"Are YOU able to focus on one project at a time?" Topic

I seem totally incapable of staying focused on a project. I keep getting distracted by the next shinny thing. If you Do managed to keep on track. How??
I have been considering using a new method. When I find a new project I just pick a figure of cash I will through at it and do it all in one hit. At least I am hoping that will work. At least I will have all I need to do the project even if I don't finish straight away. What do you guys do?

Haha nope :-)

But I don't usually know which projects will end up having legs until I've worked on it a bit so I start a few and then stick with one of them.

I attend my 12-step program ;)

I'm also not very good at staying focused – I can do it for a couple of months at most. One thing I found that does help (a bit) is some advice Phil Hendry published in an issue of WSS a year or two ago: pick up the figures for a small, but usable force for your game of choice, then complete one unit entirely before moving on to the next one. He wrote that seeing complete units that are ready to go on the table helps give a sense of tangible progress and motivates one to go on to the next unit.

I've found that works a bit, and I now have a small 28mm Roman Republic army and 28mm Macedonian Successsor Army table-worthy.

But I still buy way more figs than I actually complete – I have just as many unpainted Romans and Macedonians ahead of me…

Hell no…

I normally have 2 or 3 things going at once. Usually one part is just terrain or something that is kind of simple and then a couple of painting projects along with that. I do find that I get less done when I have more sitting around on my painting desk though.

Yes, I make myself stay focused by collecting and painting for what is coming next in our ongoing 28mm ancients campaign. I have 15mm Napoleonic Russians to do, and French. I also have 15mm Sengoku period Japanese to do. And many other bits of 28mm ancients/medievals to do. And 20mm WWII. Plus probably others I can't think of right now. But I know that with my limited time and energy, there is no way anything will get to a playable/useful stage unless I concentrate on one thing at a time, so that's what I do. It's kind of like peer pressure, since I'm painting for the group games.

This is completely artificial, but if there's no plan it won't happen!

Absolutely yes!

Five minutes is a time.

But generally, I can focus on a small set of projects and get them done before moving on to the next. Usually, they don't finish at the same rate, so I will move projects in and out as they finish. But I try not to put one off because it has been sitting.

I'm finishing of projects I started years ago and of course I have some new ones on the go.

That said they are getting finished mainly because once I have twelve units done per side I anything else is a bonus.

Previously I painted whatever I fancied painting regardless of what needed doing.

As a system its working.