How to kill a wandering mind

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I need to know. I am going crazy in this shell. I can't stay focused on a single thing for more than 5 seconds until my brain is off somewhere else and I HATE it. This causes me to forget/miss all these important details in life. It's the main reason I procrastinate, it's not that I don't want to write the paper, it's that I CAN'T. The paper is sitting in front of my half written, and I put my pen to the paper and my mind literally feels repulsed. Think of ANYTHING but writing the paper, PLEASE. ANYTHING. I am going fucking crazy. I just missed a vital detail in my computer class, and now I may fail for it, all because my mind is just wandering wandering wandering, I can't pay attention to any lectures or teachers or anything, I can't even get a higher position at my job, not because of my knowledge of the company, or my intelligence, but because it involves an attention to detail I just can't fucking comprehend. Also I suck at grammar (as I'm sure all the grammar nazis have noticed, I just can't keep track of all the little nuances of grammar.

Is there any honest advice for me to help keep my mind on track, and pay more attention to detail. Damn.:m083:
 
I go through this quite a bit with some assignments. The hardest part is starting, deciding that that is what you are gonna do. Rid yourself of ALL distractions (in other words, all those easier tasks that you still have to do, but worry about anyways...just get those done off the bat) until you are just left with your mind. Allow yourself to make all the spelling/grammar errors you want, and then clean up your finished product. Look at it not as a huge paper, but a series of small essay questions united with an intro and conclusion.
 
I can totally relate.

I can't even watch a movie I'm so restless. I usually have to take a break from writing the assignment which sucks if you have a deadline. I usually need weeks and months for papers....

Also I find my mind wandering more when my thoughts are disorganized or I'm not completely decided on the point I'm trying to make. Writing outlines are the most tedious and stupid things ever, but they help. Try to outline and organize your thoughts. Decide what is important and what isn't...and work from there. Don't get stuck rewriting a sentence or a paragraph over and over...I have a tendency to do that alot....even posting on here lol.

Good luck.
 
you either need to be more stressed about writing these papers, or less. Effectiveness is a bell curve function of stress, and there's this point where there's just enough stress to make you really work hard on the task at hand. Deciding which direction to go should be natural, if you;re really stressed, you need to de-stress, if you're feeling ok about everything, you need to psych yourself up more.

Other than that, I've found that when writing a paper, there's a song out there that just gives you all sorts of motivation to focus, and so I find this song, (its typically a happy, upbeat song) put the song on single repeat, and listen to it until I'm done with the paper.
 
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Good point Kav, if you can't get motivated find someone who will light a fire under your ass.
 
You need to do something to make yourself really de-stress- like force the tension out of your body de-stress.

You must have a lot going through your head and a lot you're worried about, and if you can't step back from it then you'll just stay wrapped up in it. You need everything in your body and mind to flow together instead of being disconnected due to all the things you're holding in.

Sorry, I wish I could be more helpful.
 
Sounds like you need to develop some learned behavior. I would suggest that you set mini-goals for the hour and try and expand from there. This hour I will accomplish....Before lunch I will....
Learn to set yourself to a schedule may help you focus your mind. The reward would be that if you accomplish XYZ in only 2 hours when you budgeted 4, you have 2 hours to do what you want. Goal setting is a learned skill that can be from the macro (years) to the micro (hours). The burden in on you though. You have to commit to the changes and celebrate your smallest victory which will give the inner confidence to create long term change.
 
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