Stay Focused!

How do you guys stay focused on a pattern when your attention starts to waver?

I listen to vintage radio shows - they're like tv, but there's no temptation to look up! I used to watch old movies, but I kept looking at the screen and stabbing my fingers. ^^;

Cross-Stitch is one of those things where it's hard to just pay attention to it because of how everything is changed. Really you need something else that can help hold your attention. I normally do so by watching my favorite movies just in the background to help that way if I start thinking "I'll never get this done" I just watch the movie for a few minutes and I'm back on track. Sometimes I'll have music in the background but since I've always been a multi-tasker video helps me more then anything else. I'll also do it when I'm in a car (Not driving mind you just as a passenger because doing it while driving would be silly) or while on the bus with the band that I used to be a part of (School Band, I played the Trombone and now I'm threatened that if I don't come back all the time they'll track me down). There's normally enough going on around me, I'll have my iPod on that I never really get bored or distracted but that's just the way I am. Ontop of that my skin is strangely thick so that if I do poke my self it doesn't bug me unless it's a real stab.

While actually doing stitching, I stay focused by watching TV (movies are best, I got a ton of a Resident Evil thing done while watching Scanners and a bunch of romantic comedies) or listening to the radio, preferably not all talk or not all music, since it's good to have something going on in the background, but in terms of projects, I can't stay on task for more than a couple of weeks at a time. I finish most of what I start by going back to half done projects when I get one done and spending a month or so running through almost-done projects, but it gets so bad that I've had to put my embroidery floss in sandwich bags next to the project itself in order to stay organized. ^^; I guess I'm not really a good source of stay-focused advice.

I need total quiet when I stitch!! I stitch really fast and I don't want to make mistakes!!
In my house-- if I'm stitching don't bother me unless your bleeding, broken something or dying!!
Seriously!!!

If I'm really needed-- I finish off the thread then I go find out what was so important!!

I rarely have unfinished projects-- I really hate them!! Right now I just have my Bleach WIP and Wolf Head( that I started a few years ago when I had to do therapy to fix my wrist-- but all back to normal now -- I can stitch pain free!!)

I am still quite a newbie, so untill later, I needed really to focus on what I am foing in order not to make mistakes. But I think I'm getting better and can watch something withouth ruining what I'm working. It usually is something episodic - either some anime (Naruto filler episodes are the best for cross-stitching and knitting) or some other serie.
But I'm no good at staying focused on one project only. If I have only one thing to work on, I'm just getting bored. So anytime I have to have at least two (right now I have 3... 4 if I count one I'm about to leave). And I have the bad habbit to leave a project when they are just few things to be done. And I don't know what to do with the finished ones. Maybe that's why I'm not in hurry to finish them...

I'm such a multitasker that if I don't have 4 or 5 things going on at the same time I feel like I'm wasting time. I always have my ipod with a couple audio books. I tend to watch the same anime's over and over because I know whats going on so I just have to listen to keep myself entertained. I once watched Pride & Prejudice 3 times in one sitting just because I wanted the background noise and I was really into my cross stitch. I do find though that if I get interested in something else I will not touch my cross stitch for months but then feel like doing it again one day and spend weeks just sitting in my room cross stitching. I actully found a site where you can watch video games being played. So now I am cross stitching and watching through all of my fav. video games. Its a multitaskers heaven ^(o.O)^

I watch TV, talk on IM or listen to music. TV works the best though.

I need quiet or maybe radio to concentrate, or I mess up.