Is being easily distracted a disease?
I often have things I want to do besides work during a certain period of time, such as learning a foreign language, cooking, playing the guitar, learning a new skill, and so on. At first, I would enthusiastically search for tutorials, strategies, watch various videos, and ask others for recommendations to avoid unnecessary detours...
After collecting some information for a while and feeling that I have made all the necessary preparations, when everything is ready to go, I hesitate. Or maybe when I just start something, I encounter many problems that need to be solved on my own, and numerous difficulties become obstacles in my path. Many things have good intentions and are beneficial to myself, but at the beginning, they pour cold water on my confidence, and this situation often occurs.
When memorizing vocabulary, I can only memorize words starting with the letter "a";
When learning a new skill, I often only find introductory materials and there is no follow-up;
After a few weeks of exercising, I stop because it becomes difficult to continue, and then I become out of shape again;
When solving algorithm problems, I become familiar with a few familiar questions, but new questions often seem difficult, so I don't feel like doing them anymore.
... ...
I tried to analyze the reasons: at the beginning of each task, I set a big goal in my heart. After completing the task, not only does my body feel tired, but my mind also feels exhausted. When I start the task again, both my body and mind resist, and eventually, I give up.
Recently, I read Liu Weipeng's book "Dark Time" (https://book.douban.com/subject/35858123/) 2nd edition, which gave me some inspiration. The most difficult part of doing something is starting and continuing. Quitting too early is the root cause of all failures.
Maintaining interest is a key factor in doing something. But what should people like us who seem to have no interest in anything do?
I think, to continue doing something, you need to keep yourself in a comfortable state. Think about the things we do every day that are not necessary for survival. Don't they make us feel nothing or even comfortable, at least not uncomfortable, such as:
After a meal, it is customary to take a walk.
Check the hot search rankings every day and pay attention to what happened today.
Take a COVID-19 test every day (I don't mind, but some people feel that it affects their lives).
These daily routines are not based on our interests, but why can we continue to do them? In my opinion, it's because these things do not invade your life and allow you to maintain a relatively comfortable state. Based on this conclusion, I can do each task in a relatively comfortable state, memorize only 5 words a day, solve only one question a day, learn to cook one dish a week...
But isn't this approach inefficient? But if you think about it seriously, memorizing vocabulary, playing the guitar, learning new skills, spending 10 minutes a day, starting from a few years ago until now, I have already become very proficient in these things.
So, start with a small amount and turn ripples into waves.