How Do You Stay Focused?

I watched a documentary on ADD, ADHD and other learning "disorders". The consensus is that they have always been around and have only recently become labeled as "problematic". Without "illneses" like ADD, ADHD and the various forms of Autism.... we wouldn't have had great thinkers and genius inventors. IMO these perceived hurdles are actually spingboards to greatness if addressed properly.

Sometimes staying focussed can be inhibiting.
 
Brian Ayres said:
One day I want to make a knife without one "oops" on the grinder. :yawn:
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That would take all the fun out of it :D

Rick Marchand said:
I watched a documentary on ADD, ADHD and other learning "disorders". The consensus is that they have always been around and have only recently become labeled as "problematic".
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I would venture a guess that it also has to do with pill-pushers shoving powerful mind-numbing drugs down as many throats as possible, for huge profits... but that's a different discussion altogether.

Let's try to keep this less about medical/sociological issues and more about the nuts-and-bolts of actually making knives, shall we?

Rick Marchand said:
Sometimes staying focussed can be inhibiting.
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That's certainly true... if we only followed what's been done before, we'd all still be chipping away at rocks.
 
The few sentences at the beginning of my post were meant to lead into the last statement, James. That's where the meat and potatoes, was. I find that fixating on what I'm doing stalls much of my creativity. My mind is always working out designs and solving issues as I work on other things. If I focus too intensly, I may miss out on some other revelation. I try to find a happy place between concentration and daydreaming. If that makes sense?
 
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For me it is the constant learning and improving.
The want to have in 30 years something I can be proud of. (A name, customer base, etc)
And I keep building myself better and better knives. I wonder if I will ever build my grail...
 
I have a problem now that I am retired from the day job.

If I have something I want to try it's very hard to finish the job at hand, I normally give the customer a few weeks lead time so I can get some ME time when I want it.

Richard
 
One of the reasons I started(stuck with it) was that I found hand sanding very therapeutic. With the combination of mental and physical, I could actually focus on hand sanding. As much as I dislike hand sanding, I equally enjoy being able to focus on it. While grinding, on the other hand, my mind tends to wander.

FWIW: When I was diagnosed ADHD in 1979, there were 3 kids in the entire school with ADD or ADHD. That's a far cry from the roughly 25% diagnosed with it in some schools today. I fervently agree with James that is overly-diagnosed today, to the social detriment of those who actually have it.
 
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