Can't keep interest in one thing for long

you could maybe start with just taking up some hobbies instead of focusing on one thing completely. i have the same issue as you do and i myself am still trying to figure out how to deal with it. maybe if you don't focus completely on something, you won't lose intrest as quickly?

I'm a software developer, and it's even hard for me to get motivated enough to write code in the evenings after doing it all day. For me, I'm need-focused, so if I don't have an actual problem to solve, I don't have motivation to do it. Maybe try to find a problem you can solve with software. Write an app to scrape 4chan and notify you when someone replies to you or when someone creates a thread you may be interested in.

Your problem is that you're being too academic about it. You're trying to learn the whole fundamentals behind it all before you write a line of code. Don't do this. Learn a language first, and only learn it through solving a problem. Be 100% pragmatic about it. Choose a scripting style language like python or ruby for ease.

Once you have the basics, then study the theory behind it. You can't learn set theory, which arithmetic is based on, before you learn arithmetic.

>>18599698
You might be ADD, something worth looking into.

Other than that, it seems like you're having trouble keeping a beginner's mind. I have the same problem. I find interest in something, get really into it, and not too long after I move on. Sometimes I move back to the old things, but not sticking with something is an issue. Inspiration is easy but the follow through is what's difficult in my situation.

There's a great book that compiles a bunch of talks by a Zen Buddhist monk who helped popularize the school in America. It's called Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Regardless of your opinions of Buddhism, there are some solid concepts in the book and with it I've been getting better with keeping alive the wonder that I can so easily feel and steering clear of the trappings of self-destructive intellectualism.

For that matter, there's real science behind meditation as well. And that is perhaps one of the best ways of maintaining focus within.