Intrusive thoughts are something that I deal with regularly. Thoughts that just pop up without warning. When the distraction is internal and often uncontrolable, it can be limiting.
Yeah I have to agree here, saying 'Man up and work' is just hurtful and shows a quite clear lack of understanding of how those of us who suffer with this feel. It's understandable though, unless you have experienced it, I would imagine it's difficult to properly know what its like and very easy to relate it to the average 'struggle' that everyone goes through with hard work.
I'm still keen to share ideas on things that help though. I'm going to try using a 'checklist' to break down a project and check off each part I completed. How do you deal with the time management and planning though. Like if I say I want to get the modeling part done in 3 days, but then I get to the third day and I realise it's going to take another two days.
Curious as well, does anyone delete their work when they bail on a project? When I quit due to these lack of motivation and interest moments, I feel compelled to scrap all work up to that point and just move on, but if I don't delete it, I get a very uncomfortable 'loose end' feeling.
I may or may not have ADD, I went to a psychologist when I was in high school, tried a bunch of different medications that did not really help, stopped taking them and stopped thinking about it. But recently I've been starting to wonder if that may be part of the reason I have a hard time finishing projects, So I was wondering if anyone here has ADD/ADHD/high-functioning autism and how it affects them as an artist.
If not finishing projects / having hard time finishing projects / start working on anothr project while the previous project is not finished. Are the symptoms of ADD/ADHD/etc/etc, then every artist had em at certain point.:poly142:
ADD & ADHD often results a higher risk of becoming addicted to something, games are no different.
It's not excuse though, it's just that something like a game where you can zone out completely is extremely easy on the brain.
It has something to do with the instant rewards you'd get from drugs or games.
I am addicted to video games, cigarettes and tea/coffee. Also; I often endup working on something for weeks and all, and I spend soo much time reading.
Regardless of what wikipedia say (the worst site one can ever refer to, according to my Univ's English Professor,)
There are always going to be retards giving some manipulative names to brain functions and make it look like an illness, their target is to get weak minded people to take the medication and have irrelevant tests so they can earn. I bet you 10 bux if you walk in to any doctor's office and tell them that you are just sick, they will write up all the test that they know and make you take some sort of medication even if you are not sick, you will get sick.
As long as you have everything Organized (yes, including your playing game time.) You are not mentally ill.
EDIT: Forgot to add this statement; I am not saying that I disagree. it can be true and it can be a serious case.
Personally, I'm easily encouraged by the glimpse of the final result. So I end up with this peculiar workflow. It may be far from being the most effective workflow, but it works for me. I cant resist the temptation to texture an unfinished portion of model and set up the shader and see how it looks in the engine, be it the head of a character or a single prop of a more complex asset. Hell, even I used to skin a hand only modeled up to the wrist.
This could be a two edged sword though, with me obsessing on how to make it look acceptable before continuing the rest of the asset. It's make or break moment. If I like what I see, that's enough fuel *usually* for me to go on.
I realized this about me, so I have been going out of my way to assure myself that the project is going OK.
RexM, the subject is about ADD not a place to spill your propaganda, next thing your going to tell us is that cancer can be cured with an organic vegetable diet.
You are using unscientific data to backup your arguments/beliefs and hijacking this thread to spread them.
Advising people to not vaccinate their children based on some bullshit ( wich i will not discuss here because people like you will never get it) is totaly irresponsible and selfish. You are just like the people that deny the theory of evolution or global warming , you use the same bullshit unscientific data and arguments to fit your claims. goddam hippies.......oh and guess what, there is mercury in fish...
More on topic, I'll try briefly to express what I think can often stop you from finishing a project :
Artists/geeks are often more sensitive then other people, a lot of us (and I include myself) have had it rough in school and struggle daily with self confidence issues, it is hard to keep going on a long project because of all the stress it causes and you often associate your project to the "spiritual" pain you had to deal with while working on it, you try so hard at the beginning that you burnout all the positive energy you put into it.
I would advise to be methodic and organised ( people going 200% into a project often are'nt and burn steps) so that each step of your work will bring satisfaction and renew your motivation and concentration. For example don't texture before your uv's are a 100% layed out, don't go into little details until the whole scene has been layed out. Just like a painter go from sketch to line to big color values , to lights...ect...Each step will make you think of one thing to do at a time and the process will give you great satisfaction in the end.
Nice, you came in here to insult me, paint me as someone I am NOT with COMPLETELY unfounded assumptions, (even though I provided proof for my claims) and then 'try' to patch it up with shitty advice.
I am addicted to video games, cigarettes and tea/coffee. Also; I often endup working on something for weeks and all, and I spend soo much time reading.
Regardless of what wikipedia say (the worst site one can ever refer to, according to my Univ's English Professor,)
There are always going to be retards giving some manipulative names to brain functions and make it look like an illness, their target is to get weak minded people to take the medication and have irrelevant tests so they can earn. I bet you 10 bux if you walk in to any doctor's office and tell them that you are just sick, they will write up all the test that they know and make you take some sort of medication even if you are not sick, you will get sick.
As long as you have everything Organized (yes, including your playing game time.) You are not mentally ill.
I have very personal reasons for knowing it is real, I have family that have been diagnosed, gotten medicine, which pretty much helped them halfway there with the problem, the other half being knowing how to handle these issues.
Had I gotten help when I was in my 10-16 or so I would've fared much better with school, which was pretty much a disaster, no matter how talented I was. I stuck in a way that it was a perfectly fine school, with everyone getting good or great grades, but then it was me barely even passing, and it was basically me thinking I was chronically lazy.
Big companies always wants to push their pills as far as they can to get money, it's a big industry after all, but it doesn't make the medicines any less real, they still work for a big part of the people who are affected, they just wish to see more than the affected people taking the medicines.
If not finishing projects / having hard time finishing projects / start working on anothr project while the previous project is not finished. Are the symptoms of ADD/ADHD/etc/etc, then every artist had em at certain point.:poly142:
I am addicted to video games, cigarettes and tea/coffee. Also; I often endup working on something for weeks and all, and I spend soo much time reading.
Regardless of what wikipedia say (the worst site one can ever refer to, according to my Univ's English Professor,)
There are always going to be retards giving some manipulative names to brain functions and make it look like an illness, their target is to get weak minded people to take the medication and have irrelevant tests so they can earn. I bet you 10 bux if you walk in to any doctor's office and tell them that you are just sick, they will write up all the test that they know and make you take some sort of medication even if you are not sick, you will get sick.
As long as you have everything Organized (yes, including your playing game time.) You are not mentally ill.
You're taking anecdotes out of context and making casual, superficial comparisons based on nothing more than your personal opinion. That's not intellectually honest and it's not fair to those of us that really do suffer from the inability to simplify and organize tasks. The examples you quoted aren't occasional occurrences, they are chronic and pervasive issues that people like me deal with every minute of my life. People with ADHD have to fight tooth and nail day to day to get even the most mundane tasks dealt with. Doing the laundry is a simple task for most, but I can't remember to change loads, clean the lint trap, or even remember if I added detergent after I walk away.
We are not undisciplined, far from it. We exert a great amount to discipline just to do what comes to most people naturally. Not only that, but we tend to have impaired memory, especially the memory dealing with categorizing information in our heads. Give me a group of numbers and letters mixed together and ask me to separate them and organize them numerically and alphabetically, and I would fail almost every time. Holding on to a single thought can be as hard as trying to sew holding the needle with chopsticks while wearing oven mitts. If you think it's all just made up junk science from some money-grubbing M.D.'s looking to make a name for themselves, you have no idea.
Another thing that I'm curious to know from others who struggle with this is whether it's solely related to personally driven projects?
For example, I have all of the issues described in this thread when I'm working on personal projects. I just cannot seem to muster the motivation to finish anything, and my excitement for a project goes from 110% at the beginning/early stages, to 0% midway through.
However, last year I was finishing up my degree which involved stuff like writing huge dissertations and doing massive projects in a subject I only found mildly interesting. They would take weeks at a time and be pretty large in scope, but I had no trouble whatsoever completing them.
I only seem to have these problems with personal projects which often leads me to believe that there is some subconscious self-mind-fucking going on. I can't put my finger on it though. It's not fear of failure, or lack of love for the craft, at least it doesn't feel like that, but I can't work out why my motivation can be there for projects which have 'real' deadlines and consequences, but not there for personal portfolio work, which arguably has even greater consequences in terms of the bigger picture (ie finding work, improving your skill etc).
RexM, first of all I didn't come to insult you but you brought it on yourself by stating that mental conditions were the result of vaccines ( and your proof proves nothing, please educate yourself on the subject).
I quote you:"Don't bother with vaccines. There are cases of kids getting instant autism from vaccines even within the last decade." Seriously? Fucking Seriously?
Go walk on a rusty nail we'll see if vaccines don't help when you lose your leg...
Vaccines have saved MILLIONS and child mortality would be up the roof if not for them. How dare you say something that idiotic?
And as for my advice being shitty, It's from my personnal experience.
Around 15 I started to lose interest in class, where i'd just go, sit and draw, of course my grades went down , I tried to work to get them back up but I just didn't get it anymore, the more I tried the more I failed, so I why bother? I just went on drawing, reading books, living in my world and skipping the classes where I felt the most under pressure; I had in the process lost my friends and ended being pretty much on my own.
Teachers and staff were at the time assuming I was a retard/autist and my behaviour was met with aggressivity (from teachers and students alike) so much so that I ended up being expelled and had to take some tests.
It came out I wasn't behind, quite on the contrary. The next year I decided to go to boarding school where I started anew and graduated with honors.
I don't have ADD or anything like that but I felt I could relate and just wanted to tell folks what had helped me, you consider it shit and innapropriate, very well, I will refrain from posting in this thread again.
I have very personal reasons for knowing it is real, I have family that have been diagnosed, gotten medicine, which pretty much helped them halfway there with the problem, the other half being knowing how to handle these issues.
Had I gotten help when I was in my 10-16 or so I would've fared much better with school, which was pretty much a disaster, no matter how talented I was. I stuck in a way that it was a perfectly fine school, with everyone getting good or great grades, but then it was me barely even passing, and it was basically me thinking I was chronically lazy.
Big companies always wants to push their pills as far as they can to get money, it's a big industry after all, but it doesn't make the medicines any less real, they still work for a big part of the people who are affected, they just wish to see more than the affected people taking the medicines.
You are not the only one sir.
Same thing happened to me, but one can over come his own mental illness. The first thing is to realize that he has that issue. I realized that when I got in to college, the first year, first semester and got the first quiz grade like a slap on my face. It was almost like some one grabbed me from my shirt's collar, while I was sitting in my comfort zone and pulled me out in to the reality.
After that I started organizing stuff and priortizing things I start seeing better results. More importantly, I started understanding stuff more thoroughly, forced myself to become interested and get involved in the subjects even though they would not interest me at all. Had I taken any pills? No. I do use to rely on Tea/Coffee and cigarettes to keep myself awake so I can get stuff done however. (Sort of addiction I am not proud of.)
My previous post was mainly directed to the OP who believes that he has ADD since he can not finish his work. But since you've replied to this. I can tell you my experience in 2 sentences. There are people like you and you are not alone. What makes you different from them is how you over come that. You can take pills and I am not disagreeing that they wont work (although you will have to take them for a long time.) Or over come those "mental illnesses" on your own like me by realizing that you have them and how to over come them.
You're taking anecdotes out of context and making casual, superficial comparisons based on nothing more than your personal opinion. That's not intellectually honest and it's not fair to those of us that really do suffer from the inability to simplify and organize tasks. The examples you quoted aren't occasional occurrences, they are chronic and pervasive issues that people like me deal with every minute of my life. People with ADHD have to fight tooth and nail day to day to get even the most mundane tasks dealt with. Doing the laundry is a simple task for most, but I can't remember to change loads, clean the lint trap, or even remember if I added detergent after I walk away.
We are not undisciplined, far from it. We exert a great amount to discipline just to do what comes to most people naturally. Not only that, but we tend to have impaired memory, especially the memory dealing with categorizing information in our heads. Give me a group of numbers and letters mixed together and ask me to separate them and organize them numerically and alphabetically, and I would fail almost every time. Holding on to a single thought can be as hard as trying to sew holding the needle with chopsticks while wearing oven mitts. If you think it's all just made up junk science from some money-grubbing M.D.'s looking to make a name for themselves, you have no idea.
Have you ever checked the door lock 3 time after locking it, or putting the tea in the microweave to warm up go out in the balcony have a cigarette then come back not remembering you have to get your tea from the microweave after 5 minute, or checking the car doors after power locking them? Constantly talking to yourself to keep remembering things while you are thinking them?
Same thing happened to me, but one can over come his own mental illness. The first thing is to realize that he has that issue. I realized that when I got in to college, the first year, first semester and got the first quiz grade like a slap on my face. It was almost like some one grabbed me from my shirt's collar, while I was sitting in my comfort zone and pulled me out in to the reality.
After that I started organizing stuff and priortizing things I start seeing better results. More importantly, I started understanding stuff more thoroughly, forced myself to become interested and get involved in the subjects even though they would not interest me at all. Had I taken any pills? No. I do use to rely on Tea/Coffee and cigarettes to keep myself awake so I can get stuff done however. (Sort of addiction I am not proud of.)
My previous post was mainly directed to the OP who believes that he has ADD since he can not finish his work. But since you've replied to this. I can tell you my experience in 2 sentences. There are people like you and you are not alone. What makes you different from them is how you over come that. You can take pills and I am not disagreeing that they wont work (although you will have to take them for a long time.) Or over come those "mental illnesses" on your own like me by realizing that you have them and how to over come them.
You can never really overcome it, I've only learned to live with it, but my life is largely designed around how my brain works. It's very much a chemical imbalance in your brain, you can't practice those things away, you can only work around it.
Pills are no danger as long as you have the right kind of disorder, but it's only half the fix, the rest is the things you've mentioned, but there's no such thing as simply "just do it.", I took me years to go fully functional and even now I still have the same symptoms, I just know a bunch of tricks to go around them.
I still at regular can't directly remember how old I am, just roughly, because it's rarely something I use, only my date of birth :P, the best way to memorize things is to put them in the working memory!
But yes, it is possible to work around it in the ways you talk about, but for many at that point they might've messed up their lives to the point of being beyond repair, many persons with these kind of disabilities end up a life in crime and addiction due to having had a hard time growing up with the extreme frustration that follows with school.
work
Have a plan/road map for what you want to get done and stick with it.
Make sure that there isn't too much time between the small wins.
Follow that plan, accept failure as an option but always remember the small wins along the way.
Play
Find ways to add small wins into what ever it is you like to do. If you like to run, then count every lap as a win, things like that.
Just thought I would throw in my two cents, I didn't read everything and this is just what has helped me.
I'm 29 now and was on ritalin since the 6th grade, adderall after that. I quit when I was in my early 20s and basically worked jobs in the construction field so I never really worried much about it. When I decided at about 26 that I wanted to take my love for gaming and art to the next level I put everything I had into that. I never really thought about taking any sort of medication again for awhile. Eventually though I started noticing that I was having a hard time staying focused and began to think about ways to improve.
Things that helped me were organizing (which I know has been mentioned but it does help), I'm almost ocd about it now, not quite and I don't let myself get to that point. Just have to let things go sometimes. Another thing that has really helped, is my diet. Eating healthy has had amazing results for me. Maybe it won't for you but I notice the difference. I use coconut oil when I cook, I only buy all natural and when I know certain foods can have an overkill on the pesticides like broccoli, I buy organic. I avoid sugary drinks and the only caffeine I take in, is from tea (I'm not against coffee though and will drink it if I don't have time to run, just don't overdo it). I also run whenever I feel tired and go to the gym weekly. All these things have really helped me with my focus.
One other thing that might help is start timing yourself. Sometimes when searching for references, I'll notice I drift off into a world of exploration and the next thing I know, 30 minutes of web surfing have past. Just consciously keep that sort of thing under control.
I can't really help with the anxiety thing, I get that as well but much less than what I used to. I'm usually a pretty quite guy when you first meet me, due to just being overly shy. Eventually though I'll talk your head off and you might wish I was still shy haha. I feel like what has helped the most for me with that is just staying in shape which helps keep me mentally alert and constantly improving my skills. Together they are what has made me able to actually walk up to ppl and talk about my work and even work in front of them. Something I never thought I would be able to handle without drugs.
Have you ever checked the door lock 3 time after locking it, or putting the tea in the microweave to warm up go out in the balcony have a cigarette then come back not remembering you have to get your tea from the microweave after 5 minute, or checking the car doors after power locking them? Constantly talking to yourself to keep remembering things while you are thinking them?
Ya you are right. I have no idea.
Excuse my previous response, it sounded like you were being very dismissive of a very real and sometimes very disruptive mental abnormality (I don't like to call it a disorder, that implies it's all bad). I don't smoke, but I do forget that I have food in the microwave, whether I locked the car, or whether I put away all the items I used to make a sandwich. I also have to think out loud to keep my thoughts aligned with what I'm trying to do.
I don't hold much confidence in medications since they never helped me. I seem to be one of the few that doesn't respond to medication. Paired with the strong side effects I often experience with them, the trade off is far from acceptable.
More on topic, I'll try briefly to express what I think can often stop you from finishing a project :
Artists/geeks are often more sensitive then other people, a lot of us (and I include myself) have had it rough in school and struggle daily with self confidence issues, it is hard to keep going on a long project because of all the stress it causes and you often associate your project to the "spiritual" pain you had to deal with while working on it, you try so hard at the beginning that you burnout all the positive energy you put into it.
I would advise to be methodic and organised ( people going 200% into a project often are'nt and burn steps) so that each step of your work will bring satisfaction and renew your motivation and concentration. For example don't texture before your uv's are a 100% layed out, don't go into little details until the whole scene has been layed out. Just like a painter go from sketch to line to big color values , to lights...ect...Each step will make you think of one thing to do at a time and the process will give you great satisfaction in the end.
My two cents forgive me for the text wall.
I agree with this. Both on the stress and method of execution.
RexM, first of all I didn't come to insult you but you brought it on yourself by stating that mental conditions were the result of vaccines ( and your proof proves nothing, please educate yourself on the subject).
I quote you:"Don't bother with vaccines. There are cases of kids getting instant autism from vaccines even within the last decade." Seriously? Fucking Seriously?
Go walk on a rusty nail we'll see if vaccines don't help when you lose your leg...
Vaccines have saved MILLIONS and child mortality would be up the roof if not for them. How dare you say something that idiotic?
How dare YOU not read all my posts?
You didn't even follow the whole conversation.
Again, do the research instead of assuming you know what you are talking about.
I don't have ADD or anything like that but I felt I could relate and just wanted to tell folks what had helped me, you consider it shit and innapropriate, very well, I will refrain from posting in this thread again.
Hateful attitudes like yours don't help anyways.. It's quite obvious what your intentions were with your first post in this thread.
You didn't read all my posts, which is quite obvious. You latched onto one thing I said and insulted me for it, not realizing new things I had said.
RexM saying things like Good, we don't need people like you around here isn't going to help your "cause" or anyones at all. You are just starting to sound like a jerk. This thread can be a HUGE help for people or it can just get locked due to the bullshit that keeps getting tossed around.
So this is the warning. Any more bullshit (personal attacks, telling people to go away, etc) and I will lock this down myself.
Thanks for sharing, guys! Rad thread. Ive had some anxiety based issues in the past and maybe a handful of adhd symptoms, but it cant be anything serious, since i can overcome it with just discipline. VERY RARELY I still get waves of crushing anxiety trying to draw. That blows! I seriously admire anyone who works through that kind of anguish consistently.
I'm noticing a big misconception in this thread that it would just be discomfort, or unhappiness, or fear of a blank canvas, or boredom, or whatever: It's not. Anything assigned a medical condition like adhd or ocd or any anxiety disorders is on a level of immediacy and insurmountability that you can't really fathom unless you've felt something like it before.
The most profound element of it, to me, from what little ive experienced, is that it feels like it will never get better.
You get a profound, deep seated belief that the feelings you have are a permanent, immutable thing. There is no concept that it will pass, or that you can work by it. It seems about as plausible as suddenly learning to fly.
As an aside:
--withdrawn, this was inappropriate. Sorry, rex; no excuse for it getting personal--
holy shit rexm did you actually come into a thread about people STRUGGLING DAILY WITH MENTAL ILLNESS and make it about 'insane kook blatant lies about chemistry vaccines cause autism' shit?
Here's the thing: chemistry doesnt work how you think it does.
Here's the other thing: Even if vaccines, through some magic witchcraft mad science bizarro world physics, caused autism and mental disorders, there's no way the cost in suffering would outweigh the tremendous number of brutal deaths avoided by vaccination programs
Here's the last thing: you're a gigantic asshole for trying to derail a thread about meaningful, personal stories with your quackery. Much less quackery that involves TRYING TO KILL PEOPLE. Convince people to murder their kids with nonsense, pseudo-science lies somewhere else
It's hard for me to reach out and speak my mind about my condition, so this topic has stirred up a flurry of emotions that I can't really control right now..
Intentions =/= What actually happens
Insinuating that I am trying to kill people is the most hurtful thing you can ever say to someone! Seriously, it's NOTHING compared to ANYTHING I said.
Sorry if i came off as too harsh I treated you like a general avatar for the ENTIRE anti-vaccines community, (which is super sketchy) and that was unfair. Sorry dude.
Pming you to explain/apologize/if you want to discuss more without a thread derail.
Have you ever checked the door lock 3 time after locking it, or putting the tea in the microweave to warm up go out in the balcony have a cigarette then come back not remembering you have to get your tea from the microweave after 5 minute, or checking the car doors after power locking them? Constantly talking to yourself to keep remembering things while you are thinking them?
Ya you are right. I have no idea.
Oh man, is that kinda stuff linked to ADD as well? My gf and I were convinced that I'm suffering from sleep deprivation or something because of how bad my short term memory can be.
At night before I go to sleep, I literally check my alarms like...3 or 4 times. I'll wake up in the middle of the night to double check too...haha. I'm glad I'm not alone there.
Oh man, is that kinda stuff linked to ADD as well? My gf and I were convinced that I'm suffering from sleep deprivation or something because of how bad my short term memory can be.
At night before I go to sleep, I literally check my alarms like...3 or 4 times. I'll wake up in the middle of the night to double check too...haha. I'm glad I'm not alone there.
Yes that does sound a little OCD. Nothing serious I would say though. You know its serious when you are unable to leave the house for fear that you haven't turned the stove/iron off - even though you quite clearly did. Your rational mind knows that you have but your more primal instincts override the rational faculty.
The constant checking often associated with OCD is a way for the brain to relieve anxiety which builds up. It is truly a perculiar condition. I have managed to avoid the checking behaviour for the most part despite the fact that I still have the urges. I've conditioned myself mentally to disregard these thoughts. Of course the problem then is that you have to deal with that anxiety in a different way.
Oh man.. I remember going back home before to check if the door was locked often in the past.
I used to have OCD... one of the few things that seemed to just go away for some reason. Maybe I also consciously just choose to ignore those urges. I've been taking fish oil (filtered of course), and the stuff in it has improved memory quite a bit.
A multivitamin can help too. Just get an iron free one though, because most foods have plenty of it.
It's surprising how many things a vitamin deficiency can cause. Did you know that magnesium is responsible for 300 digestive enzymes? I had some stomach problems where I would wake up every morning with nausea, and had to wait a couple of hours to eat. Found out it was a magnesium deficiency.
B vitamins are recommended for mood as well. Even a multivitamin doesn't have them all though, so a good B complex is good for that.
if you have a dry throat and your shoulders feel stiff you might have ovarian cancer.
if you have autism you are physically incapable of being lazy.
if you're neurotypical you might find yourself having trouble hyperfocusing. Take control over your life by ritualizing your workspace, take breaks to recharge, eat right, close chat programs and social networks, make to-do lists and spreadsheets and stick to them.
if you have adhd take the same steps but add drugs.
if you have a dry throat and your shoulders feel stiff you might have ovarian cancer.
if you have autism you are physically incapable of being lazy.
if you're neurotypical you might find yourself having trouble hyperfocusing. Take control over your life by ritualizing your workspace, take breaks to recharge, eat right, close chat programs and social networks, make to-do lists and spreadsheets and stick to them.
if you have adhd take the same steps but add drugs.
For those with ADD/ADHD, the distraction is often internal. Random thoughts that one cannot control, for example.
Staying on one subject is a challenge. Your workspace advice is good, but I don't know about the other stuff you said. :poly122:
So is there any good android scheldule apps like the one given earlier that was only ios?
Dont know should start a separate thread for this but thought maybe here better given we share the same type of differences. Wanted to take a Zbrush course.at Futurepoly. I know and use it already, but I really want to KNOW.and use it the best way possible. Problem is said course allows anyone who can pay and starts out with basics. Even though it supposedly is for portfolio prep. So if we.get the person who doesn't know any drawing or anatomy or have even basic 3d works. Will the rest of us get held back.when the instructor has to hold.their.hand? IE the class being good as only its lowest.common denominator.
The bonus is that it gets me out of the house and a work environment with the ability to make new contacts. It also meets twice a week for three months. So it should in theory have a good pace.
I was thinking of going to that place as well, for the same reasons you have thought about.
Yes, I was disappointed that the schedule app was for phones... such a thing for Windows would be great.
Surrounding yourself with people of like interest most certainly seems like it would help a great deal for motivation. Sure, you don't get a degree I don't think, but the experience you would get is invaluable.
work
Have a plan/road map for what you want to get done and stick with it.
Make sure that there isn't too much time between the small wins.
Follow that plan, accept failure as an option but always remember the small wins along the way.
Play
Find ways to add small wins into what ever it is you like to do. If you like to run, then count every lap as a win, things like that.
I think this 'small wins' concept works for me. That's why it's hard for me to stay on modeling too long cos I just wanna see the final result on the engine ASAP aka the hunger of small wins. That keeps me going. Also, compliments from stranger on WAYWO thread really help.
reading this thread made me realize that I have been struggling my whole life I really believe that one or more of these thing is the reason.
I read all of the advice and it all sound great honestly and I want to make changes and try to be better but this familiar fear takes me over yet again and stops me from making the changes.
yeah I can just push through it but I am so sick and tired of having to push through everything. I don't want to be afraid. why can't I just do the things I want to? Why cant I just set my mind to do something and not quit because I'm afraid to do something new?
So that's my main problem, Fear. So does anyone else have that problem? how do you beat that fear.
I have started to pick up on some thing like keeping my work area clean and removing distractions but if I know I will be starting on something I have never done I just freeze and magically don't really want to do that anymore or find something more important
reading this thread made me realize that I have been struggling my whole life I really believe that one or more of these thing is the reason.
I read all of the advice and it all sound great honestly and I want to make changes and try to be better but this familiar fear takes me over yet again and stops me from making the changes.
yeah I can just push through it but I am so sick and tired of having to push through everything. I don't want to be afraid. why can't I just do the things I want to? Why cant I just set my mind to do something and not quit because I'm afraid to do something new?
So that's my main problem, Fear. So does anyone else have that problem? how do you beat that fear.
I have started to pick up on some thing like keeping my work area clean and removing distractions but if I know I will be starting on something I have never done I just freeze and magically don't really want to do that anymore or find something more important
I know exactly how it feels, I have started going to a therapist that will help me get trough it and I got cipralex after being diagnosed with social anxiety after a few visits there, seems to help at least some in my case
I'm gonna recommend a few books that have helped me. They're not gonna completely rid you of all ADD/Anxiety/Fear/Motivation issues but they definitely helped me a bit, if only to brighten your outlook during tough times.
First is Art & Fear. It's a pretty simple look at the fear of artmaking and why it's counterproductive.
Next is two books by Seth Godin. Now, these aren't ADD related at all, but can be motivational and I still insist that reading Linchpin changed my life. I recommend anybody reads it, not just those struggling with motivation issues.
Replies
That's vague. Source?
I'm still keen to share ideas on things that help though. I'm going to try using a 'checklist' to break down a project and check off each part I completed. How do you deal with the time management and planning though. Like if I say I want to get the modeling part done in 3 days, but then I get to the third day and I realise it's going to take another two days.
Curious as well, does anyone delete their work when they bail on a project? When I quit due to these lack of motivation and interest moments, I feel compelled to scrap all work up to that point and just move on, but if I don't delete it, I get a very uncomfortable 'loose end' feeling.
If not finishing projects / having hard time finishing projects / start working on anothr project while the previous project is not finished. Are the symptoms of ADD/ADHD/etc/etc, then every artist had em at certain point.:poly142:
I am addicted to video games, cigarettes and tea/coffee. Also; I often endup working on something for weeks and all, and I spend soo much time reading.
Regardless of what wikipedia say (the worst site one can ever refer to, according to my Univ's English Professor,)
There are always going to be retards giving some manipulative names to brain functions and make it look like an illness, their target is to get weak minded people to take the medication and have irrelevant tests so they can earn. I bet you 10 bux if you walk in to any doctor's office and tell them that you are just sick, they will write up all the test that they know and make you take some sort of medication even if you are not sick, you will get sick.
As long as you have everything Organized (yes, including your playing game time.) You are not mentally ill.
EDIT: Forgot to add this statement; I am not saying that I disagree. it can be true and it can be a serious case.
EDIT2: This was more directed to the OP.
This could be a two edged sword though, with me obsessing on how to make it look acceptable before continuing the rest of the asset. It's make or break moment. If I like what I see, that's enough fuel *usually* for me to go on.
I realized this about me, so I have been going out of my way to assure myself that the project is going OK.
You are using unscientific data to backup your arguments/beliefs and hijacking this thread to spread them.
Advising people to not vaccinate their children based on some bullshit ( wich i will not discuss here because people like you will never get it) is totaly irresponsible and selfish. You are just like the people that deny the theory of evolution or global warming , you use the same bullshit unscientific data and arguments to fit your claims. goddam hippies.......oh and guess what, there is mercury in fish...
More on topic, I'll try briefly to express what I think can often stop you from finishing a project :
Artists/geeks are often more sensitive then other people, a lot of us (and I include myself) have had it rough in school and struggle daily with self confidence issues, it is hard to keep going on a long project because of all the stress it causes and you often associate your project to the "spiritual" pain you had to deal with while working on it, you try so hard at the beginning that you burnout all the positive energy you put into it.
I would advise to be methodic and organised ( people going 200% into a project often are'nt and burn steps) so that each step of your work will bring satisfaction and renew your motivation and concentration. For example don't texture before your uv's are a 100% layed out, don't go into little details until the whole scene has been layed out. Just like a painter go from sketch to line to big color values , to lights...ect...Each step will make you think of one thing to do at a time and the process will give you great satisfaction in the end.
My two cents forgive me for the text wall.
Seriously? Fucking seriously?
I have very personal reasons for knowing it is real, I have family that have been diagnosed, gotten medicine, which pretty much helped them halfway there with the problem, the other half being knowing how to handle these issues.
Had I gotten help when I was in my 10-16 or so I would've fared much better with school, which was pretty much a disaster, no matter how talented I was. I stuck in a way that it was a perfectly fine school, with everyone getting good or great grades, but then it was me barely even passing, and it was basically me thinking I was chronically lazy.
Big companies always wants to push their pills as far as they can to get money, it's a big industry after all, but it doesn't make the medicines any less real, they still work for a big part of the people who are affected, they just wish to see more than the affected people taking the medicines.
You're taking anecdotes out of context and making casual, superficial comparisons based on nothing more than your personal opinion. That's not intellectually honest and it's not fair to those of us that really do suffer from the inability to simplify and organize tasks. The examples you quoted aren't occasional occurrences, they are chronic and pervasive issues that people like me deal with every minute of my life. People with ADHD have to fight tooth and nail day to day to get even the most mundane tasks dealt with. Doing the laundry is a simple task for most, but I can't remember to change loads, clean the lint trap, or even remember if I added detergent after I walk away.
We are not undisciplined, far from it. We exert a great amount to discipline just to do what comes to most people naturally. Not only that, but we tend to have impaired memory, especially the memory dealing with categorizing information in our heads. Give me a group of numbers and letters mixed together and ask me to separate them and organize them numerically and alphabetically, and I would fail almost every time. Holding on to a single thought can be as hard as trying to sew holding the needle with chopsticks while wearing oven mitts. If you think it's all just made up junk science from some money-grubbing M.D.'s looking to make a name for themselves, you have no idea.
For example, I have all of the issues described in this thread when I'm working on personal projects. I just cannot seem to muster the motivation to finish anything, and my excitement for a project goes from 110% at the beginning/early stages, to 0% midway through.
However, last year I was finishing up my degree which involved stuff like writing huge dissertations and doing massive projects in a subject I only found mildly interesting. They would take weeks at a time and be pretty large in scope, but I had no trouble whatsoever completing them.
I only seem to have these problems with personal projects which often leads me to believe that there is some subconscious self-mind-fucking going on. I can't put my finger on it though. It's not fear of failure, or lack of love for the craft, at least it doesn't feel like that, but I can't work out why my motivation can be there for projects which have 'real' deadlines and consequences, but not there for personal portfolio work, which arguably has even greater consequences in terms of the bigger picture (ie finding work, improving your skill etc).
I quote you:"Don't bother with vaccines. There are cases of kids getting instant autism from vaccines even within the last decade." Seriously? Fucking Seriously?
Go walk on a rusty nail we'll see if vaccines don't help when you lose your leg...
Vaccines have saved MILLIONS and child mortality would be up the roof if not for them. How dare you say something that idiotic?
And as for my advice being shitty, It's from my personnal experience.
Around 15 I started to lose interest in class, where i'd just go, sit and draw, of course my grades went down , I tried to work to get them back up but I just didn't get it anymore, the more I tried the more I failed, so I why bother? I just went on drawing, reading books, living in my world and skipping the classes where I felt the most under pressure; I had in the process lost my friends and ended being pretty much on my own.
Teachers and staff were at the time assuming I was a retard/autist and my behaviour was met with aggressivity (from teachers and students alike) so much so that I ended up being expelled and had to take some tests.
It came out I wasn't behind, quite on the contrary. The next year I decided to go to boarding school where I started anew and graduated with honors.
I don't have ADD or anything like that but I felt I could relate and just wanted to tell folks what had helped me, you consider it shit and innapropriate, very well, I will refrain from posting in this thread again.
You are not the only one sir.
Same thing happened to me, but one can over come his own mental illness. The first thing is to realize that he has that issue. I realized that when I got in to college, the first year, first semester and got the first quiz grade like a slap on my face. It was almost like some one grabbed me from my shirt's collar, while I was sitting in my comfort zone and pulled me out in to the reality.
After that I started organizing stuff and priortizing things I start seeing better results. More importantly, I started understanding stuff more thoroughly, forced myself to become interested and get involved in the subjects even though they would not interest me at all. Had I taken any pills? No. I do use to rely on Tea/Coffee and cigarettes to keep myself awake so I can get stuff done however. (Sort of addiction I am not proud of.)
My previous post was mainly directed to the OP who believes that he has ADD since he can not finish his work. But since you've replied to this. I can tell you my experience in 2 sentences. There are people like you and you are not alone. What makes you different from them is how you over come that. You can take pills and I am not disagreeing that they wont work (although you will have to take them for a long time.) Or over come those "mental illnesses" on your own like me by realizing that you have them and how to over come them.
Have you ever checked the door lock 3 time after locking it, or putting the tea in the microweave to warm up go out in the balcony have a cigarette then come back not remembering you have to get your tea from the microweave after 5 minute, or checking the car doors after power locking them? Constantly talking to yourself to keep remembering things while you are thinking them?
Ya you are right. I have no idea.
You can never really overcome it, I've only learned to live with it, but my life is largely designed around how my brain works. It's very much a chemical imbalance in your brain, you can't practice those things away, you can only work around it.
Pills are no danger as long as you have the right kind of disorder, but it's only half the fix, the rest is the things you've mentioned, but there's no such thing as simply "just do it.", I took me years to go fully functional and even now I still have the same symptoms, I just know a bunch of tricks to go around them.
I still at regular can't directly remember how old I am, just roughly, because it's rarely something I use, only my date of birth :P, the best way to memorize things is to put them in the working memory!
But yes, it is possible to work around it in the ways you talk about, but for many at that point they might've messed up their lives to the point of being beyond repair, many persons with these kind of disabilities end up a life in crime and addiction due to having had a hard time growing up with the extreme frustration that follows with school.
work
Have a plan/road map for what you want to get done and stick with it.
Make sure that there isn't too much time between the small wins.
Follow that plan, accept failure as an option but always remember the small wins along the way.
Play
Find ways to add small wins into what ever it is you like to do. If you like to run, then count every lap as a win, things like that.
I'm 29 now and was on ritalin since the 6th grade, adderall after that. I quit when I was in my early 20s and basically worked jobs in the construction field so I never really worried much about it. When I decided at about 26 that I wanted to take my love for gaming and art to the next level I put everything I had into that. I never really thought about taking any sort of medication again for awhile. Eventually though I started noticing that I was having a hard time staying focused and began to think about ways to improve.
Things that helped me were organizing (which I know has been mentioned but it does help), I'm almost ocd about it now, not quite and I don't let myself get to that point. Just have to let things go sometimes. Another thing that has really helped, is my diet. Eating healthy has had amazing results for me. Maybe it won't for you but I notice the difference. I use coconut oil when I cook, I only buy all natural and when I know certain foods can have an overkill on the pesticides like broccoli, I buy organic. I avoid sugary drinks and the only caffeine I take in, is from tea (I'm not against coffee though and will drink it if I don't have time to run, just don't overdo it). I also run whenever I feel tired and go to the gym weekly. All these things have really helped me with my focus.
One other thing that might help is start timing yourself. Sometimes when searching for references, I'll notice I drift off into a world of exploration and the next thing I know, 30 minutes of web surfing have past. Just consciously keep that sort of thing under control.
I can't really help with the anxiety thing, I get that as well but much less than what I used to. I'm usually a pretty quite guy when you first meet me, due to just being overly shy. Eventually though I'll talk your head off and you might wish I was still shy haha. I feel like what has helped the most for me with that is just staying in shape which helps keep me mentally alert and constantly improving my skills. Together they are what has made me able to actually walk up to ppl and talk about my work and even work in front of them. Something I never thought I would be able to handle without drugs.
Excuse my previous response, it sounded like you were being very dismissive of a very real and sometimes very disruptive mental abnormality (I don't like to call it a disorder, that implies it's all bad). I don't smoke, but I do forget that I have food in the microwave, whether I locked the car, or whether I put away all the items I used to make a sandwich. I also have to think out loud to keep my thoughts aligned with what I'm trying to do.
I don't hold much confidence in medications since they never helped me. I seem to be one of the few that doesn't respond to medication. Paired with the strong side effects I often experience with them, the trade off is far from acceptable.
I agree with this. Both on the stress and method of execution.
How dare YOU not read all my posts?
You didn't even follow the whole conversation.
Again, do the research instead of assuming you know what you are talking about.
Hateful attitudes like yours don't help anyways.. It's quite obvious what your intentions were with your first post in this thread.
You didn't read all my posts, which is quite obvious. You latched onto one thing I said and insulted me for it, not realizing new things I had said.
So this is the warning. Any more bullshit (personal attacks, telling people to go away, etc) and I will lock this down myself.
Please try and stay on topic.
I'm noticing a big misconception in this thread that it would just be discomfort, or unhappiness, or fear of a blank canvas, or boredom, or whatever: It's not. Anything assigned a medical condition like adhd or ocd or any anxiety disorders is on a level of immediacy and insurmountability that you can't really fathom unless you've felt something like it before.
The most profound element of it, to me, from what little ive experienced, is that it feels like it will never get better.
You get a profound, deep seated belief that the feelings you have are a permanent, immutable thing. There is no concept that it will pass, or that you can work by it. It seems about as plausible as suddenly learning to fly.
As an aside:
--withdrawn, this was inappropriate. Sorry, rex; no excuse for it getting personal--
Here's the thing: chemistry doesnt work how you think it does.
Here's the other thing: Even if vaccines, through some magic witchcraft mad science bizarro world physics, caused autism and mental disorders, there's no way the cost in suffering would outweigh the tremendous number of brutal deaths avoided by vaccination programs
Here's the last thing: you're a gigantic asshole for trying to derail a thread about meaningful, personal stories with your quackery. Much less quackery that involves TRYING TO KILL PEOPLE. Convince people to murder their kids with nonsense, pseudo-science lies somewhere else
It's hard for me to reach out and speak my mind about my condition, so this topic has stirred up a flurry of emotions that I can't really control right now..
Intentions =/= What actually happens
Insinuating that I am trying to kill people is the most hurtful thing you can ever say to someone! Seriously, it's NOTHING compared to ANYTHING I said.
Your comment is downright disgusting...
Pming you to explain/apologize/if you want to discuss more without a thread derail.
Oh man, is that kinda stuff linked to ADD as well? My gf and I were convinced that I'm suffering from sleep deprivation or something because of how bad my short term memory can be.
At night before I go to sleep, I literally check my alarms like...3 or 4 times. I'll wake up in the middle of the night to double check too...haha. I'm glad I'm not alone there.
I'm trying Ritalin right now for depression... 5th med I've tried. Hope it works this time.
Yes that does sound a little OCD. Nothing serious I would say though. You know its serious when you are unable to leave the house for fear that you haven't turned the stove/iron off - even though you quite clearly did. Your rational mind knows that you have but your more primal instincts override the rational faculty.
The constant checking often associated with OCD is a way for the brain to relieve anxiety which builds up. It is truly a perculiar condition. I have managed to avoid the checking behaviour for the most part despite the fact that I still have the urges. I've conditioned myself mentally to disregard these thoughts. Of course the problem then is that you have to deal with that anxiety in a different way.
I used to have OCD... one of the few things that seemed to just go away for some reason. Maybe I also consciously just choose to ignore those urges. I've been taking fish oil (filtered of course), and the stuff in it has improved memory quite a bit.
A multivitamin can help too. Just get an iron free one though, because most foods have plenty of it.
It's surprising how many things a vitamin deficiency can cause. Did you know that magnesium is responsible for 300 digestive enzymes?
B vitamins are recommended for mood as well. Even a multivitamin doesn't have them all though, so a good B complex is good for that.
if you have autism you are physically incapable of being lazy.
if you're neurotypical you might find yourself having trouble hyperfocusing. Take control over your life by ritualizing your workspace, take breaks to recharge, eat right, close chat programs and social networks, make to-do lists and spreadsheets and stick to them.
if you have adhd take the same steps but add drugs.
For those with ADD/ADHD, the distraction is often internal. Random thoughts that one cannot control, for example.
Staying on one subject is a challenge. Your workspace advice is good, but I don't know about the other stuff you said. :poly122:
Dont know should start a separate thread for this but thought maybe here better given we share the same type of differences. Wanted to take a Zbrush course.at Futurepoly. I know and use it already, but I really want to KNOW.and use it the best way possible. Problem is said course allows anyone who can pay and starts out with basics. Even though it supposedly is for portfolio prep. So if we.get the person who doesn't know any drawing or anatomy or have even basic 3d works. Will the rest of us get held back.when the instructor has to hold.their.hand? IE the class being good as only its lowest.common denominator.
The bonus is that it gets me out of the house and a work environment with the ability to make new contacts. It also meets twice a week for three months. So it should in theory have a good pace.
On touch pad, please forgive weird ... placement.
I was thinking of going to that place as well, for the same reasons you have thought about.
Yes, I was disappointed that the schedule app was for phones... such a thing for Windows would be great.
Surrounding yourself with people of like interest most certainly seems like it would help a great deal for motivation. Sure, you don't get a degree I don't think, but the experience you would get is invaluable.
I think this 'small wins' concept works for me. That's why it's hard for me to stay on modeling too long cos I just wanna see the final result on the engine ASAP aka the hunger of small wins. That keeps me going. Also, compliments from stranger on WAYWO thread really help.
I read all of the advice and it all sound great honestly and I want to make changes and try to be better but this familiar fear takes me over yet again and stops me from making the changes.
yeah I can just push through it but I am so sick and tired of having to push through everything. I don't want to be afraid. why can't I just do the things I want to? Why cant I just set my mind to do something and not quit because I'm afraid to do something new?
So that's my main problem, Fear. So does anyone else have that problem? how do you beat that fear.
I have started to pick up on some thing like keeping my work area clean and removing distractions but if I know I will be starting on something I have never done I just freeze and magically don't really want to do that anymore or find something more important
As for the rest. I would really look into seeing a councilor and going from there. You might need some sort of anxiety relief drug.
I know exactly how it feels, I have started going to a therapist that will help me get trough it and I got cipralex after being diagnosed with social anxiety after a few visits there, seems to help at least some in my case
First is Art & Fear. It's a pretty simple look at the fear of artmaking and why it's counterproductive.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339681718&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (9780961454739): David Bayles, Ted Orland: Books[/ame]
Next is two books by Seth Godin. Now, these aren't ADD related at all, but can be motivational and I still insist that reading Linchpin changed my life. I recommend anybody reads it, not just those struggling with motivation issues.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/The-Dip-Little-Teaches-Stick/dp/1591841666/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339681901&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) (9781591841661): Seth Godin: Books[/ame]
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin/dp/B00509CRG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339681907&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?: Seth Godin: Books[/ame]
:thumbup:
You won't regret it!