This article helped me.
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“For far too long, it’s been my plan to get the work done, then rest, have friends over for game night, or take time for myself. You name it, I’ve been putting it off until the work is finished.
The work is never done.
There is always something more to finish, someone needing something, or someone who isn’t happy, no matter what you do. Taking time to take care of yourself makes you more productive and better able to care for those you love in the long run. Life is too short not to enjoy it a little!”

(Gif: Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow TV. ISFJ.)
If the distraction is natural because your brain wanders between topics and switches direction quickly, it could be higher Ne; but if this tendency only activates under stress or without direction, it is probably lower Ne.
High Ne operates on a continual basis of seeking potential from the ideas and possibilities in the environment. Ne in conjunction with the judging functions wants to bring these possibilities into reality through action, by leaping on that idea / philosophical thought / concept and reshaping or guiding it. This is why a lot of high Ne users wind up writers; because if you can capture a thought, concept, theory, or idea on paper, it becomes “real” in an abstract way; you can communicate it to others and perhaps even make it non-conceptual, as it manifests through decisive action or shapes public opinion.
The tendency of a high Ne is to explore the idea as long as it holds potential to the Ne user, then put it aside in pursuit of another idea; it will only revisit the earlier concepts and ideas if it finds NEW potential in it or a different angle by which to approach it. (For example: an NP discovers Game of Thrones when it’s the big, new thing. Becomes fascinated for awhile. Reaches the end of the books. Has no further discussion on it. Quits. Then the NP learns MBTI theory. Suddenly, there’s a NEW way to look at GOT. It revisits it! Discusses it! Theorizes on it! And when it gets to the end of that interest / figures out all the characters’ types… it finds a new obsession and moves on.) When there is no new angle / no growth on an old interest, the NP may not revisit it. It’s dead.
Lower Ne does not operate this way; it sees possibilities and potentials either as a method of daydreaming / problem solving or as a formula to achieve S ends (what purpose does this theory serve and how can I apply it to real life?). Higher N’s are interested in the theories for their own sake, and real life application is secondary; it is the reverse in higher S’s.
Since you seem to suggest this distraction / abandonment of focus happens under stress, I imagine this is Ne in an inferior position. ISXJs often report a loss of focus / distraction from their usual comfort level with details / feeling lost and/or overwhelmed under stress, due to inferior Ne “taking over.” Your best coping mechanism is to take a deep breath, calm down, and try to activate your first two functions. Reconnect with Si. How realistic are these distractions or fears? Which one is the BEST idea? Which one has the most potential, both now and in the long term? Pick one and pursue it. Get into the details of it. Use your aux/tert functions to figure out how you can make it real.
You could also put some time into studying how higher Ne operates, in order to better understand the potential of your own Ne (it will never be as good, but you can learn to focus it in more specific directions and use it in innovation) so that you can recognize when you are falling into Ne grips and take control over them. (Admittance is half the problem solved.)
- ENFP Mod