The Fickleness of Hobby Interest

[Valkia the Bloody]

I just wanted to chime in and second a very important point-

When painting, I now try to listen to the Black Library audiobooks.

It adds another layer to the painting experience and for ADHD people having some acoustic input while doing repetitive tasks is a game-changer. 

I have now started also doing this at real work (listening to music while wearing headphones at work). 

Right now, I am really impressed by the Caiaphas Cain audiobooks- they feature multiple actors doing different parts and they have even sound effects! They are pretty close to full-cast audio drama. 

[Arikel]

ADHD is a monster at times. Please don’t call yourself lazy, it’s executive dysfunction doing what it does.

 

My interest waxes and wanes as well, but it always circles back eventually. However, the situation you are in is also difficult. I would recommend, if at all possible, to get a dedicated hobby space that you do not need to pack up and completely put away after use. I have gone years without touching a figure, even when obsessing at times because I couldn’t bear the thought of taking down my stuff, setting it up,  trying to build or  paint, and then having to completely put it away after because if left out my toddler would ruin everything. Just too much work for my adhd brain to consider.

Having a permanent space now  has really been key for me to get back into the hobby (because having bred like a skaven, I have not yet achieved toddler free status years later after the first one) If that’s not possible, I would concentrate on doing other hobby activities (working on your story, playing w40k videogames, playing actual 40 k games if you can) and checking to see if there are any local stores/clubs in the area that have painting nights. That way you Could pack away most stuff and keep an active project bag going, with your hobby gear and current project in it to work in when you go out. Might also find some new friends who play, if there’s any kind of gaming community in your area.

 

 At worst, it might be time you pack up and come back later. If you are someone who tends to come back to the same few focuses time after time, I would advise to never get rid of any stuff, at least not pertaining to your main faction. If not you will regret it when the mood strikes again down the line.

 

Best of luck, and watch for the ADHD guilt traps. Our minds literally don’t function the way others did, and trying to force them too can often make the issues worse in the end. I’m having to unlearn a host of bad habits and survival techniques acquired through 4+ decades of being undiagnosed. You aren’t alone with these struggles Frater so hope that helps a bit. 

 

 

 

[Dr. Clock]

On 11/13/2025 at 1:16 PM, Kaede45 said:

for a long time.

Just curious whether we're talking minutes or hours here? I didn't have a daily painting habit until my late 20s, but it's been at a comfortable '1 hour a day' for more than 10 years at this point. Even like 30 minutes a day will get you places! I feel the solution is more likely to be found in day-to-day habit forming than in just... willing yourself to do it more sometimes. I really thrive on having a pretty consistent schedule, so once 'hobby time' is just a thing that comes up on the daily time track, it's alot easier to do it because it's 'the main thing I do between exercise and making dinner'. Put another way, I needed to make the time before I could find the time consistently...

 

You're doing plenty in life already though, it sounds like, so it makes sense that time is rare, and it's natural to reach for the quick engagement of video games for leisure time when there are fewer barriers to starting. 

 

On that topic as an aside here: instead of a television, I use a projector. But the projector is in a room with so much sunlight through the day that effectively I can't play video games or really watch tv until it's basically dark outside. This has turned into something of a boon in the regard of taking all those screen-based pursuits off the table during daylight hours so that I don't 'fall in' to the couch all day over a Saturday or whatever, and correspondingly hobby time and other things are more available because those options are fewer. 

 

Final topic is project management. I used to build and paint much larger groups all as 'single projects', but over time I noticed that it's critical for my motivation to be able to complete a solid noticeable improvement on 'the whole project' during each work session. This gets me the mini-reward of 'completion' from every session, and then the full reward of 'miniature ready for the table' on about a weekly or bi-weekly basis. It also gets me the reward of changing tasks every day or two at most. So I'm never more than a single sitting away from moving on to something new next time, and this is enough to get me to plow through the parts I enjoy the least. For me then, a project is essentially 3-6 infantry, or 1/2-1 vehicle.

 

To try some of this out, I'd suggest:

 

1) Pick an amount of time between 30 and 60 minutes that you think you want to make or find on average 3-7 times per week. 45 minutes seems like a good place to start, as a 'short hour'.

 

2) Paint a single coat of primer on as many minis as you can in that time. Literally set a timer, but don't be afraid to stop if you're not going to complete another one, or indeed to push further to finish whichever one you're on when the timer goes off.

 

3) Congratulations, you just found your personal project size!

 

4) Now you should be able to paint those minis in comfortable 'one session increments' until satisfied. 

 

5) Rinse and repeat.

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.