intense concentration at work

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When I'm working I feel like I get myself into such a intense mode of focus that I become irretable when distracted away from what I'm doing!
So strong is this feeling that it takes me atleast 3 hours or more to wind down after a shift, almost as if I need that time to absorb the information that the day has imparted to me.
Does anyone else suffer with this kind of thing? And if so got any tips on how to wind down from it please?

I have this problem as well. Switching tasks is extremely difficult, but I have found that intense exercise clears the mind quite well.

me too! its called hyperfocus, and it makes it almost impossible to focus on anything else.

sometimes my partner wants to hang out with me in my office or in the shop and if hes quiet and stationary its ok (but that is not what usually happens). i always end up begging him to leave after like 10 minutes.

as for unwinding, i find that getting into something that requires much less focus but still does require some kind of attention helps me to bridge the gap towards relaxation. for me that means things like cooking dinner and playing with my pet rats.

I agree exercise clears the mind for me too, i have cycling as my mainstay, i like the rhyme of pedaling, almost like a metronome in my mind.. But its difficult to push myself to go out after work.
I've tried everything from yoga to meditation to wind down but nothing seems to improve the situation for me.

I'm glad you have something that works for you, I've tries loads of things, but switching into relax mode just takes ages...
I've never heard the term hyperfocus before I'll have to remember that, thank you.

I hyperfocus till I get a project done, it's either Hyperfocus or no focus

All of the above.

Mindless activity does tend to help me shift. It's usually something related to my interests, but not something that takes a lot of energy. For me it's playing online games, surfing the net, watching my favorite TV shows, or light graphic design. If anyone interrupts my wind down process I am a very unhappy camper, and it takes even longer for me to wind down after.

Last edited by quesonrias on 16 Apr 2016, 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah, good old hyper-focus, half my life is spent in that state. When I was younger it used to just be big projects that I'd hyper focus on, now it's just about any task. Mine gets really bad too, where a person can talk to me and I'm not even aware they're there. The other person just assumes you're a rude dickhead and no explanation will suffice, because the other person doesn't have hyper-focus so they have no ability/reason to empathize, so you're just a rude dickhead and they immediately tell all their friends to ward you off from being a rude dickhead to them too...oh social circles, so predictable.

I've always hyper focused, but now I am more aware of it.

I prefer that state of being because it lets me shut out all the little things that annoy me the rest of the time (i.e. that sock that isn't just right, the clock ticking, that door squeaking down the hall, people talking outside my office... etc.). People usually have to do exaggerated things to get my attention and snap me out of it, and I am sure it seems like it takes an extra amount of time for me to shift, kind of like I'm coming out of a a dreamy, hazy state.

There are days, however, when everything else is so overwhelming that I can't hyper focus. I really hate those days.