It's getting harder to focus every day
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
A programmer describes losing focus to distractions and trying to regain it.
The author traces their attention decline from high school, where they avoided phone distractions, to present-day struggles with browsing, LLMs, and work culture. They note that many co-workers succeed with minimal effort, which normalized distraction. Their attempts to regain focus include livestreaming, reading physical books, and gardening. A timer helped them write the article.
The author observes that outsourcing tasks to LLMs creates overstimulation and makes solitary work feel boring. They contrast their past ability to study and code for hours with their current inability to sustain even one hour of single-activity focus.
What commenters are saying
Commenters broadly agree that information overload and lack of boredom are key causes. One top comment suggests creating stripped-down user accounts on a computer to limit access (e.g., only a terminal and offline docs), adding friction without making it annoying. Another warns against reflexively diagnosing ADHD, noting that symptoms must be present since childhood. A few commenters advocate for deliberate daydreaming and staring at walls as a countermeasure. One dissenter criticizes the suggestion to medicate, arguing it's not a solution to machine-induced distraction.