Ever been not able to focus?

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Ever been not able to focus?

Post by NoSkill »

Like today i woke up and if i try to watch baduk tv i just can't focus on it and want to just play, but i know if i play im not learning anything because im not mentally ready to play, as in I know if I play im going to play bad. So after 3 hrs of doing nothing (trying to watch baduk tv but not focusing) i played two games on kgs that went just like I thought, unable to read ahead or focus on the game and I just played instinct moves blitzing without being able to stop myself just hoping to win and I ended up losing both.

This is frustrating and happens to me often, maybe one a week or so. Anyone else have this problem? The sad part is all I needed to rank up was one win because ive been getting stronger from baduk tv, but since I played when I knew I shouldnt all the work went down the drain in terms of ranking.

I also feel like I don't play as well until I get a shower that day..
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Re: Ever been not able to focus?

Post by NoSkill »

Im noting one thing, when this kind of thing happens, oftentimes I can think normally in everyway except I can't focus on the go board, as in it seems hard to make it into focus or i can only see like 1/10 of what I normally see of it, its like im way zoomed in and get lost, forgetting to think about the whole board like I usually do.

Also, I can't visualize anything, not just reading ahead in go, but like trying to visualize a dog or anything in my head, nothing comes up. I can't visualize anything right now.
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Re: Ever been not able to focus?

Post by Bill Spight »

NoSkill wrote:Like today i woke up and if i try to watch baduk tv i just can't focus on it and want to just play, but i know if i play im not learning anything because im not mentally ready to play, as in I know if I play im going to play bad. So after 3 hrs of doing nothing (trying to watch baduk tv but not focusing) i played two games on kgs that went just like I thought, unable to read ahead or focus on the game and I just played instinct moves blitzing without being able to stop myself just hoping to win and I ended up losing both.

This is frustrating and happens to me often, maybe one a week or so. Anyone else have this problem? The sad part is all I needed to rank up was one win because ive been getting stronger from baduk tv, but since I played when I knew I shouldnt all the work went down the drain in terms of ranking.

I also feel like I don't play as well until I get a shower that day..


Well, there are concentration exercises. :) Go itself is one, but that does not seem to be working with you.

But there is nothing particularly wrong with playing by instinct and the reviewing at leisure. It is actually not a bad approach. :)
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Re: Ever been not able to focus?

Post by NoSkill »

Bill Spight wrote:
NoSkill wrote:Like today i woke up and if i try to watch baduk tv i just can't focus on it and want to just play, but i know if i play im not learning anything because im not mentally ready to play, as in I know if I play im going to play bad. So after 3 hrs of doing nothing (trying to watch baduk tv but not focusing) i played two games on kgs that went just like I thought, unable to read ahead or focus on the game and I just played instinct moves blitzing without being able to stop myself just hoping to win and I ended up losing both.

This is frustrating and happens to me often, maybe one a week or so. Anyone else have this problem? The sad part is all I needed to rank up was one win because ive been getting stronger from baduk tv, but since I played when I knew I shouldnt all the work went down the drain in terms of ranking.

I also feel like I don't play as well until I get a shower that day..


Well, there are concentration exercises. :) Go itself is one, but that does not seem to be working with you.

But there is nothing particularly wrong with playing by instinct and the reviewing at leisure. It is actually not a bad approach. :)


Right but I just feel like I cant focus on anything I do somedays or at least for part of a day and I just click at my pc, or in real life zone out.

Like if im reading manga i just click to the next page, reading alot of it but not all of it... basically im not focusing and paying attention to detail as much as usual, unable to visualize anything, its like im rushing through things with a dead lineright around the corner with someone telling me about the deaadline, and having to go the bathroom at the same time.

You just can't do anything as well as you normally can.

To get rid or it... usually takes 4-6 hours but music helps make it go away it seems, or a nap/shower. Does anyone know why this happens though? the inital cause o.o?
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Re: Ever been not able to focus?

Post by Bonobo »

NoSkill wrote:[..]

To get rid or it... usually takes 4-6 hours but music helps make it go away it seems, or a nap/shower. Does anyone know why this happens though? the inital cause o.o?

Only thing I know is that somebody once told me that a shower could make up for two hours of sleep. In my experience this seems to be true, roughly. But sadly it’s not that taking a longer shower or two showers would make up for 4 hrs of sleep ;-)
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Re: Ever been not able to focus?

Post by NoSkill »

Bonobo wrote:
NoSkill wrote:[..]

To get rid or it... usually takes 4-6 hours but music helps make it go away it seems, or a nap/shower. Does anyone know why this happens though? the inital cause o.o?

Only thing I know is that somebody once told me that a shower could make up for two hours of sleep. In my experience this seems to be true, roughly. But sadly it’s not that taking a longer shower or two showers would make up for 4 hrs of sleep ;-)


I did take a shower and I feel a lot better and am playing better now :P
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Re: Ever been not able to focus?

Post by Faro »

Ok I have two comments for you. The first one is I used to study Zen a lot a few years ago. My Fav Zen teachers once said that sometimes when you sit Zen, You can't concentrate (I'm paraphrasing here as it's been like 3 years since I did anything Zen related) You can't concentrate and you feel like your Zen practice is very poor. Now, Without getting into a big thing about Zen having no purpose, and sitting Zen for Zen sake and all that, I'll risk saying that a "point" of Zen is to relax and let thoughts pass, and not to dwell on them and such (again, I'm attaching purposes to a non-purpose kind of think for demonstrative purposes)

Anyway, He basically said that that is actually the best Zen practice. Because it is hard. It is easy to sit Zen everyday and if it goes very well say "My Zen is so strong." So it's good to have some Zen that doesn't go so well every know and then. And I have actually experienced this.
When I used to sit Zen I would sit for an hour (two half hours with a short break between to wake my legs up) And one day it was very bad. And hour of thoughts and thoughts and little itch's I wanted to scratch and everything that is annoying when sitting Zen was happening. But when I was done, It was one of the most fulfilling sit's I have ever done.

So anyway that is my first point if that makes sense in relation to playing Go. I hope it does.

My second point is that what you describing, About not being able to focus and losing interest and only feeling better after a shower or music sounds like classic symptoms of Depression. Not, Not to say you have a chemical imbalance or anything, I seriously doubt you need medication. But you did post a thread recently where you talked about being upset about the direction you want to take in life, and your future and college and your time with go. It sounds to me like you're just bummed out on life, stuck in a rut and all that.

My advice is to change it up. Maybe go out with friends instead of staying inside and playing Go. Go for a jog or something. And while you are doing this, Think about all the heavy stuff (But also give yourself a break from it, if THAT makes sense haha) Once you start to feel like you have a little more direction your mind will clear itself up naturally.

This is usually there part where I'd say "Or that's just my opinion, I could be wrong, I don't know the situation, blah blah" But at the moment I feel like I need to stick to my guns more often.

I hope my comments helped and where not to personal, opposing or intrusive. And also I hope i'm not just blowing smoke haha.

EDIT: Sorry I just noticed this thread hasn't been posted in for like a week. Sorry If my big Ol' rant is no longer relevant.
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Re: Ever been not able to focus?

Post by NoSkill »

Faro wrote:Ok I have two comments for you. The first one is I used to study Zen a lot a few years ago. My Fav Zen teachers once said that sometimes when you sit Zen, You can't concentrate (I'm paraphrasing here as it's been like 3 years since I did anything Zen related) You can't concentrate and you feel like your Zen practice is very poor. Now, Without getting into a big thing about Zen having no purpose, and sitting Zen for Zen sake and all that, I'll risk saying that a "point" of Zen is to relax and let thoughts pass, and not to dwell on them and such (again, I'm attaching purposes to a non-purpose kind of think for demonstrative purposes)

Anyway, He basically said that that is actually the best Zen practice. Because it is hard. It is easy to sit Zen everyday and if it goes very well say "My Zen is so strong." So it's good to have some Zen that doesn't go so well every know and then. And I have actually experienced this.
When I used to sit Zen I would sit for an hour (two half hours with a short break between to wake my legs up) And one day it was very bad. And hour of thoughts and thoughts and little itch's I wanted to scratch and everything that is annoying when sitting Zen was happening. But when I was done, It was one of the most fulfilling sit's I have ever done.

So anyway that is my first point if that makes sense in relation to playing Go. I hope it does.

My second point is that what you describing, About not being able to focus and losing interest and only feeling better after a shower or music sounds like classic symptoms of Depression. Not, Not to say you have a chemical imbalance or anything, I seriously doubt you need medication. But you did post a thread recently where you talked about being upset about the direction you want to take in life, and your future and college and your time with go. It sounds to me like you're just bummed out on life, stuck in a rut and all that.

My advice is to change it up. Maybe go out with friends instead of staying inside and playing Go. Go for a jog or something. And while you are doing this, Think about all the heavy stuff (But also give yourself a break from it, if THAT makes sense haha) Once you start to feel like you have a little more direction your mind will clear itself up naturally.

This is usually there part where I'd say "Or that's just my opinion, I could be wrong, I don't know the situation, blah blah" But at the moment I feel like I need to stick to my guns more often.

I hope my comments helped and where not to personal, opposing or intrusive. And also I hope i'm not just blowing smoke haha.

EDIT: Sorry I just noticed this thread hasn't been posted in for like a week. Sorry If my big Ol' rant is no longer relevant.




Thanks anyway :D
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