It’s honestly a challenge for me. I’ve also tried the extreme route of avoiding new things, but life becomes incredibly dull and an intense mental restlessness takes over… It then becomes hard to really get into anything and mutes the joy I feel across the board. I now welcome new fixations but do my best to keep my wallet uninvolved for as long as possible (super hard 😅). If I try too hard to curve the time and energy investment I put into something new, it ultimately disconnects me from the joy I feel exploring it at all. I’ve learned to accept that there will be many things that I’ll love for a moment and eventually lose interest in. It doesn’t always feel great 🥲; I’ll make connections with people and enjoy my time with them surrounding a certain interest, but I’ll become emotionally disconnected after the fixation ends. I try to set the expectation for people early on that I’ll most likely just be a visitor in their lives.

As far as fitting fixations into my routine- I almost always have a list of tasks/goals I want to complete for a day. Once my tasks are done, I’ll allow my brain to enjoy itself over whatever it wants. I think having organization methods helps. I use Obsidian to organize so many of my thoughts, interests, errands, lists, etc. I use a daily note to keep me on track; Once all my items are checked off, or at least slotted into a time, I don’t have to worry about how much time I allow for an interest.