How can I improve my concentration and attention span?

Yet another highly intelligent person who discovers the trinkets of culture are boring. You’re just bored.

The good news is that boredom is not a crime. So relax. It’s not laziness. Accusing yourself of laziness is dangerous and can lead to depression. If there were an activity that you were interested in, I’m quite sure you would be filled with enthusiasm for it.

Let me take a wild guess and call you a Visionary. No one suffers like the visionary does. I’d wager you have profound ideas and grand schematics on how to make the world and your life a much better place. I bet you see it all very clearly. But the problem with being a Visionary is that they are typically very poor Project Managers. Why? Because they see the big picture, but become very bored with the processes necessary to make it into a reality. Your satisfaction has already been fulfilled with the vision. The rest is just messy details that get in the way of other visions that are upon you.

Advice I’ll offer you for both the short term and long term.

Short term:

Get THIS book. Don’t just read it. Do it! You need to develop some type of disciplined ritual in your life. Start every day with an early walk, and then sit down and DO the morning pages outlined in this book. It’s easy, insightful, and will introduce you to yourself.

Your daily walks should be spent in two ways. Lets say you walk a mile. One lousy mile isn’t too much to ask. The first half is spent making a few lists in your mind. Immediate things that need to be accomplished for that day. The second half returning home is spent clearing your mind and paying attention to your surroundings, appreciating the subtle views you haven’t seen before. Take some wet leaves and rub them on your face. How does that feel? Describe it in detail in your Morning Pages.

Long term:

Search for an activity or career that appreciates the Visionary mind. Art, Psychology, Philosophy… Yes, pick up a brush, get your fingers dirty with clay, or have a date with your digital camera in a shady part of town. Go to THIS web site and start reading about other Visionaries just like you. Join a cause! Learn to cook healthy fabulous food from your own garden. The world needs your mind. Show us how to live. We need more leaders in this world, so step up please!

Shoot your television and limit your computer activities to specifically scheduled times… and no more! Go outside and meet your neighbors.

Try taking some deep breaths before you start any project. Whenever you feel your mind going astray remind yourself why you are doing the project.

And just as a foil to @RealEyesRealizeRealLies (because that’s what I live for) read this review. http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-Spiritual-Creativity-Workbook/product-reviews/0874776945/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

No book is without its critics. And the negative reviews on Amazon are what I call category one.

This is a very special book. And the people that I personally know who have read it fall into two categories. The first is people who say, “Yeah I read it”. But when asked if they actually participated in the program, they say “No”. It’s like reading a math book without doing the exercises. You’re not going to get much out of it.

The second category of person who reads this book actually have done the program, and fully participate in the Morning Pages and the Artist Dates in a disciplined manner. It is these readers who benefit from the information. These are the people who experience a life changing renewal. I’ve lost track of how many Morning Pages I’ve written. And the Artist Dates are a true blessing to me that I wouldn’t dream of missing. One of my best friends took on this program, and it changed his life completely.

He, like @RocketSquid looked at life in much the same way. But five years later he has nearly 200 notebooks full of Morning Pages and is pursuing publishing a book from his efforts. He also picked up a digital camera (knowing absolutely nothing about photography), and within six months entered a national art competition and was chosen as one of the top 10 finalists out of thousands of entries. This wasn’t any little art show. He was flown to Atlanta to meet personally with fifteen directors of the major art museums and galleries and photo agencies in the United States for a private portfolio viewing and critique. He was picked against people, like me, who have pursued art all of their lives. Now he travels the US looking for rare woods to obtain for making his own custom high end ink pens, and has launched a company based upon selling hand crafted one of a kind premium writing instruments he makes from scratch. He has become a true Renaissance Man.

My advice to @RocketSquid addresses boredom for the ugly thing that it is. People get bored with life because they suddenly realize they don’t have anything going on in their lives. To hide from that cold truth, they may begin to punish themselves with accusations of self laziness. That is dangerous thinking, and can convince a person they are unworthy of the wonders that life has to offer.

Two ways that I have found to over come this is with examples set forth in the pages of The Artists Way, actually teaching and encouraging me to actually have and get something going on in my life.

And in the meantime, while I discover that, I involve myself with others who already have something worthy going on in their lives.

If one cannot accept the spiritual nature and admittedly Christian similarities of this book, then either read around it and get with the program, or simply find another way to address boredom in a meaningful manner. That, I believe, will never be satisfied by continuing to feed oneself with the mindless junk food of pop culture.

Start with throwing out all your TVs, Forever.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies I really appreciate your answer, I feel exactly like the bored visionary you described, and the suggestions reminded me of days I spent in pure inspiration. Im pretty sure I want to read that book.

It couldn’t hurt. Keep in mind that it’s more than just a read. There are plenty of self help books out there. This is a disciplined course. That’s the only way to approach this with the expectation for genuine life changes.

Just do Meditation & Yoga…

I’ve used this advice before.

It could be the result of chronic stress and the related elevated cortisol levels flooding your body. This is quite common for ambitious people in complex scientific and technical fields. Prolonged exposure to complicated abstract subjects without any feasible compensation strategy can have this effect. High cortisol levels mess up neurotransmitter levels in particular serotonin and dopamine. A lack of concentration and attention span could mean that higher levels of dopamine are required to give your brain the kick it was used to.

I think there’s only one thing that really helps: slowing down the thoughts inside your head. Find activities that helps you slow down. Ambitious hiking trips or bike rides won’t do the job. Ideally you could learn how to meditate, but it’s very hard. I tried it several times and wasn’t really successful.

Have you tried to learn an instrument? Another option would be painting. An evening course with other people perhaps. Especially people who are not high-powered scientists. Any slow activity will do. Away from the noise. A cabin in the mountains for a week far away from civilization might help. And go fishing perhaps.

There are non-religious people who spent 3 weeks in Tibetan monasteries and they say it changed their lives. They are still non-religious, but they have discovered slowness and learned how to enjoy it.

What you are describing might be a precursor to burnout syndrome. Doing something about this precursor is a lot easier than dealing with full throttle burnout.

In any case finding means for slowing down your thoughts seems to be the key.