What’s This All About Then?
I wrote a blog just after the new year about my experiences with 2025. I talked about work, about health and fitness, and the Microsoft MVP program. I threw in some thoughts about AI as well… It got a lot of visits, was reshared by numerous folk including the inimitable Brent Ozar who included it in his newsletter, which I’m still not sure whether I’m mortified about. But…you know what got the most interest? Not the work difficulties, not the consultancy challenges, but rather a small paragraph where I talked about my attention span and how I’d had focus issues when trying to watch through course material for a Databricks certification (the Professional Data Engineer if you’re interested). I received a bunch of messages telling me they had the same issue and what did I do to get back on track? They had the same challenges, a wandering mind taking them away from the task in hand, of feeling frustrated that they couldn’t focus. Well, here’s a blog with me starting to talk about it. I’ll remain honest as I did in the 2025 post and I hope it helps anyone out there experiencing the same thing. I do want to focus on one thing though before diving in, if you’re experiencing a lack of concentration, attention, and focus in trying to get the things done you want and need to do, just remember this is not your fault…it’s chemical.
Edit: I had intended to write a single blog post this evening but I started writing and it all just fell out of me so I think I need to split this into 3 parts….the classic film narrative structure. There’s the Setup (Act I), Confrontation (Act II), and Resolution (Act III). I think it’s best this way, let each blog roll around the brain. And hey, if Martin Scorsese wants to make a film out of it then get in touch!
You might ask why I’m continuing to write non-technical blogs. Truth is, this is about mind and body fundamentals. If I can’t focus, then how on earth am I going to be effective as a technical person? Hell, how am I going to be effective as a person!?
Trying and Failing to Learn
A good while ago I sat down at my computer one evening with all the materials and resources I needed to fine-tune my knowledge enough to attempt the Databricks Professional Data Engineer certification. I had a Databricks cluster all ready to go for the practical, the Databricks Academy course was open, I even had a fresh notepad and pen on my desk. I felt a little tired, but that’s not unusual after a day of working and juggling kids. I clicked on the first video and started watching, all good so far. It was just a “welcome to the course” video, not particularly taxing. Then I clicked on the first proper lesson and dived in…
…except I stopped the video after a few minutes as I drifted a little and wasn’t paying attention. No problem I thought, I restarted the video and got through it, made some notes and cracked on with the next video. Again, I stopped the video half-way through and realised I hadn’t been listening to anything the trainer was saying. Look, I like this stuff, I’m buzzed by this stuff, I LIKE Data Engineering. So why couldn’t I concentrate? I carried on for about 3 hours but honestly don’t think anything went in, I probably got through about 45 minutes worth of videos in that time and made a few notes I couldn’t really make head nor tail of. Let’s try this again tomorrow evening.
But it was the same thing, my mind drifting somewhere else and this time I felt a slightly unpleasant “dull” feeling across my forehead, not painful like a headache but further distracting nonetheless. I switched the computer off and went to so something else, anything else. I tried studying again the following week, then the week after that, all the while thinking that maybe I’ve just “got a lot on” and “a bit tired”. No problem, I thought, I’m just obviously not quite in the mood to do some learning right now…
The learning never got done. The course materials were left mostly untouched. The exam was not sat. The certification was not achieved. Hmm.
I Like Reading
As in books, not the place in Berkshire. Although I don’t actually have any strong opinions about Reading (the place), from what I’ve seen it’s a perfectly good UK town and Microsoft are there, so it must be OK, right? I read technical books for my work, and non-fiction in my downtime. Non-fiction sounds serious, but it’s real-world stuff like biographies. One particular book I like is Masters of Doom, about the creation of the seminal video game Doom by Id Software. Did I ever tell you I met John Romero in person? He was talking about how they created Doom at a conference. After his talk he walked off stage and just…stood nearby. I walked over, politely introduced myself and had a lovely chat with him. As I type this I can look over and see the signed Doom poster. Thanks John, I’ll see you on The Shores of Hell.
I wanted to read through a book called The Fundamentals of Data Engineering. I’ve been told by various folk it’s a great resource, lots to take away for both new and experienced technical peeps. My word, that sounds like a sales pitch! Trust me, it’s not…but it is a really good book. I very rarely read a technical book end-to-end, I will finish it but I’ll read a chapter or 2, make some notes, let it roll around my head a little, and then carry on. I might not read all the chapters if I’m honest. I haven’t read all the chapters of the Kimball Data Warehouse Toolkit…but considering a lot of chapters are industry specific data models, I think you can forgive me. On this occasion I set myself up for success to read through chapter 1, I had time, I was as always a little tired, but that’s how it is. I started reading…
Chapter 1 is less than 30 pages, it’s setting the scene. It talks about what Data Engineering is, the Data Engineering lifecycle, the history, and skills. It should not have been particularly taxing for me to read through. I read the first 5 pages of the chapter about 3 times…each time I restarted was because my mind had wandered somewhere else. I got through the chapter but it was a struggle, that slightly dull feeling across my forehead again.
Why wasn’t I enjoying this?
Tasks
I’m going to be a little vague here…sorry, but I just don’t want to get into the weeds on this and be specific e.g. “work tasks” so let’s just say these are the things I need to do to earn money, to look after my family and friends, to keep my house in order, to live my life. These tasks can range from trivial to more involved but they all take time, in varying lengths. I’ve found Brian Tracy’s teachings very useful here with his book Eat That Frog being a huge help to me in the past. The problem is, books like this are very pragmatic and layout a solution to a problem of getting stuff done. But what happens when you’re not getting the stuff done? You can re-organise, re-prioritise, plan to your hearts content but if you don’t actually get the shit done then it’s all pointless. And this is where I struggled, I just wasn’t feeling the drive or satisfaction needed to keep going to get tasks done.
Look, they got done otherwise I’d have been in deep trouble, but in order to get there took far more effort and energy than it should. Procrastination took over, like Homer Simpson said “Mr T was at the mall and I kept saying to myself I’ll go a little later, but when I got there he’d gone…when I asked if he was coming back…they said they didn’t know.” Procrastination is awful, the sense of guilt you carry around with you by not doing what you’re supposed to do is terrible.
What Now?
I had a problem, it’s quite obvious. I’m a technical person so if there’s an issue with a technical process somewhere, I go find the relevant log and search for an error message. Problem is the brain doesn’t really work that way, I can’t just search my brain and make a verbose error message appear. In my simplistic way I just figured I had a problem with my attention span and that’s why I couldn’t concentrate. So I just need to fix my attention span, right? I just need to sit there and really focus on something and get it done…that’ll fix it, right? Well I tried that, I tried really hard. I would sit there and force myself to read a chapter, watch a video lecture, just finish something productive. But my attention just wandered again. You see, having a short attention span or an attention span easily distracted isn’t the root of the problem, it’s just a symptom. It’s just the outcome of the problem, not the problem itself. I couldn’t just fix a short attention span by itself.
In the next blog I’ll describe how I went about finding the issue, this itself involved frustrations, dead-ends, and a lot of second guessing. If you want to follow along with this blog then please pop back occasionally. I usually post this stuff out on BlueSky and LinkedIn.
Until next time, try and look after yourself and those you love.
Andy
Without reading your other posts in this series I have a few thoughts. During the pandemic a huge number of people got “pill mill” prescriptions for adderall and similar that has helped them immensely. I’m not suggesting you need them, but an ADHD diagnosis is something to consider. There is definitely a serotonin/dopamine interaction that just doesn’t work well for many people. A GOOD md that knows this stuff can spot the telltale signs very quickly. ADHD is a misnomer. It isn’t always about attention deficit, it’s sometimes impulse control, which could be poor interactions with coworkers, overeating/binge eating, or even problems with alcohol. People “chase the high” without knowing it. Unfortunately our society has given a stigma to people that want to address this, whether through medication, diet, or other. Kudos to you for addressing it, however you are going to, and being honest about it. It’ll help people. Me personally, I want the adderall route and after about 2 weeks I had this epiphany and the world just started to make sense. I didn’t have a drinking problem, but totally stopped. Not desirable anymore. But adderall has it’s own negatives for many, start with the fact it is labeled a “Class 2 narcotic”…people hear narcotic and assume drug abuse. GLP-1s are similar. There was a stigma for a long time but now people are realizing the benefits. There’s even studies showing they help with things like ADHD. I figure another 5ish years and those stigmas around ADHD will go away. We’re all on a journey and dealing with things. Again, kudos to you for sharing, I’m looking forward to reading more about your journey. Best of luck.
I was suffering from that very exact problem. I am categorising it as sort of a “silent burnout”.
My solution was to add a subroutine to my daily routine, one that included small tasks requiring minimal energy but offering a modest sense of satisfaction. These little wins helped me to restore the idea that I can accomplish things.
If you want to improve your attention span, take a break from social media and daily news (if those are part of your day). And definitely try MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) techniques, they can make a huge difference.