How to stay focused on ONE thing at a time? : <

[Kaworu]

Just like the title says.

One of my hobbies is translating, especially when it comes to nerdy matters (especially especially RPGs). Recently, I had found that I wanna participate in too many endeavours at a time and as such, I have „ran thin” and cannot proceed really with any of them.

Okay, the list of things I would like to do, but don’t really have time for them:

1. Translating Exalted: Fate Core Edition from Polish to English
2. Translating articles for Polish Wikipedia
3. or D&D 5.0 SRD (it’s Creative Commons nowadays)
4. or Cypher System SRD
5. or SRD for 3rd edition of Mutants and Masterminds
6. Or maybe some webcomics…?
7. Oh, and I have also an English blog with translations of my Polish reviews of RPGs from Polter.pl website – I used to have some time for that, but not currently… :(

And, actually, all of the things seem kinda swell to me, you know? And I believe if I would focus on just 2 of them, I would find time and energy for that, but… uhhhhhh… it is SO HARD to pick just some of them when all of them are sweet and cool and fun, you know? : <

So, my question to the community is this – how do you stay focused on just one thing, instead of running frantically between them all? How do you choose from equally fun options? How do you not take all the things at once?

I seriously need to know : < : < : < : < : <

Booooooooo! *sad pupper face*

[animorte]

I'm tuning into this station, also seeking the answer to this myth of discipline.

[Kaworu]

Heh xD You too have this kinda problem? xD Oh no, it's a mass-produced issue :O xD

Is this normal if I find this funny? xD

[Batcathat]

I have similar problems (I can be really focused on something, but usually not for that long), but I mostly lean into it and switch between lots of small things (or small pieces of bigger things) instead of one big thing. For example, when I've worked as a reporter I'm usually very productive (since I get that initial burst of focus and energy and can usually finish the article before I lose interest) but while I have a lot of respect for reporters who spend weeks, months or even years working on a single story I really don't think it's something for me (not that a lot of journalism jobs allow for that sort of time, but still).

Which I guess isn't much of an answer to the question.

[Rynjin]

I dunno, roll a d7 and then just work on that project until it's done? Seems like the issue here is with decision-making, not staying focused. Make a choice and stick with it.

[Kaworu]

But it's so hard : < (xD) I wanna do all the things at once xD HALP XD

Any kind of lifehack, maybe somebody out there knows? xD

[Lord Raziere]

But it's so hard : < (xD) I wanna do all the things at once xD HALP XD

Any kind of lifehack, maybe somebody out there knows? xD

I agree.

like people say "just stick to one thing" as if its easy, and I'm wondering how they manage to filter out everything else or not let their mind wander.

[Rynjin]

I agree.

like people say "just stick to one thing" as if its easy, and I'm wondering how they manage to filter out everything else or not let their mind wander.

I mean, the mind wanders, but wander it back when you need to. I'm currently browsing this forum and floating between doing my day job (technical documentation) and some freelance work (content writing) on the side. Everything I need to get done will get done by the end of the day because I do everything at its appropriate time.

This is what I mean by "make a decision". I have two projects I'm working on, and a "brain breather" task (browsing the forum). But I've decided on those tasks today, so I know they need to get done.

Saying "I might do X, I wanna do Y, maybe I'll do Z" isn't making a decision. "I'll do all three" is a decision, and a possibly viable one. Picking one or two to do and dropping another is also viable. As is not doing any of them.

But you have to decide, one way or another.

If you've decided to do something and your mind still wanders to the point that you cannot, then you obviously aren't all that interested in doing it to begin with.

[Kaworu]

I mean, in my case I would be able to do some things in all of the areas (per instance, I began translating 5e into Polish or the license of Cypher System SRD) but the problem is, doing all the things at once makes the final results practically impossible to achieve in a legit period of time. Focusing on, let's say, 2 or 3 things would be better, but I think I would have some kinda, hm... sense of lost opportunity for other activities?

I mean, I was able to be somehow decisive today and I finished another big part of translation of Fate/Exalted into English, but still, much work remains to be done.

Generally, I would say that the problem is all these things are gonna take a long of time and doing them isn't as simple as focusing your attention on a given task for a day. They demand a lot of time and dedication - maybe a year if no longer. And during this whole year I would need to battle thoughts like "okay, but what about the other activities? Why aren't you focusing on that? You lose something".

Ym... I am not sure if I make some sense...? 0_O xD

[Lord Raziere]

Yeah, I get that, I have the same problem, Kaworu. I want to write books and fantasy stories but those take a long time so I want to get it right and any time not spent on it is time not doing it, but I procrastinate I don't know where to begin because if I start it and doesn't work out, its time wasted and such and so on.

like sometimes I get things done if I really force myself to focus on one thing to the exclusion of all else, really laser-point obsessive focus on this one thing and stubbornly block out any thought otherwise, and the one time I managed to write something long consistently was when I wrote a pokemon fan fiction, and that I managed get a little consistent by going "write 5 pages of this, thats one of your chapters" as a goal, it was arbitrary but it worked for a time because it provided a concrete short term thing to focus on. got up to like, 25 chapters, 5-10 pages each, but I got stuck on the 26th chapter and it all fell apart after.

so probably like, break the project down and focus on little smaller projects that make it up, and break down the short term tasks even further, you want to write pages of something, probably start by making it to the first page and seeing if you can get to the second then the third and such and so on, see how far you can get, you might have to wrestle with your mind to keep going to get your short term goal, but you kind of have to do it. at least, thats my experience with trying to self-focus on such projects.

[Kaworu]

Hm... Actually, the Fate/Exalted stuff is divided into thematic files? :D like, one for Solars, then Lunars etc? :D

But still, translating that is a time commitment for long period, and there are, like, some... "Possible affairs" that are very tempting? XD

Totally glad though that I am not the only one with this problem :)

[Murk]

If you've decided to do something and your mind still wanders to the point that you cannot, then you obviously aren't all that interested in doing it to begin with.

I can only disagree with this completely.
Because if what you say here were true, there's nothing I'm interested in at all.

My mind always wanders to the point that I "cannot", generally after about thirty to sixty minutes of doing a thing. The idea that you could just "decide to do something" and then do that thing until it is done is foreign to me, and how interested I am in that thing doesn't really matter.

For me the solution was relatively simple (though not necessarily easy): to just accept I need to do things in blocks of thirty to sixty minutes at a time.

You have several different translation projects you want to work on? Work thirty minutes on project one, thirty minutes on project two, then thirty minutes on project three, etc., until you have worked a little bit on each of them - and then start the cycle over. If you're working on project A but your mind wanders to project B, don't fight it, just swap to project B.
Fit some thirty minute blocks of other things inbetween to keep it fresh - household chores, a career, a social life, you know, kind of important things.

You are right it's not very efficient. Working on one project until it is done will be more efficient than switching between projects. But I have found in exchange for that efficiency you get a lot of flexibility and creativity, and that's valuable as well.
And either way, doing a project inefficiently is still better than not doing it at all.

[Rynjin]

I can only disagree with this completely.

From the later part of the post, it seems like you agree completely, actually. As I said in my own post, the mind wanders. The important part is that you wander it back when you can.

Working on something for a bit, taking a break, and then going back to it is perfectly normal.

The "going back to it" bit indicates genuine interest (or need) in getting it done.

Continuously waffling about something and making excuses for why you're not working on it at all indicates disinterest in doing it, at least for now.

You are right it's not very efficient. Working on one project until it is done will be more efficient than switching between projects.

At least when it comes to tasks that require actual problem solving, this does not fit my experience. Having two different tasks to work on (preferably with one requiring less brainpower than the other) helps you avoid those "sticking points". Any time you'd find yourself just staring at something and trying to figure out how to make it work, just swap to the other one until you noodle through the previous one.

[Scarlet Knight]

I agree.

like people say "just stick to one thing" as if its easy, and I'm wondering how they manage to filter out everything else or not let their mind wander.

The thing is, "just stick to one thing" IS easy...for most people. That is why they have no advice for those who cannot.

We usually learn when we are young that if we have to rake the leaves, you can break to check the mailbox, but not for a game of baseball.

Many parents, however, have to learn that you just can't say "Focus, lad" when they discover they have an ADHD child, and attention interferes with daily activity, such as school and eventually work.

Both Rynjin's "brain breathers" and Lord Raziere's "concrete short term goals" are valid methods. If not, medication may be needed if the problem is severe enough. If you have mental health issues your doctor may be able to work it into your other treatments.

[Murk]

From the later part of the post, it seems like you agree completely, actually. As I said in my own post, the mind wanders. The important part is that you wander it back when you can.

Working on something for a bit, taking a break, and then going back to it is perfectly normal.

The "going back to it" bit indicates genuine interest (or need) in getting it done.

Continuously waffling about something and making excuses for why you're not working on it at all indicates disinterest in doing it, at least for now.

Eh, maybe I wasn't clear (or I misunderstand) but for me "going back to it" could be tomorrow, or next week, and there will be several other somethings inbetween.
The example you gave at first: you have two tasks that you decided you will do today, and so you will do them today... that's not at all how it works for me.
I can "decide" to do two things today, but that decision is meaningless. Most likely I will work on task one for an hour, and then task two for an hour, and then on tasks three through fourteen, and in the likely chance that tasks one and two aren't done yet, too bad, they'll have to wait until my mind happens to wander back to it.

Discipline or motivation seem unrelated to it. Just like I can't "decide" what the weather will be today or like I can't make the clouds go away through sheer motivation. The clouds go wherever they wish.

Of course I can force myself through things, I guess that is discipline. I'm not completely incapable of committing to a deadline or somesuch. But my heart won't be in it, it'll be mediocre work, and I certainly won't enjoy it. And since Kaworu was talking about hobby projects, "enjoying it" would be important.

[Lacco]

As someone who got much better at focusing at stuff, I'd like to give you few pointers. Bear in mind that those worked with me and few people I know, but they are not 100% universal. If you can, do a test and send me back feedback

So, my question to the community is this – how do you stay focused on just one thing, instead of running frantically between them all? How do you choose from equally fun options? How do you not take all the things at once?

Okay, so 3 issues:
How do you stay focused on just one thing, instead of running frantically between them all? The issue is Focus.
How do you choose from equally fun options? The issue is Priority.
How do you not take all the things at once? The issue is Planning (sequence/switching).

Rynjin tackled the second point shortly, but his overall approach is somewhat at the center of your issue with priority: they are not equally fun, but you can't choose. And until you choose, you go back to the others much easier.

If you've decided to do something and your mind still wanders to the point that you cannot, then you obviously aren't all that interested in doing it to begin with.

The part about actually deciding is important. Very important. Let's see if we can expand this:

Priority first, because if you can't choose, you can't really plan or focus.

Disclaimer: If you want to expand what I write here, there are lots of prioritization techniques - I will use three simple ones that I used.

Assumption: you already know (on subconscious level) which of these you find more fun than the others. It's just a matter of finding the one.

Process: Use a prioritisation technique, find out which ones are 'top' and focus on one of them. Make a conscious decision - not just random one, but a conscious one. Making a decision and stating it (either aloud, in writing or to someone else) is quite a good crutch for people that have an issue with stuff like this.

It helps if you get a fan/kicker: someone who is partially invested in you/your task and who will regularly ask about your progress - it's a good crutch, but the balance between fan and kicker needs to be kept at positive ratio (so it does not turn into a whip). Ideally, this is someone who tells you that they are looking forward to using the result of your progress.

My three favourite prioritisation techniques:

Spoiler: Pyramid priority method

Show

A good method for basic decisions with too many options at hand. It's fast and not too complicated.

Number your choices (in your case 1 to 7)
Make pairs, starting with 1, not repeating. Easiest way is to do it like a triangle:

1	1	1	1	1	1
2	3	4	5	6	7
2	2	2	2	2
3	4	5	6	7
3	3	3	3
4	5	6	7
4	4	4
5	6	7
5	5
6	7
6
7

What you need to do is now quickly answer "which one of these I want to tackle first?" or similar question. You can think about reasons, but I usually go with my guttural feeling and just go "which is better, 1 or 2?" and mark your choice with a circle.

Pair by pair, mark your choice. Count circles for each number and voila! The largest amount of circles wins.
If you get a tie, then repeat with the options, throw a coin, or go for another technique with the two of them.

Spoiler: Weighed point method

Show

This one is better when you get 2 or 3 choices, as it can be quite problematic with large amount of choices, so I suggest using it for ties.

First you choose criteria (e.g. effort - how fast can I finish this, fun - how much fun will this be, cost - how much money will I need to invest, utility - how many people will utilize/view this...). Your criteria depend on the reasons why you do the stuff you do (e.g. which of these systems do I want to run vs. which of these systems will my players want to run).

Then select ranges (e.g. 1 to 10, 1 to 5...). Since these are point ranges, these can vary per each criterion, but at first you should go with straight values.
Select weights of criteria (you can use the pyramid for this): either a multiplier or some kind of ratio, which will multiply/divide the points.

Afterwards, evaluate your choices.

Example:
Cypher vs. M&M vs. D&D5

Criteria: effort (how much to translate it is), fun (how much fun will be there during translation), player base (how many players/GMs for this system I know), formatting (how much hassle will be to format it; e.g. many tables, sidebars, bookmarks, indexing, columns ...)

Ranges:
Effort - 1 to 10 (1 means a full commited year, 10 means less than a month with breaks)
Fun - 1 to 5 (1 means it's going to be a slog, 5 means lots of fun with creative writing)
Player base - 1 to 5 (1 means it's obscure and hard to find people interested in, 5 means it's D&D in US)
Formatting - 1 to 5 (1 means it's terribly formatted and will require lots of work, 5 means it's simplicity itself)

Weights (I'll do multipliers)
Effort is 1x (it's a base because it means how much you'll have to avoid other stuff)
Fun is 3x (it's more important than effort if you'll have much more fun)
Player base ... let's say 1,5 (I don't care what my player base is, but I'd like someone to use it)
Formatting is 1x.

Now you'll assign points in each category, afterwards multiply the categories by weights... and just compare.
The positive is, that you can reuse some of the stuff for future choices. The negative is, that for big amount of choices, it's actually inefficient.

Spoiler: The Rock-Paper-Scissors, Dice or Coin

Show

Good when you have small amount of choices and want to confirm which is the correct one.

RPS and coins are binary choices, dice can provide multiple possibilities.

Let's say we have 2 options. We play rock-paper-scissors (single round).
You state (aloud) whose victory means what (you are Cypher, they are M&M).

You play Rock-Paper-Scissors with someone.
You throw a coin.
You roll a die.

As soon as the victor is clear, examine your feelings.
Do you wish to fudge the die/try again? Feeling unsatisfied? That means you want a different choice. In case of binary decisions, go for the other one. With dice, eliminate the one choice you had and reroll.
If you feel satisfied with the result, it's the correct one.

Now what you need to do is make the conscious decision: the decision you landed upon needs to be stated clearly and ideally aloud (or in writing). It sounds strange, but the more you talk about the decision, the more you accept it, the easier it will be to focus on the execution.

So tell it to someone, write it down, or even state it here on the forum. The small amount of social pressure is also a tool, that can improve focus when taken in moderation.

We have the Priority, let's see about Focus.

In this case, Murk has a solid point, which can be expanded.

---

Focus

Some people can focus for what seems like eternity, but for us, mere mortals, even hours suffice - but in this case we're talking about focusing for long-time periods (weeks, months), instead of short-term, right?

The conscious decision helps - if you can argument your decision and basically talk yourself into believing that this task is the best one, it helps with the distractions.

What else you can do:
- evaluate how much time you can focus (in one time period)
- break the goal down
- establish feedback
- use gamification
- eliminate the distractions
- reward yourself (mentally!)

First you need to know what timeline you are looking at: since these are long-term projects, you can usually estimate how much time you'll have to spend on them. Once you establish it, think about how far you got last time and mentally split the task into several parts with the time period in mind. As Murk stated, if you know you can focus for 30 minutes, break task down into 30 minutes. In this case, if you know that the book will take around 3 months of effort to translate, but you tend to lose focus by third week, break down the process in two-week steps.

Since you have the idea of time now in your brain, break down the goal into separate goals. Bear in mind that you should work in two-week steps and work with it.

Remember when you had a menial task (e.g. sweep a floor, carry several loads of stuff, clean a big area) and during it you mentally calculated how much longer will you have to work it? "When I move the next 2 rocks, I will be at 50% and that means only x rocks are left...?". That's your brain (de)motivating you. You can use it or counteract it if you know your limits.

Establishing feedback loops (e.g. sending parts to someone) is a soft version of deadlines: it provides you with a slight push forwards, without the 'whip' part.

Gamification is a strange beast: it can be crazy effective in driving people on, but the setup time can be high and you can end up playing the gamification part without actually progressing (making a detailed system for efficiency without progressing the actual work)... so if you want to try that one, I can give you some pointers, but I'd start simpler.

Eliminate distractions: whenever I work on my current project (RPG rulebook), I tend to 'hide' the rest of RPG rules away, because I tend to get lost in them. I also block TvTropes and YouTube for the periods that I need to be 100% productive. There are lots of nice apps for phone that will shut the distractions down there. Ideally: your workspace should be clear of distractions.

Reward yourself: you should celebrate every milestone. In your mind. Don't put physical rewards (even food is off the table), and don't reward yourself with distractions ('when I finish this chapter, I'll translate a page out of this other thing'). Just look at the work and pat yourself on the back (or whatever works for you). Celebrate that you made it.

You can reward yourself with some other distraction once you are finished

---

Planning (Sequence/Switching)

...well, this is long enough So, I'll keep this part short:

To not take all the things at once, you need to plan. You can switch between works if you do it within a plan.

Don't overplan (it's another trap), just make a simple sequence of boxes to have a future vision. "This is what I will work on next...". Put stuff on the future list, but don't switch to it.

The rule is simple: you can move all the boxes beyond, but the one that is open stays until it's finished.

All right, that's my braindump for now.

[animorte]

Discipline or motivation seem unrelated to it.

Subscribing to this particular sentence makes me feel better.

Overall there's a lot of helpful information here. Thanks for everybody contributing, really.

[Lissou]

Are you able to pick a few that you want to do most, or eliminate a few that are lower priority? Then you could cycle between the ones that remain without exhausting yourself.

I struggle to work on just one thing at a time, I get bored, but I find it exhausting to have more than 3-4 active projects at a time. So I focus on a few, then if I feel tired with one of them I get back to one I've put on hold instead. As long as they're not jobs with deadlines, this can work very well.

[Wintermoot]

Okay, the list of things I would like to do, but don’t really have time for them:

1. Translating Exalted: Fate Core Edition from Polish to English
2. Translating articles for Polish Wikipedia
3. or D&D 5.0 SRD (it’s Creative Commons nowadays)
4. or Cypher System SRD
5. or SRD for 3rd edition of Mutants and Masterminds
6. Or maybe some webcomics…?
7. Oh, and I have also an English blog with translations of my Polish reviews of RPGs from Polter.pl website – I used to have some time for that, but not currently… :(

So I would say that part of your problem is that you've chosen all impossible to complete projects. I saw someone suggest "just pick one and finish it" but nothing on this list is completable. At least not in a small number of settings.

They are all HUGE projects. Projects that could take a team of translators months to finish. So you could work on one all day and feel no sense of accomplishment or completion.

That sense of completion/accomplishment is an important and necessary component of project success, because it gives you a shot of endorphins. You could work on something for eight hours and end up feeling jittery and on edge because you just see the huge weight of what is yet to be done.

So, assuming you don't want to switch gears to simpler projects, you need to set your own goals and set accomplishments within these projects that will guide you.

Instead of "translate this webcomic" set yourself a goal of "translate 10 pages of this webcomic." Then when you are done, you'll feel a sense of completion because you can check it off your list.

Instead of 'Exalted: Fate Core Edition from Polish to English' set a goal of "translate 1 chapter". Then when you are done, you'll feel a sense of completion because you can check it off your list.

As you have problems sticking with one projects at a time, allow yourself to work in circuit. So make a checklist right now of the first 6 things you want to do.

1. Translate 1 chapter of Exalted: Fate Core Edition.
2. Translate 10 pages of webcomic A
3. Translate 1 chapter of D&D 5.0 SRD (Or 10 feats, or 10 pages, or whatever division works)
4. Translate 10 pages of webcomic B
5. Translate 1 chapter of Mutants and Masterminds
6. Make a blog post


Don't think you will finish these all in one day or one setting. But maybe make that your week's goal. Then repeat the list each week. If you find yourself bored with one of the projects, you can swap it out for another project after you've completed one of the target points.

Try it for a couple weeks, then make a decision if you've too much for a week's cycle and adjust. Find the level where you are feeling a sense of accomplishement, a comfortable sense of urgency and a comfortable sense of twitchiness.

I think if you start setting accomplishable goals for yourself instead of hamstringing yourself with impossible to reach targets, you will find yourself better able to deal with it.

[Lord Raziere]

A method I've discovered recently for focusing on one thing for at least a few hours is certain kinds of music designed for ADHD relief I've found on youtube to help people with such a mind focus for studying and such. the melodies and sounds are often simple yet arranged in a way that they somehow....just....make it easier to stay on task and not get sidetracked: when I listen to one, my internet tabs go up only 1-2, unlike right now which have gone up to four. its no guarantee, but I'd encourage someone with focusing problems to at least give it a try and see if it works.

[Kaworu]

Hi people ;-)

Just writing to give you some perspective :D First and foremost, thank you all for responding to this topic, it helped me a lot to gain a new outlook on things.

You are right that all these project are somehow bigger and hard to accomplish. And you are right, the “dopamine burst” is something very important and it is hard to get when the task seems never ending.

The first thing I got is this – I can work on multiple things at once, and even if it is making the tasks to get “longer end” (which is long in itself), it still counts as some progress. So it is fine.

Since establishing this topic I moved significantly with the Fate/Exalted translation project (I have a little over 100 pages now and there are lesser files left to translate than the number of already translated ones – woo-hoo). I also just today translated one RPG review from Polish into my English blog. Yay? :3

Maybe I still work on too many things at one (it’s hard to say…?), but at least I am really working one them? :D Which is a progress, as I said :-P

Maybe I have kinda problem with focusing my attention on one things at a time, but at least I am working on them projects, instead of being over-burdened by the sheer amount of things to do.

I do not think it would be possible to accomplish without your input in here :3 So thanks y’all UwU

[Kraufen]

I really have a hard time staying focused only on one thing

[GiantBob]

It's extremely hard to maintain focus nowadays. I'm making a conscious effort not to lose sight of the goals I want to accomplish, and I've started blocking my phone while I'm at work.

[Batcathat]

It also helps to break the task down into smaller, manageable chunks, and just take it one step at a time. That way, you can focus on the immediate task at hand and not worry about what comes after. Plus, you'll get to enjoy your successes in the short-term, which always feels nice.

Yeah, this is a good one. My mom realized how well it worked for me before I did. If she told me "Clean your room" I wouldn't know where to start and barely get anything done (okay, so I also hated cleaning and procrastinated a lot, but that's beside this particular point) but if she told me "Pick up the books", then "Pick up the lego", then "Pick up the clothes", etc. it worked way better. These days I'm less reliant on my mom to get things done, mostly replacing her with checking things off lists.

[Tyndmyr]

I agree.

like people say "just stick to one thing" as if its easy, and I'm wondering how they manage to filter out everything else or not let their mind wander.

For some people it is. Some folks have a touch of ADHD, and for us, it's a wee bit harder. Not impossible, just...harder.

I don't really stick to any one thing, but I pick something I care about and try to do at least a little on it each day. After that's done, I go do whatever. That, and as you master a skill, it'll get faster and faster. If you get good enough at something, you can burn through the whole thing before the focus runs dry.

However, to pull that off, the project needs to be of a manageable size. So, start small. Rather than trying to translate a whole game, try to translate a single adventure module or the like. If the scope is small enough that you can finish it before running out of focus, it helps build expertise, confidence, and slowly builds the length of time you can focus on something. Megaprojects are fun, and it can be very satisfying starting on them, but finishing them is truly challenging. I find it only really happens when I have first done a lot of related smaller projects.

It can also help greatly to have ones phone out of arms reach.

[Lacco]

It can also help greatly to have ones phone out of arms reach.

That's the number one advice. Put it into another room. Switch it off and put it into a drawer. Get it out of sight.

And your focus immediately improves once you accept that there's nothing more interesting to do/see.

Also, what is the current view of phones & ADHD?

[xRazoZane]

Here's a tip that might help you out: try chunkin' your tasks into bite-sized pieces. Break 'em down into smaller, manageable chunks, and tackle 'em one at a time. Then, crank up the tunes, find a cozy spot, and zone in on each task like a boss.

This is the only way I can get bigger projects done.