much lately.
 
erifdekciw said:
For the past few weeks I've been feeling really out of it when working on stuff. When I'm not working I think of new ideas for campaigns and if im having problems with a campaign I can usually figure out why pretty easily why my campaign is not working...

But when it comes down to actually working on a landing page or a campaign, I just draw a blank. Its like all the knowledge ive learned over the years just disappears and I do stupid mistakes that I know I shouldn't be doing.

Once I get done working and finish the job I'll think its pretty good. Then 10 minutes later ill go back to it and look at it and laugh at the stupid mistakes I've made.

But when I go back to change everything around it starts happening again. I lose focus and next thing you know I feel like I dont know shit even though I know the answer.

I swear I feel like I have alzheimer's or something. Like my brain shuts off when its most needed.

Anyone go through this shit?
Click to expand...


It happened many times to me. You just need one total rest. Cut your internet and close your computer. Spend half one month in hawaii or Miami. Then come back, you will find all you learned are still in your mind:) In fact, you will find yourself be better!
 
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