Attention to detail

[shikashika]

Are you good at attention to detail?

 

I'm not.. I'm more of the big picture. However, sometimes in my job I have to be very very very attention to detail.... and I'm not that good at it. I miss ridiculous things.

 

I try reading through things a million times... but sometimes I find it hard to sit down and focus... which is why I could NEVER be an actuary or accountant.. or anything like that.

 

I forget little things, don't see number, certain words etc

 

It's hard to ask people who ARE good at it what they do, because if it were as simple as following a procedure then it would be problem solved.

 

I've asked people who are good at it before and while it seems simple for them, my mind just wanders easily.

 

What I'd like to hear is from 'reformed no-paying-attention-to-detailers' and how you could change?

 

Asking someone who is good at it, hasn't in the past been much help, because they find it easy.

 

Although I understand it, I'd be useless in helping someone with public speaking in front of 100's of people, because i find it easy and do it all the time.

 

Anyway, enough of my blabbing.. how can you help it if your attention to detail/numbers is not good?

[NoPainNoGain]

I get down to the 1/32 at my job. Nothin but cherry work. I take pride in my craftsmanship....

 

You get out of life what you put into it...

[shikashika]

I get down to the 1/32 at my job. Nothin but cherry work. I take pride in my craftsmanship....

 

You get out of life what you put into it...

 

sorry but what's getting out of life what i put into it got to do with my lack of attention to detal??

 

It sounds like you think it's just something that is easily changed fi you 'work hard' at it??

[Emernate]

Take micro breaks. 2 minutes focus, 1 minute off.

 

Also, review work you did 10 minutes before. That way you can check for those obvious errors.

[shikashika]

Take micro breaks. 2 minutes focus, 1 minute off.

 

Also, review work you did 10 minutes before. That way you can check for those obvious errors.

 

yeah I do.. all the time.. then I see these obvious errors afterwards.. and it's frustrating...like i add up to single digit numbers wrong.. even though I read it 127 times. Sometimes at work I have strict time deadlines too..

[NoPainNoGain]

sorry but what's getting out of life what i put into it got to do with my lack of attention to detal??

 

It sounds like you think it's just something that is easily changed fi you 'work hard' at it??

 

Lets say you got a muscle car that you restore and spend time and money on. You want everything perfect right?

But if you do it half butt your car wont turn as much heads and might break down on you.

[shikashika]

Lets say you got a muscle car that you restore and spend time and money on. You want everything perfect right?

But if you do it half butt your car wont turn as much heads and might break down on you.

 

yeah I know if you do a half done job it won't work... but it's not like people, like me, are going to say 'I don't care" sometimes you spend 3 times as long working on something because it DOES matter, but then later you notice a silly error.

 

it sounds like you are saying, "If you care about it, you will do it right"

 

i don't go into anything thinking i'm going to do a poor job..but I sometimes end up missing things even though I've double checked umpteen times.

[NoPainNoGain]

..but I sometimes end up missing things even though I've double checked umpteen times.

 

Measure twice cut once lol

[shikashika]

Measure twice cut once lol

 

ok, never mind..it's not liek you can just remedy it by saying things like "Just check it over"

[Emernate]

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. You are already ahead of the pack by being aware of what your weakness is. I don't know if there is anyway to make you into a details person overnight. It's just going to take time and work to get to that point.

[stella74]

Shikashika, do you think you might have ADD? Some people find it hard to focus no matter how much they try to learn how to do it. It comes naturally to me, so I'm sorry I can't give you tips. But it just seems that maybe there may be underlying reasons for your inability to focus. Sometimes stress or depression can make it difficult to focus on details as well.

[shikashika]

Shikashika, do you think you might have ADD? Some people find it hard to focus no matter how much they try to learn how to do it. It comes naturally to me, so I'm sorry I can't give you tips. But it just seems that maybe there may be underlying reasons for your inability to focus. Sometimes stress or depression can make it difficult to focus on details as well.

 

ha ha.. maybe, everyone jokingly says I do because apparently i'm like an energy ball. I've taken those self-diagnosis internet tests and the questions like

 

Do you have difficulty with focusing?

Does your mind wander when not interested?

 

Heck yeah!

 

But lots of people are bored with topics uninteresting to them and that doesn't make them ADD... who knows.. I don't want to use it as a crutch!

[Crazyaboutdogs]

I am currently involved in a strategic planning process and I would come out of the brainstorming meetings totally wiped out. I was talking to the director about this and she really opened my eyes to something I had never really thought about before so I will pass on these words of wisdom. There are people who are visionaries and those who are really detail-oriented. The detail-oriented people like myself, tend to find it mentally draining to think of long-range goals...whereas people who are visionaries get energized by thinking about long-range plans but are not able to focus when doing detail-oriented work. So in the workplace, a visionary will come up with the long range plans while the detail-oriented person will figure out what needs to be done to reach those goals. You need both types of people. So I think the bottom line is that you should build on your strengths and not sweat too much about not being detail-oriented. People are what they are and while you may be able to improve somewhat if you set your mind to it, you will probably never excel at it because your talents lie in looking at the big picture.

 

When I was still doing research, a big downfall of mine was that I couldn't see the big picture...I could plan for the experiments I needed to do but I never really had a feel for the global problem and all the ins and outs. I eventually left the lab bench and am now working in research but writing reports and doing various special administrative projects which involve attention to detail...and this is what I love doing. That is why I say play to your strengths and accept the fact that you are not a detail-oriented person.

[NoPainNoGain]

Screw ADD. Its a bunch of propaganda to make money on BS ridalin which will screw you up more. ....

[stella74]

If you have ADD, it's definitely not a crutch to use that to explain your difficulties. It's a serious problem. But it can be managed. I have a friend with ADD and she now has job that requires tremendous attention to detail. She gets really distracted, but somehow she manages. I think she was able to tell her supervisor that she has ADD and she got extra support in helping her deal with it. I would suggest talking to your doctor about getting diagnosed or finding resources to help you.

[shikashika]

crazyfordogs, that's true, I'm all about long term goals and i think that's why i can think big and act upon it.

 

I work in a very bureaucratic office with people who have meetings about what brand of mechanical pencils to order... not HB ones.

 

There is so much procedure it drives me nuts. I do find that many people who are good at attention to detail see people like me as 'unprepared' or 'unfocused' and i guess i see people who are so focused on detail and appearance that it seems like that's all they care about. Or that I'm supposed to remember ever single sentence of every single email I was sent in November.. While for them, they probably see it as "How can she not remember?.. we told her once in December?" Where as i see it as, "how the heck am I supposed to remember that?

 

different people see things differently, I know..

[stella74]

So in the workplace, a visionary will come up with the long range plans while the detail-oriented person will figure out what needs to be done to reach those goals.

 

I don't agree with this. I'm able to do both and know others who can as well. I don't think they're mutually exclusive. They definitely involve different types of thinking. I can't do both at the same time, but I can move quickly from one to the other when needed.

[shikashika]

Screw ADD. Its a bunch of propaganda to make money on BS ridalin which will screw you up more. ....

 

no, I don't want to take any drugs..

 

so if someone appears unfocused, or makes mistakes, do you think it's something that can just be 'fixed' if you bring it up a notch? or how do you see people who seem all over the place, appear not to listen, or appear unorganised.

 

Do you think they should just change?

[stella74]

FYI - my friend who has ADD isn't on drugs. Not sure if that helps or not.

[Crazyaboutdogs]

I don't agree with this. I'm able to do both and know others who can as well. I don't think they're mutually exclusive. They definitely involve different types of thinking. I can't do both at the same time, but I can move quickly from one to the other when needed.

 

No, I don't think they are mutually exclusive, but I do think that one or the other predominates. I am not totally clueless when it comes to long-range thinking...I can do it, but it does not come as easily, nor do I do it as well. The people I know who are visionaries, can indeed do detail-oriented work, but they are not as strong in it.

[MissIndigo]

There is so much procedure it drives me nuts. I do find that many people who are good at attention to detail see people like me as 'unprepared' or 'unfocused' and i guess i see people who are so focused on detail and appearance that it seems like that's all they care about.

 

lol, sounds exactly like how the guy I'm dating thinks. We're both in academic science and he cannot stand procedure while I like the structure, and he hates it when people say he's "unfocused". (I truly believe he can work on that, especially as it relates to him getting his degree, but I digress.)

 

What I tell him to help him cope with this as that he should see what he's doing as a means to an end that will help him achieve his goals in the bigger picture. I find it's helping him be more critical of his work, in a good way, and he takes a more careful approach to what he has to do.

[shikashika]

lol, sounds exactly like how the guy I'm dating thinks. We're both in academic science and he cannot stand procedure while I like the structure, and he hates it when people say he's "unfocused". (I truly believe he can work on that, especially as it relates to him getting his degree, but I digress.)

 

What I tell him to help him cope with this as that he should see what he's doing as a means to an end that will help him achieve his goals in the bigger picture. I find it's helping him be more critical of his work, in a good way, and he takes a more careful approach to what he has to do.

 

 

Do you think he is unfocused? or does he just appear to you to be that way?

 

Do you think it would be better if he was different and appeared to be more focused?

[sophie274]

I doubt this is going to be a very useful contribution BUT:

 

My idea is that instead of focusing on the "general" issue of lack of attention to detail, you could just see how you could try to catch the mistakes that you make without modifying your approach. (Not sure if this sentence is clear)

 

If you're having trouble with numbers (which I thought I gathered from one of your posts), making addition mistakes ... you could practice and home, exercise your brain by practicing calculating/adding numbers in your head. You would definitely get better at it just by spending 10-15 minutes a day doing that.

 

If the problems are in writing, reading through the text backwards will make it easier for you to catch mistakes.

 

What helps me is also doing something, setting it down, taking a breather, and then looking at it with a fresh eye. When you've been working on something for a very long time, your eyes kind of glaze over and don't really see what's right in front of you, seems to me ...

 

So yeah, kind of mechanical advice. Sorry if it wasn't helpful.

[MissIndigo]

Do you think he is unfocused? or does he just appear to you to be that way?

 

Do you think it would be better if he was different and appeared to be more focused?

 

To answer the first question--it's honestly hard to say whether or not he truly is unfocused or if it's just my perception. He has many interests, which while a good thing, tend to turn into projects on the side that take a great deal of time to pursue, and I cannot fully grasp whether or not he knows the limits of working on his avocations vs. his vocation. His faculty advisors likely feel something similar--I feel they worry about where is level of commitment lies to his work as they have called him back for a progress meeting very quickly. This may be more of an issue of professional maturity over "focus"--which I define personally as taking on a task at hand and taking it to a reasonable conclusion, with minimal distraction.

 

Per your second question, yes, I think it would be better for him professionally if he appeared to be more focused on what he needs to get his degree, or I wonder whether I should exchange "focus" for "commitment" here (the philosophy of those two ideas...that's another subject entirely!). He's not a flake--what needs to get done gets done and he doesn't let people down--but he can be so anxious about developing ideas to resolve the big picture in his field that I wonder how he grasps the smaller tasks that would need to be accomplished along the way. As a result, he sometimes presents ideas that while good, need more maturity and development to be put into action. Heh--that makes me wonder about high-ranking faculty sometimes...while they tend to be visionary, they also have many under them seeking ways to carry out the ideas and solve the problems.

 

The prof I'm currently working for is one of those extraordinary people who has somehow mastered the virtues of forward thinking and meticulous, methodical problem-solving. The level of precision and detail he expects from us is very high. He doesn't miss a thing. For a detail-oriented person like myself, this is a good working relationship, but I am unsure if someone like my bf would be happy in that environment. Pertaining to your own situation, do you feel sometimes that you may be better suited to working in a more abstract environment, or on a more abstract problem that may allow you to better use the strengths that you have?

[kuiks8]

i know what you are saying i am the same way...that part of my brain just doesn't click for some reason...I am an efficient person, i am very intelligent but when it comes to some of teh little details...i just can't seem to see them or remember them etc. Its very frustrating!