There's another post on here about depression causing concentration troubles, and it got me to wondering if there might be some way around it. I have so much work to do for school right now (end of term crunch time ... blah!) but I can't concentrate on it for more than a few minutes at a time, and I tend to put it off and waste my time playing solitaire or staring blankly out the window. In lectures, I tend to zone out after a few minutes. I can only seem to concentrate on my work if it's dire -- as in, the essay I've had three weeks to prepare is due TOMORROW and I HAVE to work on it, but even then I don't put in as much effort as I could because I can't focus enough to do anything more than scribble down something -- anything! -- to write the required number of words so I can hand the darn thing in.

The concentration troubles aren't totally about my work either -- I can't focus on my writing, which is terribly painful to me because it's the thing I'm most passionate about. Before the depression hit, I could spend an entire day writing without stopping. Now, I'm lucky if I can get in half an hour before I'm off staring into space or doodling in the margins of my page. I haven't read a full book for myself in a long time either -- I could spend hours and hours reading, but now I can't make it through a single chapter without getting antsy or distracted. All of a sudden I'll decide I want a snack, or to check my email (even though I checked it ten minutes ago), or to turn up the heat or to make some tea ... none of which are essential, but they'll suddenly be all I can think about and I can't get my mind to go back to what I was doing. I can't even hold long conversations without my mind wandering off, and I know it frustrates people even though they seem to think that my short attention span is just one of my "quirks".

Are there any tricks to improving my concentration, or am I just going to have to wait for the meds to take care of that symptom too, with time, just like everything else? Before the depression, I had amazing concentration. It's why I could do so well in school. It's why there are books stuffed into every nook and cranny of my bedroom. It's why I have a box in my basement stuffed full of notebooks that I filled while I was in my teens. Now it's just gone, and I want it back!! I'm so frustrated!!!