How do you deal with the distraction of other story ideas while working on your current project?

I'd say that most of the time the people are working on multiple projects at the same time, it's very rare that you are doing a single thing. There actually aren't so many people who devote to a project to many years, if I look around anywhere I see many people dropping the project very soon after they've started and many drop it in the middle.

Personally I've been concentrating on my comic ever since last summer, of course you manage to do other illustrations and kinda still live a life of a decent human being lol but right now I'm planning to set it aside for a bit, seperate it from my usual working-flow. Prob sketch the chapter out one day and the other make more illustrations as my other creative work has dropped to bare minimum ever since I started my first webtoon.

I read a story that multi-tasking is not great for your health for a long time. I'd say that you really put a big burden on yourself which can completely devastate you so having bigger or smaller breaks inbetween all your activity is completely necessary so you don't go insane.

I give myself up to the urge and then leave it to my future self to deal with it

I write novels so it's not exactly as taxing compared to creating comics. However, most of the ideas I come up with, aside from my main, are oneshots or short stories. That way, they don't really impede my progress in my main novel. Not as much as schoolworks do, at least.

Great timing, I was just thinking about another story idea that I want to draw, and deciding priorities between this one and four others ideas that I already have waiting

The way I deal with this is that I write down the basic idea to not forget it, but let it sit there in the corner of my mind. I think about it when doing other tasks, let it slowly grow, add more details and so on. But I don't start drawing it unless I clear out my other tasks for a week.
And as my to-do list is always very challenging, I end up only drawing my main project. However, this way I already have a nice solid base for next projects in my head.

Back when I had two ongoing projects (6,75 which is still ongoing and TMIC which I dropped), I just focused on 6,75 and did a little bit of TMIC daily to keep up with update schedule. However, it was only possible because TMIC was a gag-a-day comic, with a very simple artstyle. If I were to draw two story-driven series at once, I'd probably try to draw a little bit of both daily (30-60 minutes a day maybe for one), and then decide an update schedule based on how it's going.

I take notes, draw sketches and work on outlines for my other ideas, but avoid jumping into the full thing. I tried working on multiple projects at once, but it never worked: I'd either up working on just one thing and scrapping the other or ended up scrapping both to do something else entirely so nowadays I just tend to focus my energy on the "big" project and just work on other things whenever I have some free time/inspiration/whatever.

It really depends on your goal!

If you’re trying to go commercial and build and audience/make money it’s worth assessing the ideas side by side and even getting feedback from others on which concept excites them more. (Depending on how far along you are with the original idea… you don’t want to become a chronic non-completer…) If you’re early in your career it’s probably more important to build up your completed work portfolio and build reader trust by completing something, especially if you’ve already started posting it.

If you’re writing/drawing for fun then you can kind of do whatever you want that’ll be most enjoyable for you! If you’re super excited about the new idea then go for it!

In terms of strategies to avoid the distraction of new ideas… I absolutely write them down as others said. I’ll even allow myself to think about them, add additional notes, brainstorm. It’ll make it easier to choose my next project once I finished the current one. Sometimes in order to maintain my excitement about the in progress project compared to the new ideas I need to jump to a different scene or make something drastic happen that I wasn’t necessarily planning.

I obsessively daydream and lie to myself that one day I'll give these stories the attention they deserve.

The fact they all take place in the same universe eases the pain a little. That way I can still have the characters around somewhere.

Doesn't that make things actually harder? : D at least, it does for me, as all of my stories, even if in different universes, are in some way connected. They all make sense on their own without knowing other stories, but there's an additional part of planning which is 'which story should I go for first so it creates a better experience if someone wanted to read them all' cx

I'm currently transitioning out of one story into another by the end of this year hopefully. My best advice is to ride the thought wave. Everyone is a little different but I find if I just get the obsessive thoughts out on paper for that one part of the new story I keep going over I can put it down for a bit. Shiny and new projects are always gonna be distracting but they're not even close to being ready yet, ya know? So I get the ideas out, feed that shiny and new part of my brain and then remind yourself it's not even close to being a workable project yet.

I don´t see them as distractions.
It´s just new ideas, I have new ideas all the time and at some point I use
the ideas. I wrote a song at the age of 36 and I had the original idea for
the song when I was a teenager. The same with stories, characters etc,
some ideas are really old and I pull them out when I need them.
When you create a lot you will have a lot of ideas, it´s a multiplicator for
ideas. It would suck when you don´t have ideas

I usually give in to the urge, because it won't go away even if I try to focus on my current project. Sometimes, I need time away from my comic because I get bored with it and start losing the motivation to continue working on it. But I'm not so far in other projects that I'm doing time consuming thing like making pages. I just do backend stuff like character artwork and working on outlines and scripts.

If the idea is a good idea, it usually either comes back to me or stays around nagging me to get it down on paper. If the idea lingers, I sit and focus until it's done. This usually works best for single plot web novels. For serials and other novel styles, I write until I hit the wall before going to the next project. It's been the only way I've been able to make progress on my WIPs

I work on 2 main projects at the same time. One is really dark and the other is fluffy.
The dark project can usually fit any type of new idea.
It will be a long project like really long so I made it possible to fit any new idea with the power of plot armor.
As for my first novel it has a clear end.
It has korean influence so it will end in around 200 chapters or so.
Basically a 100 chapter webtoon in length give or take.

I focus on the first novel by reading romance stories and comedy.
To get in the mood for the second story all I need is music. Darks or an anime with gore (won't have gore but it has plenty of violence). Already mapped out prequel story for second story plus started mapping a sequel.

If I had to say my first story is harder to map since it has a clear ending. I had an idea but each day I am slowly changing the end result.

I am essentially working on 5 stories at once but 4 of them are from the same universe.
Already have the covers designed just need my artist to finish some other things first.
I also need 2 more covers for my first novel.
(The last cover is for a book version with extras I will release on amazon.)

I also finished designing multiple characters for different stories. Still designing more just waiting for inspiration.

Even though I only have 2 main projects they all connect in a sense so I am making merch plus social medias.

All I can say is if you enjoy it, it doesn't feel like work. If you are organized ideas don't get mixed up. I only focus on 1 story when I really need to advance the story by a lot. I will probably focus the next 6 months on my first novel instead of multi tasking as I am now. But once I finish I will re read my other novels to continue.

I kick down the other ideas to the bottom of my interest, of course I took the time to write them down a bit and keep them in a google doc or keep a few sketches in a tiny journal, as if to don't get too invested on it.

Since I don't get paid for my own personal ideas, I don't have much of a motivator to get distracted.

Do you still get satisfaction/enjoyment out of doing the things that are commission rather than your own ideas?

Yep, because

1. I can take care of my health
2. I can collaborate on the expenses of the apartment with my partner
3. I can buy nice things for myself or my pets
4. I can pay my roof and continue being an independent adult

Of course, I do draw things for myself, mostly on the weekends be it fanart or original artwork. The commissions, including the webcomics I draw for are things that I enjoy at it's very root: Drawing and without having to burn my brain thinking too much.
I'm not a very picky person nor someone who wants too much in life, so for as long I can have a comfortable life doing what I like, that's enough for me. I know, a lot of people would and had already told me.

"If I were to have your talent I would be making my own stuff! I'll be doing things with genuine love!"

I already spent most of my childhood and teenage years making personal content enough to be satisfied, so switching to something that allows me to live freely is more than enough.

Personally, the world is not gonna be so thrilled over what ideas come from my mind, I'm not desperate to tell stories, nor I think they are important enough to put time into them, an 1 hour drawing is enough for me. I put lots of love on everything I do.

Who’s to say the one I’m currently working on isn’t the distraction?

Here's my solution:

I have PLENTY of ideas and would love to go all out but I have to be aware of my time at home/work/hang-outs/life etc... So, I prioritize ONLY ONE!!!! Which is "Lyza's Sandstorm".

Sometimes, I throw in sketches here and there for other ideas and sometimes posting them on FB/Insta... whatever but I can be disciplined enough to just work on ONE project. It's best to have that one project done well vs. having multiple projects and some can be subpar. Now, if you still wanna do more than one, it's best is have minimum 2 at a time.

One project has the MOST focus on and the other can still have focus but given it more time to work on. Also, you have your personal life to deal with... keep that into consideration. Life, itself, can distract you even if beyond your control.

That's my tip... and try not killing yourself... your health needs priority as well.

for me its just time management
I spend a certain amount of hours on my current project,
and a few hours writing my side project
I don't consider it a distraction if I'm enjoying myself and i plan to get my side comic done eventually though I'm sure its different for everyone.