How to stay focused?

[AmyRedd]

There seems to be a lot of threads about not being inspired and finding it had to be motivated... but what if you're the opposite (like me) and have so many ideas you can't focus on a single one. It's equally annoying and I'm not sure how to stop doing it, any ideas guys?

I find that I'll sit down and happily work away at something for a couple of hours then suddenly, hours later, I'll realise I've started doing something completely different without noticing thus leaving my previous project unfinished and usually I don't finish whatever I'd ended up doing either. I just get distracted too easily and as much as I try to focus I end up drifting off course :/ which as I'm currently doing an art and design A level is really frustrating as I never get any work done. Help would be um helpful? (:

[dpaint]

The way you focus is to go back to the task you started and finish it. Every time you catch yourself drifting you go back until your finished. It a choice, at some point you make the choice to not finish the thing you started. If you always make the coice to finish you will finish.

[Saramel]

I don't know... ritalin? (ask your doctor if ritalin is right for you, unless you are a minor, then just let them shove it down your gullet)

p.s. I have terrible focus issues - they tried to put me on the ADD drugs, but I'm pretty good at passing their little evaluations (super easy) and failing their little medicated trial runs (not so easy). Now I realize that it is definitely (possibly biologically/genetically?) harder for some people to focus their minds than others (which can be hard for those who naturally have more focus to understand), but you just need to match that with determination and self discipline. At first it seems unfair that those of us with wandering minds have to put in more hard work, but some people in the world are born without arms and legs, so I guess we have it pretty good after all.

[manlybrian]

Sometimes it's good to have an outlet for all your ideas. 24 hour comics, quick doodles, half-hour paintings, sometimes I draw cartoons on netflix envelopes when I send them back. Anything that's quick so that you can start and finish in one sitting.

[vineris]

I have terrible focus issues but I got tired of not finishing work. So now I write everything down, choose the best/most important stuff to work on, schedule it in and then work in 45-minute bursts until it's done (this also helps me from killing my hands). I try to limit the stuff I'm actively working on to 2-3 things and each 45-minute session is focused on one thing. I sketch in between projects but I don't start anything more than a sketch until the other things are done.

I had to start doing things this way because I have deadlines and half-finished work does me no good. What I'm doing any given week is a mixture of whatever is due next and whatever seems the most interesting at the moment.

[AmyRedd]

dpaint I wish I was making a choice but if I am it's very subconsciously :/

Saramel I don't think I'm quite bad enough to warrant taking any drugs but I do think I have inherited the lack of focus gene (or possibly it's just a women's thing.... too much multi tasking? hehe) I do lack self discipline I think so I will just have to try harder...

manlybrian That seems like a good idea, I always get carried away with sketches and try to make them into something more so maybe if I sat down and limited myself to 30 minutes I won't have the chance to do that

vineris You sound just like me and your plan sounds quite effective so will have to give it a go! Thanks (:

[AboutaDirk]

I have the same issue. For some reason I never fini

[dpaint]

dpaint I wish I was making a choice but if I am it's very subconsciously :/

My point is when you are conscious of it you stop and go back to the thing you started; when you are aware and you still don't- that is a choice.

[gogidolim]

Stop drinking coffee.
Get some power nap.
Practice meditation.
There are what I do nowdays, and they show some progress in my life. I am not drawing right now but I am giving myself a few weeks to get in artistic shape.

[pfr_77]

I second the practice of meditation. Be mindful of where your mind is going.

Every time you catch yourself drifting you go back.

[Medelo]

You might need to just fill up sketchbooks worth of mindless doodles. You know, get all the stuff out of your head without bringing each one to a finish. When you've exhausted yourself maybe then it'll be easier to focus on working on something more final.

[cloudcan]

You might need to just fill up sketchbooks worth of mindless doodles. You know, get all the stuff out of your head without bringing each one to a finish. When you've exhausted yourself maybe then it'll be easier to focus on working on something more final.

This works for me! just getting them out of my head and onto paper where I can control them. otherwise I can't concentrate, even if I force myself to sit still it's like my brain splits into many different pieces all self-functioning each with their own unique thoughts.