I've always had trouble focusing on a single task; I tend to fall into rabbit holes very easily. When I want to research a specific topic or complete a task, I inevitably come across a term that intrigues me, leading to a digression into researching that topic, and so on. By the time the digression is over and I'm back to the original topic, a significant amount of time has passed.
For example, today I wanted to pick a new wallpaper for my computer. I noticed a wallpaper from the show Mr. Robot, with the "Red Wheelbarrow" poem. I remembered the scene from the show, and I became curious about the significance of the quote in the series. This led me into reading an analysis of the poem on Schmoop, where I encountered the sentence,
"Think of 'The Red Wheelbarrow' as a painting, rather than as a Where's Waldo puzzle."
I was doing some work with template matching in computer vision earlier today, and the mention of Where's Waldo instantly brought my mind back to the topic.
"Is it possible to use template matching to solve Where's Waldo?" my brain asked.
This led to another google search, another article click, and another chunk of time being allocated to this digression. After reading about that for a good chunk of time, I went back to the Schmoop page, finished reading that, and now I'm finally back at the original task. It's been over half an hour since I wanted to pick a wallpaper (which I still haven't done, suggestions are welcome :). I realized this happens to me pretty much every time I've ever tried to do anything, and here I am writing a post about it.
It really reminds me of recursive functions in programming: when a recursive function call is made, the current operation is paused, and resumes only when the recursive call has returned. Does everyone experience this issue, or do I have some form of ADHD/autism? How do you prevent it from interfering with your focus?
For example, today I wanted to pick a new wallpaper for my computer. I noticed a wallpaper from the show Mr. Robot, with the "Red Wheelbarrow" poem. I remembered the scene from the show, and I became curious about the significance of the quote in the series. This led me into reading an analysis of the poem on Schmoop, where I encountered the sentence,
"Think of 'The Red Wheelbarrow' as a painting, rather than as a Where's Waldo puzzle."
I was doing some work with template matching in computer vision earlier today, and the mention of Where's Waldo instantly brought my mind back to the topic.
"Is it possible to use template matching to solve Where's Waldo?" my brain asked.
This led to another google search, another article click, and another chunk of time being allocated to this digression. After reading about that for a good chunk of time, I went back to the Schmoop page, finished reading that, and now I'm finally back at the original task. It's been over half an hour since I wanted to pick a wallpaper (which I still haven't done, suggestions are welcome :). I realized this happens to me pretty much every time I've ever tried to do anything, and here I am writing a post about it.
It really reminds me of recursive functions in programming: when a recursive function call is made, the current operation is paused, and resumes only when the recursive call has returned. Does everyone experience this issue, or do I have some form of ADHD/autism? How do you prevent it from interfering with your focus?
