Archive for the 'Hyperfocus' Category

What is Hyperfocus?

Monday, April 25th, 2005

When I’m at the computer sometimes, I hyperfocus in on what I’m doing so strongly that I forget about time. Hyperfocus (or hyper-focus) is an extremely intense period of concentration.

It is what I wish I could do in situations where productivity is needed the most. I would like, for example, to be able to hyperfocus on my work so that I could get things done in half the time. Unfortunately, hyperfocus tends to occur for me during the least stressful times, when I’m caught up in something that’s interesting but has nothing to do with work.

You could say that right now I am hyperfocusing. I have no trouble writing this entry without being distracted. It helps that I have a deep interest in talking about ADD and spreading my experiences so that other adults with ADD or ADHD can benefit from them. It just feels so natural and completely captures my attention, somehow.

Posted in Uncategorized, Hyperfocus, Concentration | No Comments »

Video Games

Tuesday, April 12th, 2005

One of the most well-known examples of hyperfocusing in an ADD/ADHD child is with video games. Mothers and fathers often tell the doctors of their children, “He can’t concentrate on his homework for more than a couple of minutes, but put him in front of a television with a video game pad in his hands, and watch him concentrate for hours.”

It wasn’t true for me. I couldn’t concentrate on video games. I didn’t have a video game console of my own, but I often had a chance to play Nintendo at my next-door neighbor’s house.

I would play for a few minutes, but then I would lose interest. At that point, it wouldn’t make a difference whether I was winning or losing in the game. I would stop caring about the game entirely. I would be thinking about other things, and everything would seem more interesting than the dull video game.

Posted in Wandering Mind, Childhood, Hyperfocus | 2 Comments »