It depends on how interesting the thing I'm needing to focus on is. If it's super interesting, I just block out external stimuli, since it will actually aggravate me.
The flip side is if I'm doing something boring, I have to have some other distraction going to keep the dopamine flowing, because the regular task isn't creating it. It's usually something pretty simple, a background TV show (mythbusters/how it's made/DDD, etc), youtube build videos, or up-beat music. Something novel enough to keep me interested, but not so interesting that it takes my attention away from my target task.
And yes, meds. They let me enact such a plan, letting me manage the executive dysfunction which would otherwise throw a spanner in the works.
The flip side is if I'm doing something boring, I have to have some other distraction going to keep the dopamine flowing, because the regular task isn't creating it. It's usually something pretty simple, a background TV show (mythbusters/how it's made/DDD, etc), youtube build videos, or up-beat music. Something novel enough to keep me interested, but not so interesting that it takes my attention away from my target task.
And yes, meds. They let me enact such a plan, letting me manage the executive dysfunction which would otherwise throw a spanner in the works.