wispfox

Just got out of a cog sci colloquium on neurofeedback and ADD and attention and focus.

As you may or may not know, I have a lot of trouble paying attention to speech. The longer it goes on, the less able I am to focus on it. If I'm not exhausted (eg not winter), I can often play mindless card games on my computer to help my focus, but I forgot to bring my iPad into this talk.

And... about 40 minutes in, my attention _would not_ stay on the presenter any longer. (mind you, this is after a 2.5 hour morning class which is also a whole lot of listening) Found myself doing things like fiddling with blinds whose slats were not all facing the same direction (which wasn't quiet, but I couldn't avoid it anymore), jiggling my leg, and otherwise struggling to stay focused. The talk ended after around an hour and ten minutes, and if I hadn't had such trouble staying focused, I'd totally have been interested in the neurofeedback demonstration. I just _couldn't_ anymore, though. It was at the point of being painful by that point.

I have no idea if I have some minor form of ADD. I know only that listening to someone talk for long periods of time is _exhausting_ and difficult. And worse when I'm tired.

So now I'm going to wait a bit before driving home, because my focus is completely shot. And while I don't want to have to deal with rush hour traffic, I want to drive in this state even less.

Now, some meditation or otherwise not having to pay attention to my surroundings. My brain is full!