When I get stuck I go for a long walk. As for focusing I started meditating and it helped a lot.
Beyond that, I think the next step is doing something active and intentional to improve the mind-body connection -- sleeping and exercising is essentially only refraining from damaging yourself. Meditation, yoga, taiji, breathing exercises -- I don't think you can go wrong with any of those. Especially for people who sit in front of computers all day, minds in the ether, it's important to remember that you're also a body, always also a body.
After being frustrated by my air consumption on a scuba dive, I got interested in free diving (apnea) training. I found an iOS app called Apnea Trainer that looked promising and started doing the breathing exercises. I've gone from being able to hold my breath for just under 90 seconds to breaking 6 minutes for the first time last week. It also revved up my metabolism (like I said, I'm down 25 pounds) and I've gone from having borderline hypertension (with a family history of stroke) to having blood pressure that's almost worryingly low (usually around 100/50). And, like I mentioned above, it's been good for concentration and stress levels as well.
Wet training (in a pool or body of water) requires instruction and a partner, but dry training is pretty safe to do on your own as long as you don't push yourself beyond your limits on a regular basis.
I'm skeptical that you'd be able to lose that kind of weight just by breathing exercises.
Thankfully I'm not super overweight but I want to be cut. Gotta start lifting again.
I want to run though I think that makes your mind clear or soemthing.
I also paint, but you can probably insert any totally immersive creative pursuit here (music is probably more common amongst hackers). It completely switches brain hemispheres and unlike programming, my mind does not wander at all when painting, and I can literally go to another place for hours. Unlike when swimming, I can't think about programming or anything at the same time, I am completely absorbed in the painting. Paul Graham has lots to say on the subject.
Thanks
I think its ridiculous that its not more commonly understood that the "mind" is literally (physically) part of your body. Whatever circulatory, electro-chemical, hormonal, or any other processes are happening in your body are also happening in your brain.
However, anecdotally, exercise (and getting a good night's sleep) has had no noticeable impact on my focus and/or productivity.
Is there anyone else that doesn't feel like exercise doesn't do anything? Or is it because I'm not exercising long enough or with enough intensity to make a difference?
At one point I went from being completely sedentary for about 6 years to spending about 3 months running 2-3 miles a day on an elliptical about 4 times a week with decent consistency. After a while, it did become easier to run further and for a longer period of time (from 2 miles to 3 miles), but I didn't notice any of the mental benefits that seem to be attributed to exercise. I still felt a general "brain haze" and sluggishness that I had assumed was a direct result of being out of shape. I've since gone to exercising on and off for another 3 months before going back to essentially being completely sedentary for several months and nothing about my mental state seems to have changed.
That being said, I do plan on exercising again to ideally get healthy in the longer term regardless of whether or not I get any immediate mental benefit. And I also plan on recording things more diligently to determine if there actually is a result for me.
I have found that hard exercise, requiring mental fortitude to push through is what really helps. Sprints, power lifting, and distance running wear you down physically and mentally. IMO, continually pushing past the mental 'this is hard I want to stop' phase translates to increased concentration and acuity in other types of mental tasks.
It's just far more interesting and satisfying. Telling someone to walk on a treadmill to help their focus is like telling them to watch paint dry. But team sports are dynamic, which I feel suits people such as myself, who have a hard time staying focused on one thing.
What does is playing a sport. Playing pick up soccer gives me a far better workout than lifting heavy objects and grinding on a treadmill, even at high intensity levels.
It's easy to say do these exercises, but to people who have minds that jump around a lot, mundane, boring exercises are not enticing.
This. Concentration can be practiced. If one is able to keep the mind from getting sidetracked from essentially nothing, it's much easier to keep from getting sidetracked from something. It's a lot of work that can be very frustrating at first (and most of subsequent times too), but it's well worth it.