How people feel about their hyperfocus is similarly diverse. Still other people describe hyperfocus as euphoric.
Others describe it as laser focus, a kind of tunnel vision. Some people describe hyperfocus as similar to dissociation - a feeling of disconnection from themselves and their environment. That makes sense because different people hyperfocus on different things. All you really want to do is zone out - to let your automatic attention drive for a while.Īdvertising Policy What does hyperfocus feel like?ĭifferent people describe the feeling of hyperfocus in different ways. That’s why it’s not unusual, after spending all day making the effort to focus on work or school, to feel too depleted to do chores or homework. You do that by using directed attention to turn off automatic attention.”ĭirected attention is a finite resource with specific “behaviors” in your brain that we call “executive functions.” Examples of executive functions are sustaining directed attention, self-motivating and resisting distraction. “In our educational careers, many of us took classes that we thought were utterly boring, but we had to master the material, pass the test and do the homework regardless. Manos, we can sometimes make a conscious choice to hyperfocus on things we don’t enjoy but know we have to do - for example, schoolwork. If your automatic attention draws you to your favorite television show or a craft project, for example, it will stay there, hyperfocused, until it’s interrupted by something more engaging happening in the environment.ĭirected (or effortful) attention, on the other hand, is something you actively exert effort to do, from paying attention in a boring meeting to setting aside the crossword puzzle to do the dishes.Īccording to Dr. Hyperfocus is a form of automatic attention that’s usually activated by doing something we find interesting. There are two different kinds of attention: automatic and directed.Īutomatic attention is something you can’t control, like noticing somebody walking past you in the hallway. “Ask yourself: What is it that you can do for hours at a time and it doesn’t bother you?” Automatic attention vs. “Many, many people can get overly engaged with a task or activity,” Dr. While commonly regarded as a symptom of ADHD, most people have the capacity to hyperfocus in certain contexts. Manos defines hyperfocus as “the capacity for a person to engage in a task or an activity to the exclusion of everything else.”
Does adhd cause hyperfocus how to#
We talked to pediatric behavioral health specialist Michael Manos, PhD, to learn what’s exactly happening when we hyperfocus, why hyperfocus is such a common feature of ADHD, and how to make hyperfocus work for you, not against you. Depending on what you’re hyperfocused on and why, it can be a great thing. While we commonly associate hyperfocus with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it’s something everybody does from time to time. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center.
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