Too many interests

I know this has become an internet cliche. But still, please give me some advice (besides visiting a local psychiatrist). I have too many interests and hobbies. It seem I would need 10 lifetimes to have the time for all of them. Plus, I have a job which doesn't interest me at all, it's just for paying rent, food and transportation.

Most people advise: concentrate on a few things you are most interested in. Well, that's the problem; even when I concentrate on a few of them, there are still many areas withing those that are just too much.

I have tried the school approach; spending a few hours a day concentrating on two or three interests, then on the next day concentrating on others etc.

On a particular day I want to concentrate only on one thing and push all other things on the side. The next day I am intersted in something else and I push the thing I was concentrated on the previous day, on the side.

Any opinions, advices, simmilar experiences? (Please keep it polite and without ad hominem).

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Well I'm interested in this. I know that I kinda grew some of mine together in a way they naturally connect and reduced some of them to more basic forms. Does this sound as stupid as it sounds?

Actually no. It sounds logical. Although, for example, if I'm interested in horror, I automatically have to expand my interest to all or most mediums.

Or, If I'm interested in more than one type of drawing, I still need to time to draw using one technique or medium and the other.

Or, for example, music. There's the problem of multiinstrumentalism, etc.

Maybe I should just try to write my list of interests here?

I did, however try it a few times on paper. The list was too long or too complex. I even tried to write it using the "folder-tree" approach and it just got worse with time. Mental-map approach was also too complex.

>there are still many areas withing those that are just too much.
Cut down the number further then. Besides, it's not like you have give each of the shit proportional amount of time. Say, I like (trying to) produce music and drawing. Since I don't have the time to perfect either (or even git gud at them) next to my key interest, I just do the stuff from time to time when my brain needs another routine.

>The list was too long or too complex.
So simplify it. Humans work more efficient with limits. Make it top 10 (or top 25) and focus on the big stuff. So something like horror wouldn't qualify.

You may be in the calibration process. I like a lot of shit too and have learned that some things can be abbreviated or abandoned for others. I'm not religious or a gun nut but ancient history and machines are a thing for me. My interest in where civilization comes from takes me all the way to the invention of airplanes. Working on cars and motorcycles got out of hand so, I switched to antique guns. I like not only do I know about a car but how the rubber is made and where the metal is mined. Yeah, there is just too much shit out there. But I guess like a twenty year old Christmas tree gets too many ornaments, a 30 year old is trimmed to basic elements and priceless memories. (Fuck Christmas.) my kid is really into horror and sci fi. I encouraged him to learn all about the makeup and filming tricks. Not trying to ramble just examples. It seems like a clusterfuck but it also helps focus and hone in on exactly what is really related to your interest. Like I totally know if I don't need a gun that doesn't fit in collection. And kid will fuck off GI joe in favor of starwars. Hope to see others chime in. I could probably use a little advice myself.

Ok, let's try this approach: Obviously, I will not prosper in most of my interest because they're just that: interests. Most are also not even hobbies.

So, hm...I'm not too sure but let's say I would put my top 3, not neccesarilly in any particular order:

Coding/programming (which would eventually lead to game development)

Writing sci fi, horror, fantasy (which would eventually lead to publishing some stories, not for money, just getting the story done and published)

And, drawing comics mostly (not really top top stuff, just something to prosper at artistically, not for job opportunity. It could even be just some doodling for fun but on a higher level).

I'm still deciding among the interest but this is what first comes to mind.

Not an expert but that all sounds like it would take place for game design. Storyboard and all

Coding seems the one to focus on then. Specially if you go with simple 2d games, adventures and even visual novels, it'd let you include elements from writing and drawing. And most studios can't afford a writer or an artist either way, so it'd be even a good choice from the monetary side.

Yes, even if you pick one thing there's still so much in that field. And even if you concentrate on a few things within a particular field there's still so much sub-fields in there too. No matter how hard you try to reduce the field, there's still too much to check, learn or process.

Your kid probably likes sci fi and horror movies, comics, videogames, novels... Another problem. Too much things and too much mediums. But, maybe he can become an expert in sci-fi and horror movies, maybe a screenwriter, director, prop master. And it's still a wide wide field.

The more we talk about this problems, the closer we could get to a sollution for everyone with the same problem. Keep writing about your experiences.

>screenwriter, director
The good ones tend to step outside of their comfort zone, so focusing on one or two things wouldn't be a great call.

I'll sleep on it and bump it when I wake. This is a good tune up for me too. Hopefully some good stuff when I come back. It seems the meme understanding of occam's razor is different than mine. I'm sure I read about it some time ago and when applied to a complex system (such as an automobile or your interest) it can be a powerful tool for troubleshooting and reducing waste and finding the essence of things. To use the Christmas tree again. You may not see the tree until you cut all the junk off.

Interesting advice. So, it would even be profitable to get hired as a coder but do some writing/artistic work for the company as well. That's a great advice. I like it.

I agree. And the more we talk about it, the better.

Combine your interests/hobbies, write a script and write a game for it for example.

Man I’m envious OP that sounds sweet, I can see it being a bit hard to organize. Play it loosely and delve into your different hobbies at a whim on a month-to-month basis maybe? Like January is a skiing kick, Feb you’re really into painting, March try picking up that instrument some more, or maybe do it all day by day.

Cool dude though, I’m jelly! good luck finding answers OP

When I was a kid, I saw Jurassic Park and wanted to be a paleontologist. Later, that lead to forming of the life on Earth and the forming of Solar System which lead to an interest in astronomy and cosmology. Then I wanted to be an astrounaut. All of this later lead to sci-fi.

Parallel to that, my father was so annoyed with me always asking him to turn on the tv or put on some vhs movie, so he taught me to operate a tv and vcr when I was four. That lead to interest in technology in general and later to computers.

On top of that, I asked him to teach me to turn on the radio and listen to music on audio cassettes from his collection. That lead to interest in rock music. Even later I had a synthesizer and tried to play songs from my music class.

Back to interest in dinosaurs, I ran around the local forest and swamp and immersed myself in biology and chemistry.

Then there was physics, resonating with interest in technology and astronomy.

Since I was watching a lot of sci-fi and horror as a kid I also started to draw my favorite characters (very badly at first).

Seeing a lot of movies I was also intersted in martial arts because my friend had a huge collection of chinese b-movies.

I learned to play chess and to mess with a Rubik's cube when I was a kid. (Of course, this doesn't mean that I'm ultrasmart or anything. I'm just a regular guy, not a genius. I'm just interested in too many things).

While still a kid, playing all those various videogames, me and my friend started toying with the idea about making one of our own games, which we never started to do.

During highschool years I bought a guitar and a harp and started playing them and singing, writing stuff for my band.

Later I meant to make 8-bit music, when I injured my wrist (from playing too much guitar).
I thought about going to film school.
I got a mater's degree in philosophy and a degree in electrical engineering. And I'm still interested in too many thingsshould I just keep writing more?

Great advice. But then I would want to write the music for the game too and make concept art for characters and setting. Another problem. I tried to make a 2d platformer with unity but wasn't sattisfied. Then I switched to CryEngine and finally settled on Unreal engine. Still no luck because I'm not an expert and I'm still learning.

Thank you.

But I did notice that, when I try to work on something and if it's been over a few day's of pause I'm either not interested at that at the moment or I need to go a few steps back to get the things rolling again.

Hey, noone can make something good in a first try. Keep on keeping on my man. Also Unreal is dope as I heard

That's the problem, trying again and again and finding a few things to try and practice intead of million other things. I mean, you can be an amateur at million things or an expert on only a few things. Which would be better?

I know. I'm still trying out various free engines.

There were also some "dead-ends". My interest in drawing lead to interest in tattoos and tattooing. Then I realized I don't want to be a tattoo artist.

On the other hand, there is life: work so you can support yourself, eat, sleep, wash, wash clothes, cut nails, go here and there because of bureaucracy etc. Balancing the private and proffessional life and also, the everyday bodily needs.

I'm going to work now. I will read and reply later. Feel free to comment.

No great epiphany from sleep but I conclude that the problem for one with "too many" interestis isn't the too many. It is that they don't fit into our limited existence. It would be counter to your interests to reduce them. This isn't mine but I asked several people, "what is the most important thing to know?" The truth rang when I heard that, "Organization is the key to success." I have tried to refute it but I cannot. A thing that I have learned from trying to teach my own youngling is, "Do now, whatever's going to take only a few minutes." These thoughts branch out into new techniques. Such as you know, climbing a mount takes a while but taking the first step only takes a second. The biggest place of disorder is not our desk but our minds. Many people go around thinking that they think something when the brain is just randomly jumping around from place to place. Actually thinking is an act of organization. We naturally avoid discomfort and hide behind excuses of efficiency. Like thinking "I'll hold off on this so I can kill two with one when I do that." It is great to employ efficiency but it's a spice, not the main course. Most of the time, we set it as an obstacle in our path.