Feedback Focus

(The most interesting man in the world; online meme generator, imgflip)

Reading out loud is something that I already tend to do, so I didn't really even need to "try" it, because I already do it. This is very helpful for me, as I tend to have a 100 things going through my head at any one moment, so it is very easy for me to get sidetracked when trying to focus on something, especially reading. I've found that reading out loud helps me remind my brain that I'm trying to accomplish a task (reading a story, book, article, etc.). Right now for instance, my cat is playing with a plastic bag and the sound is driving me crazy. I am saying these words out loud as I write them to maintain my focus. This is a very beneficial strategy for me. 

The copy and delete method is not good for me. I understand the idea but it isn't something that works for me. I'm dyslexic and because of this it is sometimes difficult to recall things. I can read and retain information pretty well but it's like the words or sentences won't articulate themselves in my mind when I want to recall them. I have to go back and look at the words (even though I JUST read it) to regroup my thoughts and express what I want to say about it. For example, I may want to tell someone about an article I recently read and my thoughts on it. I often have to say "hold on" and pull the article up to be able to appropriately communicate what the article was about. This is the case no matter how interested I am in a topic (although if it's an uninteresting topic, it is probably worse). So, I really don't find this beneficial for me. I might sometimes use a similar method of copying the story and highlighting anything of interest to me (which again is something I often already do). 

Timing myself is a disaster. I have bad anxiety and I have to take meds to keep myself from having panic attacks on a regular basis. When a clock is ticking for anything I'm doing, it sends my anxiety through the roof. I find myself questioning my progress and thinking how horrible I'm doing (in this case, I felt like I was reading too slow, so I sped up my reading. Then I was reading too fast and not comprehending anything of the story). This is just not an effective focusing strategy for me. For me, it's best just to read through it, taking as much time as I may need. Then, go back and write my response. I can definitely read a story in sufficient time but the timer just gets my anxiety up and I feel super nervous. Side note, if anyone has tips to help me with this, I'd love to hear them, because it's extremely frustrating. I often do poorly on exams (even in classes I'm doing very well in), because I either have an anxiety attack and can barely breathe, much less think or I take my anxiety meds and they make me a little too mellow before an exam (although other times it keeps me sufficiently balanced between calm and alert and I'm able to do great on my exam).