heya CD !
i have this problem of mine and its one of those problems that i think is really hampering my progress. DISTRACTIONS. its not that i dont have the necessary drive to practice. oh nono no! its those elements that makes you keep off focus to the task at hand.
and what it is you wonder? NOISE!
let me explain for a minute on where do my humble workstation is located at this moment.
i still live with my family and im in a family of 5 with my dad working makes us 4 in the house. my computer is located just about 2 meters away from the living room tv.
so basically whenever its my time on the computer. its also there time to watch movies , shows, and who knows what singing competition. therefore whenever i read , whenever i study. i just cant FOCUS!
this results in a day wasted not knowing what ive just done in the day.
how much do you guys know of in terms of having a productive workspace?
i just dont know how im gonna go about this , we live in a small space. i dont have my own room. so the only time where i get to be productive is at night. i stay up all night til day ! just to get better. cause its the only time where i get to be more focused and get the most out of my studies.
sorry for the long post.
im just feeling somehow a little depress lately...
maybe its because of lack of sleep , or the heat . but idk
i wonder if you guys can relate to me on this.
My way to deal with distraction is big headset and audiobooks/podcasts :D Music is not enough to forget about outside world. But good book absolutely occupy by attention and I can focus on work
(03-22-2014, 09:13 PM)Madzia Wrote: [ -> ]My way to deal with distraction is big headset and audiobooks/podcasts :D Music is not enough to forget about outside world. But good book absolutely occupy by attention and I can focus on work
the problem is i cant read any books because of the noise at my place . its so hard to focus in that way
it can get pretty frustrating , there are 5 little kids here and elderly people with hearing problems who have to watch t.v louder than usual. the way i get around it is by having a messed up sleeping pattern and being awake all night and sleeping during the day or shifting over to my moms house where there isnt much noise, but i understand not everyone can do that.
try going to a library with your supplies or waking up some hours earlier than you usually do to get the important stuff where you have to focus done and buy some ear plugs if you have to.
Here is a strange tip I picked up from pro gaming community - use two headphones at once.
The big, earcups ones like:
http://www.dabs.com/images/product/uni2/...xlarge.jpg
And the small, in-ear ones:
http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/0ba4...2252-1.jpg
Make the sound come through the smaller ones, and the bigger ones are just for blocking extra sounds. You won't hear ANYTHING from around you; and you don't have to make the sound extra loud and hurt your ears to isolate from everything. I used to work like this back at work, when I had to make a really tight deadline and people kept distracting me. Worked wonders.
This is how gaming competitions happens; So the announcers can narrate the game without the competitors themselves hearing their opponent status. :p You learn something every day, it seems heh.
I can tell you from experience people will be kinda bothered you're not answering, it will take a while for them to leave you alone; But sit down and focus on practicing and you will see they will leave you alone.
Good luck there mate!
Great suggestion by Sula, you don't want to damage your hearing. Not sure if just getting one pair of noise cancelling headphones will work as well? I'm not sure how well they actually work as I have never tried them.
A bummer about the circumstances, but depending on where you are in your development, you can actually do a lot of fundamental practice stuff in a sketchbook. In fact it will probably make your work in general much better than only doing digital work, so maybe for the annoying times of max distraction, get into the habit of busting out your sketchbook which will allow you to go to another room or the library or anywhere else really. Then do the digital stuff on tv 'off-peak' periods.
The worst compromise is to be forced to enter unhealthy sleep patterns, this is just going to hamstring you in the long run and is not sustainable.
Don't know if this is an option, but maybe talking to you parents about the situation and how it hinders you could result in some other compromise you haven't thought of? Having a quiet comfortable space to work in is important. Communication is key, and if they don't know how important this is to you, they won't specifically do anything to help you.
thanks for the wonderful suggestions guys , i actually do draw alot when im alone on my sketchbook. but when its time for me to brush up my digital skills, there are just too much distraction and noise all over the room. and about talking to them, it can be done , but its not enough . even through low volume i can still hear the tv , they watch movies often.
its just impossible to be productive in the place where im currently at. i have a head phone , and its a crappy one. though i will be getting one or two as sula suggested
what im doing now is i will sleep early and wake up early to 7-10.
as opposed to my 12 midnight till dawn study time
hopefully everybody are still asleep by then.
When I lived in someone's living room for a year next to that big flat screen TV that's always on, I used the big earphone technique. Since I worked then, I invested in a pretty good Sony sound-blocking earphone. Add in the ear buds like Sula suggested, and you really won't hear a sound. Good luck and don't be bothered by people who are bothered by your training! They can't level you up for you whether they're pleased with you or not, so you need to do this yourself!
Good luck, also this may not be useful to you but the other more difficult side of this is honing your own power of self control and focus. The solutions we've given you are about avoiding the stimulus that distracts you, but if you can train yourself to focus despite the stimulus, it won't matter where you are, ever.
I meditate regularly,for a whole bunch of reasons, but one thing i found was that my ability to tune out stimulus I dont want to focus on, and focus on what I want instead has improved. Our brains are very powerful if we try and train it and access this level of control. Having said that xfactor on full blast would probably make the dalai lama consider murder.
When I was still allowed to use earphones and headphones, I had them on all day (language-learning project of mine, I sometimes slept in them too.)
I stopped the project after 1,000 hours of earphone-wearing, and had to switch to headphones because of chronic external ear infections in my right ear. I still have that issue, and don't even dare to wear headphones anymore.
Over the last 10 years, I've probably worn earphones/headphones for a good 2,000 hours.
I got my hearing tested at my university last year, and I was told it is very good. I can hear the tiniest noises, which sometimes drives me crazy.
So, I wouldn't be worried about your hearing. Oh, and I also played the drums for a year when I was very young, and mostly didn't wear headphones to protect my ears from the noise. That's like, 105-110 decibels. I would NOT do that anymore.
I can't wear earplugs either, but that's what I'd recommend to cancel noise. Or noise-canceling headphones for people who play drums. If, like me, you listen to music/podcasts at LOW volumes (and I mean low), you can add earphones.