Need advice, zone out/daydreaming cant focus.

[hoeffelt]

I have always had issues with zoning out/daydreaming. I dont really mind if im just sitting around and i zone out but where this affects me in a negative way is when trying to pay attention to lectures/speakers or when reading. When I was younger I didnt care but now that I am college age I would like to be able to focus instead of just zoning out and going into my head. I would like to go back to college and know I could but this will affect my grades, I have never failed a class but there are certainly times where i am just a few points from failing. When I read course material i tend to zone out and can read a chapter without taking in the information and have to restart, its like unconscious reading. Anyone else have this issue? Is there a way to make this happen less? Its really beginning to aggrevate me.

 

[AnthonyH]

I have this issue as well, however I'm not too certain on advice. Trust me I've tried stopping cold turkey, but that doesn't work. Believe it or not daydreaming is healthy to a degree; it's called escapism, or leaving reality to indulge in fantasy. People escape all sorts of ways: tv, video games, movies, ect. Ect. However to people with some emotional problem, it can become an avoidance issue, where work can come secondary because fantasy is more entertaining. This however replaces the need to be in reality to make it better for yourself.....it's a slippery slope....
The little advice I can give is this: if you do have some emotional issue, try to work it out, I know I started escaping around the time I was first told about my AS prematurely, and I've been working through some emotional stuff with my therapist and I think I can confidently say that I'm living more irl, at least a little bit; I still get bored every now and then....

 

[Ylva]

I zone out in classrooms. I have no choice, if I didn't I'd melt within five minutes. How is it even possible to stuff so much grey noise into one room?

Maybe reading faster would help. I mean, try reading this post one word at a time, you wouldn't make it to 'grey' without zoning out. I just tried it, and I didn't.

 

[Naturalist]

I definitely have this problem, and have always struggled with it. It is much worse if it's a topic I am not interested in, or if I am stressed which slows my ability to process new information. It's worth getting a cognitive abilities test, especially if you can do so through your college's counseling services or disability services center since I am told it sometimes doesn't cost. It can be expensive otherwise. I learned a lot from this test which confirmed my suspicion that I am really slow to process new information. I might be able to recognize words quite quickly but don't absorb their meaning before there is another word, and another. Hence the zone-out feeling in lectures or when reading. It took me fourteen years to finish my BA because I couldn't handle more than 2 classes at a time, because I had to spend so much extra time trying to absorb the information, for 2 classes I had to put in time / work equivalent to a full course load (6 classes).

 

[DogwoodTree]

Some zoning out is healthy, as already pointed out--it increases creativity and restfulness. But if it's causing problems, you can counter it with some grounding and mindfulness. It's good to practice grounding (noticing ways you're connected to your present-moment experience) and mindfulness (noticing your thoughts and feelings without judging them) before you need them so they're more automatic. If you practice several times a day, you'll probably find yourself feeling more present in most situations, which will then help when you're sitting in class.

Meditation (doesn't have to be spiritual...just practice paying attention to your thoughts and bringing your focus back to where you want it to be over a period of time) can also help give you more influence over where your thoughts are and when.

 

[ancusmitis]

I can't really offer any strategies, except to say that I zone out a looooot more when I am tired. Maybe try sleeping more, eating better, ironically physical exercise might also help. Then there's that old stand-by--caffeine.

I also find listening to music makes it better, but it's not a cure-all and it has to be the right kind.

 

[Progster]

I have this issue too. I'm also a very slow reader, and when I'm watching a video I often have to play back 3 or 4 times because my mind is wandering, or I didn't take it all in. I think this is an ADHD trait, too. When I was at uni, I could never finish reading all the materials on the reading list. In fact, I probably only read about a half of what i was supposed to, and I still spent a lot of time reading. But it didn't matter, because I was assessed on the basis of written work and exams, and I was able to choose which topics to write about - I just chose select topics that interested me, read a lot about those and answered the questions relating to those.