As long as you’re working on multiple projects at once, you will never truly be focused. True focus is when your mind is occupied with only this one thing. There’s periods of life when you’re scattered and when you’re focused, since I’ve been in both recently, I want to share my observations.
The unfocused state
Right now I can’t say that I’m focused on something in particular. My main project is the anatomy book, but I also do commissions, software development and some music making. There is a backlog of different things I have to do, so I want to get through those before getting into another focus stage.
When I’m scattered around like that, I don’t make much meaningful progress in any of those areas, I just do a little bit of everything and that keeps me from getting bored. Working on many things at once and jumping around from one to the other feels productive. It feels like you’re getting a lot done, and it’s great if you have a lot of small tasks.
The focused state
The only time I’m advancing on a big project is in periods of intense focus.
Last time that happened was during my internet detox. With all the distractions gone, the only meaningful thing left for me was the book, so I just worked on it. The mental experience is completely different from being unfocused. It feels like the project keeps running in the back of my mind even when I’m away from the desk, walking around or doing chores. Ideas show up on their own instead of me having to brainstorm them.
This state could also look less visibly productive in the moment, because most of the time you’re just thinking instead of working directly. But that’s where the real progress actually happens.
Neither of these states is wrong, they have different purposes. Right now I need to be scattered to finish up all the little tasks that piled up recently, and after that I can go back to being focused. So you actually don’t need to be locked in all the time, use focus as a tool, sometimes it’s the wrong tool for your situation!
