How do you handle DAW distractions and old, buried ideas?

[FlowGuard]

Two things I keep seeing (in myself and others):

- Getting pulled out of flow — plugin hopping, endless tweaking, or chasing small "feel good" fixes instead of building the bigger picture.
- Good ideas are buried in old projects that never get opened again.

Curious how you handle it.

Quick questions:
1. Flow Killers – What usually breaks your creative flow?
(Plugin hopping? Endless mixing? Perfectionism? Something else?)
2. Flow State – How do you describe "flow" for yourself? What does it feel like when you're really in it?
3. Idea Management – Do you organize or revisit your old sketches, loops, or ideas? If yes, how? If not, do you wish you did?
4. Current Tools & Methods – Have you found any tools, plugins, or workflows that genuinely help you stay focused or reuse past ideas?
5. DAW Feature Wish – If you could add one feature to your DAW to help with focus or creative flow, what would it be?

Context: I'm exploring whether there's a real need to build a better tool for these challenges, or if existing workflows and habits already solve them.

Your insights would be genuinely valuable - thanks for sharing.

[RichardT]

Interesting questions.

1. Fatigue, domestic responsibilities, waiting for things to render.

2. The tools become invisible and I’m just focussed on the music. Sometimes I sense there is some music that wants to be expressed and I usually improvise something to get started. Using retrospective record in Cubase helps me capture good ideas.

3. Yes. I have a folder structure to save draft DAW projects by genre, and a separate ideas folder for storing early or incomplete ideas. When I’m starting a new album I’ll have a listen to some of them. Projects are moved into album-specific folders when I use them, so the genre-specific folders only contain unrealised projects.

4. For me, simply organising everything in a neat folder structure is very helpful. I also tag each project folder in MacOS with a colour to indicate its status (score only, started in Cubase, good mix, mastered, released to streaming).

5. In Dorico, I’m able to work on multiple pieces at once - such as all the tracks in an album - it would be nice to have that same facility in Cubase. It can sort of be done now but not that easily. Having a ‘logical editor’ with an AI interface would be very helpful in reducing painful manual editing of e.g dynamics.

[Martin Walker]

Wow, Richard seems to be HIGHLY organised!

1. Flow Killers - My creative flow is more difficult to get started - once I've got a new project under way I tend to find quite a few hours have gone by before the real world interferes, but I generally stop once a convenient point has been reached (e.g completing a new section of a song, getting a mix to a sensible point requiring some hours off before having another listen in the cold light of day)

2. Flow State - once I'm in a suitable mind state I flit between many activities, such as improvising in new parts, switching to my more critical engineer's hat to focus in on mix details, getting sidetracked learning new techniques or plugins...

3. Idea Management - I tend to work on one idea until it's finished, even if it grinds to a halt and needs a later kickstart. Yes, I probably have a few abandoned ideas, but these are probably not good enough to pursue later on.

4. Current Tools - I can't think of any tools that help me stay focused or re-use old ideas - I'm either in the groove or I'm not

5. DAW Feature Wish - Again, I can't think of anything here, beyond developing some really good personal project templates that fit my way of working, and these couldn't really be added as a standard feature. If I get an idea, I load in my now highly evolved and personalised project template (I have different ones for both personal projects and remixes for other people), and can instantly start recording any of my synths, keyboards and VST instruments without getting sidetracked into setting up.

[adrian_k]

My experience:

1. Flow killers - focusing on some details at the wrong stage of the process. So I don’t worry about my mastering chain when doing an initial level and pan mix. Or get distracted by a slightly out snare hit when tracking something else. If I allow myself to get focused on these details they can be all consuming. I find I can hyper focus on the wrong thing very easily. And of course, forgetting which role I should assume at any particular time, composer, performer, producer or engineer? I find it best to try to be just one at a time.

2. Flow state - Csikszentmihalyi does a good job of describing this! For me it’s freedom from paralysis by analysis. Doing rather than thinking.

3. Idea management - I don’t generally revisit old unfinished ideas. I assume that I lost momentum because either because the idea wasn’t very good or I don’t have the skills, so move on.

4. Current tools & methods - what seems to work for me is letting the work have its say. What I mean is rather than set out to write a piece in a particular genre or with a particular sound, it seems easier to finish something if I can keep things unconstrained until it seems it’s not asking for anything else. (But I’m not writing for an audience, it’s just for me. When in the past I have recorded other people as paid work I found it relatively easy to focus).

5. DAW feature wish - I think my DAW has a lot of features already eg templates, fx chains, mix scenes, screen layouts for particular jobs. But I never use them

[Drew Stephenson]

1. Flow Killers – What usually breaks your creative flow?
(Plugin hopping? Endless mixing? Perfectionism? Something else?)
2. Flow State – How do you describe "flow" for yourself? What does it feel like when you're really in it?
3. Idea Management – Do you organize or revisit your old sketches, loops, or ideas? If yes, how? If not, do you wish you did?
4. Current Tools & Methods – Have you found any tools, plugins, or workflows that genuinely help you stay focused or reuse past ideas?
5. DAW Feature Wish – If you could add one feature to your DAW to help with focus or creative flow, what would it be?

1. Flow killers - Domestic / external distractions are generally the most common, whether that's to pick up an ad hoc request or just to remember to eat... Like Martin I can have issues getting started, I have a kind of 'fear of a blank DAW' thing going on, but once I've started it's ok.

2. Flow State - I know what the overall plan for the track is, I know what I'm trying to do in the moment and I know what tool to reach for to do it. I generally have my next few moves planned out as well. Towards the end of the project I'll have a simple list to work though.

3. Idea Management - I have my next few EPs planned out in OneNote, some of which may get fleshed out as new songs are written. Song lyrics are generally written on paper initially then transferred to OneNote once they're fairly established. But I also have a OneNote page for random lyric ideas and nice phrases.
Music ideas are recorded as a video and stored in a suitable folder. Things generally get reviewed a couple of months after creation to see if they're still worthwhile; if they're not then they might have bits cannibalised for other projects.

4. Current Tools & Methods - I have templates set up in Reaper for specific instruments and for a complete project. I have a standard channel strip (Gain, Gate, Compression, EQ, Filters) that's controlled by a hardware controller (one of three!) which means I only tend to think about other plug-ins when I have a specific job to do - and in those situations I'll generally know exactly what I'm trying to do and which plugin I'm going to use. I only tend to get into 'auditioning' plugins if I'm looking for creative (rather than corrective) effects.
When I start a project it gets a folder either in the album parent folder or in a one-offs folder (if it's a single). Every time the project gets opened it's saved under a new date (YYYYMMDD) so that it's easy to find the latest version even if I'm coming back to things much later.
Things like artwork and mastering also get their own sub-folders in the project folder.

5. DAW Feature Wish - I am just starting to look at the macro function in Reaper (as I previously though it required coding knowledge) and I suspect that will speed up a few regular tasks for me but for me the thing I would really like is some voice control. That way I could be telling my project to be setting up the software side of things whilst I'm rigging a microphone, tuning an instrument or just running through a new part.

[FlowGuard]

Thanks for all the replies.
Reading through everyone's actual workflows, something becomes clear: you're not missing tools. You're already building systems.

@RichardT uses a folder structure with color tags by status.
@MartinWalker has evolved personal templates.
@DrewStephenson records idea snippets as video outside the DAW and uses OneNote with date-stamped versions and controlled channel strips.
@adrian_k keeps one “hat” on at a time and avoids micro-fixes at the wrong stage. Much of this sits outside the DAW — workarounds for things most DAWs don’t surface across sessions.

What seems missing isn’t another feature; it’s a simple cross-session picture of what actually happened.

RichardT has the system — but do we ever see “this month was 35% EQ while the goal was composition”? MartinWalker’s templates feel faster — but are those sessions measurably faster? DrewStephenson captures video ideas — but is there a pattern to which sketches get revisited vs. abandoned?

That’s what I’m circling. Not another plugin or template. Just a dead-simple way to see the shape of recent sessions.

A few concrete examples of what that data might look like:
• “40% reverb, 20% arrangement, 10% recording, 30% browsing”
• “You returned to this sketch 4 times over 2 weeks”
• “Context switching every ~8 min on finished sessions vs. ~3 min on abandoned ones”

The real question: is that visibility actually useful?
Because reading your responses, you clearly have strong instincts. The gap might not be tools — it might be discipline, permission to stop, or the friction of maintaining systems by hand. I’m genuinely curious whether a simple mirror would change anything, or if good habits already do the job.

[RichardT]

It might be useful to have an analysis of where I’ve spent my time - it could help me prioritise where to improve things. But to be honest I could probably work it out for myself.

[Albatross]

...the thing I would really like is some voice control.

UA's Luna has basic voice control. I'm sure they'll expand and improve it as time goes on... https://www.uaudio.com/products/luna

[Drew Stephenson]

The real question: is that visibility actually useful?

I think it might be actually, because I'm willing to bet I'm not nearly as productive or decisive as I think I am.

...the thing I would really like is some voice control.

UA's Luna has basic voice control. I'm sure they'll expand and improve it as time goes on... https://www.uaudio.com/products/luna

Interesting, will keep an eye on how that develops and whether it spreads.

[Matt Houghton]

I'm late to this party but...

My issues are all rooted in ADHD It makes me sensitive to so many distractions... But I've learned to avoid plug-in hopping, and have devised ways to make me focus on what I need to do to get the job done. Perfectionism remains an issue — the perfect being the enemy of the good, and all that — but I think I have a handle on it.

I prefer to rely on old-school tools and techniques — eg I use a notebook and pen when mixing, because when I want to look at my notes (whether ideas, opinions or a to-do list), that's all there is in the notebook. There's no browser, no files, no pop-up messages etc to distract me. I think there's a lot to be said for that.

Obviously you can't record audio in a notebook like that. But when writing a piece I'll almost always come up with a gazillion other ideas. I think it's important to realise that you'll always have more ideas than you are able to execute in your lifetime, and certainly more than are beneficial to the current project. It's healthy to make a decision to park them so you can focus on finishing the current job.

So you need to find a way of curating them for future access. I've found nothing better than organised folders and bouncing ideas out as stereo, so they can be auditioned in the one place. Yes, I'll save the DAW project with them in too, but as you say, I'm unlikely to open and close whole projects when I'm searching for inspiration in old or underdeveloped ideas. But again, I'll note things down in a pad — you can't record your opinions and ideas for further development in an audio file, unless you add a voice note. Which is viable, but again, putting them in a notepad keeps them all in one place. And the process of writing generally helps you to remember things better than typing and organising files.

In the DAW, it's definitely a good plan to curate your plug-in folder so that you don't face overwhelm and distraction temptation. I've found Reaper helpful for that, as I generally just go to the FX window and type the first few letters of what I want and the list is filtered accordingly. I didn't enjoy the approach used in some other DAWs where you can decide which plug-ins appear in the list, win which subfolders and so forth... For one thing, I don't like nested menus. for another, so many plug-ins don't fall into neat categories. And for another, if I decided that I wanted a certain plug-in that wasn't in my list, finding it became precisely the sort of distraction I'd tried to avoid with these lists in the first place.

As for 'flow', I'm not really sure. I have a tendency to hyperfocus on things, so 'flow' can equally well be a counterproductive thing for me — I can easily end up enjoying the ride only to discover I'm suffering from listening fatigue and most of my judgements for the last hour have been terrible. So the trick for me is to work in lots of shorter bursts, focused on a specific thing, and to understand when my energy levels are dipping, or if I'm hyperfocusing unhealthily on something.

I'm not entirely sure if the above answers your questions, but hopefully you can glean something useful from it!

[RichardT]

Reflecting on what Matt says - I only use a few effects plugins, and I use standard presets with synths (though I usually turn off some or all of the effects), and the same set of virtual instruments for pianos, guitars etc.

So I avoid thinking about which EQ or reverb to use - it's always Kirchhoff and R2. That saves some time and distraction.

After all, in the classical world, the instrument choices are very limited, and wonderful music has been written using them.

[James Perrett]

Like Richard, I stick with just a few familiar general purpose plug-ins which I combine to create the effect that I want. If I'm not getting the sound that I want then it is probably down to my plug-in driving skills rather than the plug-ins themselves.

[OneWorld]

The real question: is that visibility actually useful?

I think it might be actually, because I'm willing to bet I'm not nearly as productive or decisive as I think I am.

...the thing I would really like is some voice control.

UA's Luna has basic voice control. I'm sure they'll expand and improve it as time goes on... https://www.uaudio.com/products/luna

Interesting, will keep an eye on how that develops and whether it spreads.

That's one of my 'Dream Daw' functionalities too. I am sure I read some time ago now that Steinberg were contemplating giving their products a 'voice' so to speak, not heard anything since though.

I did look into the idea of using one of the 'Voice Access' options in Win11 but abandoned the idea. I didn't find anything that suggested a relatively easy set-up

[OneWorld]

Like Richard, I stick with just a few familiar general purpose plug-ins which I combine to create the effect that I want. If I'm not getting the sound that I want then it is probably down to my plug-in driving skills rather than the plug-ins themselves.

I have come to that conclusion too. I use Cubase and the only discernable difference I have found with many 3rd party fx plug-ins is that some look better than others, but sound the same.

Since toying about with my main controller keyboard/synth MOXF, + my MIDI controller is that I have a setup that is so easy to assign controls to the built in options.

I am in the process of setting up templates, I am trying to emulate the situation where I once used HDD recorders, and I've tried them, but in each case missed the flexibility of a DAW. But with customized templates, I have the situation where Cubase fires up and at the point I select from the templates, which include the basic fx/dynamics/eq setup on each track and then I am ready to roll.

Though I do feel Taylor Swift's pain regarding songwriting when she says "I always turn up for work each day, but the ideas don't"

[Martin Walker]

MartinWalker’s templates feel faster — but are those sessions measurably faster?

In my case I'm not relying on templates to merely speed things up, but to ensure my projects remain more versatile. It's so easy to end up relying on 'in the box' vst instruments when you can call them up with a couple of clicks, whereas to use one of my MIDI synths I have to set up a MIDI channel to record note and other data, and a separate audio channel to capture the sounds themselves. I have several standard multi-channel 5-pin DIN MIDI interfaces, and various other MIDI hardware that instead has dedicated USB MIDI connections, so having a template means that every instrument channel is already defined, without me having to remember which MIDI interface and which audio channels are being used.

Previously, on so many occasions when I've had an idea, it ends up being driven by VST Instruments, because they can be so instantly up and running, whereas I know that starting with a hardware instrument will probably result in more interesting real-time performance tweaks using its dedicated knobs and ribbon controllers.

Having a template that already includes MIDI and Audio channels for each and every one of my hardware devices, as well as a clutch of channels with a default software synth already in place, means that as soon as I have an idea I can be up and running in seconds with ANY of my sound sources without getting bogged down in technicalities.

As for plugins, like Richard, I tend to reach for a few well-trusted (and easily remembered) plugins in most projects, but although I've amassed a huge number of plugins over the years, I've also defined a load of categorised sub-folders in Reaper to let me more quickly find others that get used less frequently. I've just totted these up, and I currently have 32 categories in place. Without these, many plugins would rarely get used at all, since many of their names bear little relation to their function e.g. VQA-154, Sosir, CMX...

[Arpangel]

What is this "flow" you talk about? I’m either playing or not, if I’m not playing I’m not recording, I never go back to old ideas, I have two plug-in's that are almost permanently on my screen ReaEQ, and ReaComp, occasionally VintageVerb, I never go hunting for plugs, and when a piece/album is finished it’s deleted from the computer.
Getting distracted is one thing, but talking and writing about it? what? that’s a distraction in itself, and being here is a major distraction.

[RichardT]

What is this "flow" you talk about? I’m either playing or not, if I’m not playing I’m not recording, I never go back to old ideas, I have two plug-in's that are almost permanently on my screen ReaEQ, and ReaComp, occasionally VintageVerb, I never go hunting for plugs, and when a piece/album is finished it’s deleted from the computer.
Getting distracted is one thing, but talking and writing about it? what? that’s a distraction in itself, and being here is a major distraction.

Flow is a special state of concentration where instinctive skill and conscious thinking are working together in harmony in a mind free of distractions.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/flow-state

[Arpangel]

What is this "flow" you talk about? I’m either playing or not, if I’m not playing I’m not recording, I never go back to old ideas, I have two plug-in's that are almost permanently on my screen ReaEQ, and ReaComp, occasionally VintageVerb, I never go hunting for plugs, and when a piece/album is finished it’s deleted from the computer.
Getting distracted is one thing, but talking and writing about it? what? that’s a distraction in itself, and being here is a major distraction.

Flow is a special state of concentration where instinctive skill and conscious thinking are working together in harmony in a mind free of distractions.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/flow-state

Since my life changed "in every way" a few years back, music has been something I have to find time for, it’s not my primary activity, or focus, I have to grab an hour here, an hour there, and I'm always being interrupted.
It hasn’t affected my music in any way, in fact, I think it has made me do more, as I make decisions quicker, there’s no time for bullshit.
It’s all meant to be, if I was in a war zone I’d still make music of some sort, it would just be "music of that time" it would not be any better or worse than anything else I do, it would just be me, then.
I either make music or I don’t, and I really don’t like theorising or talking about it these days, just pointing this out, because honestly, don’t get caught up in it, none of it matters, we should be grateful we are here and we are free, to make music at all.

[Martin Walker]

Flow is a special state of concentration where instinctive skill and conscious thinking are working together in harmony in a mind free of distractions.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/flow-state

Thanks for that link on flow state Richard - a fascinating analysis into something that I do experience when creating music!

I particularly related to its comments about the changes in brain activity providing Focus, Lack of self-consciousness, Enjoyment and Persistence.

[FlowGuard]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies. Really insightful to read such different perspectives and workflows.
I think that gives me a lot to reflect on for now.
I’ll keep following the thread in case new ideas pop up. Always curious to see how others handle this balance between focus and freedom

[BigRedX]

1. Simply running out of inspiration on a particular song. If so I'll either work on another song or do something completely non-musical until inspiration strikes again.

2. No idea. I produce music when I am inspired. If I'm not inspired I'll do something else like read a book.

3. Because I only load up my DAW when I have something in particular to work on, I don't have a massive collection of unfinished ideas on there. Generally a song will be worked on until it is complete, if it doesn't get finished it's because it wasn't sufficiently good enough, and I am unlikely to go back to it in the near future. Having said that I have been generating "new" ideas by revisiting songs that I originally wrote back in the 80s. However this is being done via listening to old recordings and memory.

4. I never load up the DAW until I have most of the song ideas worked out on guitar, bass or synth. Then the DAW is used to create the other parts of the song that I can hear in my head. I have saved presets for my favourite drum sounds but that's it. Everything else is created from scratch according to what I have imagined.

5. Not really. My DAW of choice (Logic) has pretty much done everything I want since version 4 came out in the late 90s. These days I have tried to limit myself to just those plus-ins that come with the current installation of Logic. There's more than enough there for me and I've barely scratched the surface of what I can do with them.

[OneWorld]

" How do you handle DAW distractions and old, buried ideas?"

I have a read of SOS

[Martin Walker]

1. Simply running out of inspiration on a particular song. If so I'll either work on another song or do something completely non-musical until inspiration strikes again.

With that in mind, here's a handy guide to tackling wirter's block written by our very own Drew

https://roughtorelease.blogspot.com/202 ... block.html

[MarkOne]

Deadlines.

I've never been more productive than when doing the Evolution project. It had one simple rule.

Starting from a blank DAW session and an empty lyric sheet to getting the song submitted to my aggregator in one month, and getting 12 songs done in that year.

I learned things like. Don't get sucked into needless editing. Keyboard presets aren't evil. Nobody will ever care if that piano sound is only a stock one from your workstation. Not every vocal take is perfect.

Yes I think some of the songs are a bit rough around the edges, but there are at least half of them I see as my best work ever.