What keeps you focused?
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- nb
I'm a freelancer, mostly working at home and I live by myself so it's difficult to stay focused.
So far, I've found the best things to keep me focused are:
1. Classical Music, although this is not as effective at it used to be.
2. Lindstrøm's "Where You Go, I Go Too" album. It's amazing. Nothing keeps me working better than this. I could listen to it every day.
3. Yesterday I listened to This American Life while I worked and I was impressed at how it kept my constantly-wandering mind occupied, keeping me from shopping online and reading blogs all day. Recommend me some good general interest podcasts!
I'm interested to hear what everyone uses to stay on track. Sounds / smells / drugs / etc?
- ceiling_cat0
I stay focused by cursing people out on here
- jamble0
a mortgage to pay and wife and child to feed mean I keep working to pay the bills.
I've never really had a problem staying focused working from home but I'm finding lately that it's good to work at my friends office a day a week so maybe getting out is as good as anything.
- TheBlueOne0
dark, bitter, easy women. and single malt scotch. and my squeezy monkey toy.
- GeorgesII0
definitively not Qbn,
this site owns me money and time. :)
- dMullins0
The thought of getting my boss off my ass for a few hours is my primary motivating factor 99.9% of the time.
- studderine0
nothing keeps me focused, as i am a piece of shit. not really though.
- ideaist0
Turn off the internet and focus on your immediate physical space... Run, bike, speak, interact, dance, sing, etc. You need to either be 100% on or 100% off (the computer that is)...
- MrDinky0
Money
- ideaist0
Also, work on print/tangible things as much as you can... I've felt removed from the physical world lately producing so much work that never sees it's way out of the 72DPI world...
- Pupsipu0
distractions keep me focused on them
- chossy0
my motherfucking glasses yo!.
- version30
the work itself...
it's as easy as doing, thinking about it will result in no progress, think with your wacom on, as to say with your tools in reach.
as far as downtime with no paying work? self promotional/internal materials etc. maybe a wall sticker collage of your logo if at a studio/work space. how much down time do you have and what are you into? pretty much all my hobbies are part my professional life. i notice when i am stuck on a clients job i go off and design something altogether different before focusing on the needs of the customer and not just giving them something "cool"
- Rand0
nuthin
- version30
i guess i've always found to work on the tools that my clients may want need before they ask for them so i am prepared with options if given such a request
- nocomply0
Well I'm pretty much in your same shoes...work-at-home freelancer with a problem maintaining focus. I swear I used to be a lot better, but over the years I've slowly found it becoming more difficult to stay on task. Since I started working at home 4 months ago it's really become a problem.
For me I think I need to get out more. I've found that I work best when in coffeshops or places where there are other people around me who are also working.
I think the isolation of a home-office combined with the comforts of home makes me a little too comfortable.
In terms of music, I've found that stuff with repetitive beats works best. That means a lot of ambient, chill-out style music.
I have this theory that stuff with a computer-driven beat (like a click-track) makes my brain think better, as opposed to the organically created tempo of most of the rock stuff I like. Something about the precise repetition... I don't know. Hope that makes sense.
- sashies0
the 'Night People' podcast is like three and a half hours long and perfect chatter for me to listen to while i work.
- Coffeemaker0
i am always focused 100%. Nothing ever distracts me.
- Coffeemaker0
btw check these, so awesome lol
http://www.spamusement.com/
