You can’t just switch hyperfocus on and off, but you can learn what causes you to zero in on certain things. The key is to channel that one-pointed attention to useful goals. You can end up expending valuable time and energy that takes away from the real work you need to accomplish. Many athletes who are capable of being hyperfocused do extraordinary things.Īlternatively, the flip side of hyperfocus is that you can get too engrossed in one aspect of what you are doing, and that can get in the way of the rest of your life. I was one-pointedly obsessed and hyperfocused on the success of my new enterprise.Īthletes can sometimes feel like they are in the zone or a trance-like state when they can’t hear the noise, crowds, or anything else around them. When I made the decision to leave the old established company I was working for, I got into a mental state where the only things truly fluid in my mind were the check list of everything I needed to do to form Ansley. Hyperfocus has allowed me to obsessively focus on building a wildly successful company in just five years. In my opinion, it depends on how you use it. Some people choose to believe that hyperfocus is a negative trait. In a work or job situation, these attributes are also linked to productivity, motivation and company loyalty. At its best, hyperfocus can be a trance-like altered state of total absorption and effortless concentration. People with hyperfocus can have tunnel vision or operate in what some people call “the zone” or a “flow state.” They even might experience a kind of ecstasy and barely need to consciously think for the work to “flow” out. Due to their extreme focus, they may also increase their aptitude at certain tasks which they find particularly relevant, as well as refine things that captivate their interest. Because they’re so absorbed, they can often get more done more quickly than others. The faulty brain circuits can make it harder for the person to “shift gears” to take up boring but necessary tasks, and ironically easier for them to be both distracted and to be hyperfocused.Ī person in a hyperfocused state doesn’t notice the hours passing by as they play a sport or zero in on a project or a job. What is the cause of hyperfocus? It may be because the ADHD brain is thought to result from abnormally low levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which is normally active in the brain’s frontal lobes and is linked to reward and attention. In states of hyperfocus, a person can focus their attention to really win. ![]() In states of hyperfocus, a person may find themselves fully engrossed in work, hobbies or other activities. It is a symptom of ADHD that many people view as opposite to the main symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Hyperfocus is characterized by very long periods of highly-focused attention on something that meets a person’s interests. So, while mundane tasks may be difficult to focus on, others may be completely absorbing. ADHD is not necessarily a deficit of attention, as is so commonly thought, but rather a problem with regulating one’s attention span to a task. ![]() Just about anyone can slip into hyperfocus, but it is primarily a mental state in people with ADHD, like myself, where a person can concentrate so intensely on a task, they can block out everything else.
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