It doesn't sound like you have a problem with your technique (apart from you know you should be prioritising study over music at the moment).
If a good proportion of your 8 to 10 tracks you're working on get finished, then you haven't got the problem I had.

I've got a hard disk full of ableton sessions of half-started tracks that I know I will never go back to. I enjoyed those sessions right up until the point where the vibe had been being established but previously I'd then move on as I didn't want to put in the effort to finish it.

The point of the exercise for me is by forcing myself through the arrangement side, I'm practicing those techniques that hopefully mean I don't see that part of it in the future as a "significant effort" or "the bit that's a chore".

I kicked that last one out from start to finish in about 3 hours.
It doesn't have high production value or any nuances in terms of the musicality, but it does have a workable structure and like with the previous tracks I've done using the same methodology, I've improved my arrangement skills.

 

May I ask in what Daw you make music, and how do you usually start a project?

 

I agree 100% on your 100 tracks pledge.
I did the same...as many as possible at least 3 a week...just keep moving.
now I'm doing the basic tracks ..16 or 32 bar. stop..next track the I cycle back through the tracks to work on them. like bonsai.
I still get between 1 and 3 tracks a week. now I'm trying to slow down and go more into detail.

 

DAW is Ableton. My workflow has changed significantly since I started this exercise. I don't spend a lot of time with drums. I typically will start with a drum loop just to have something to start riffing against. Once I have a few decent melodies working together and I've worked out the genre of the track, then I will replace the drums with something more suitable and get the bass working in conjunction. Then I move into arrangement. Only when I have completed the arrangement, do I then start worrying about whether it needs vocals adding. On all of the tracks I've posted, the vocals were an afterthought but they don't sound "finished" without any.

 

The hardest thing I'm finding is the beginning of the track where I'm deliberately trying to make it sound a different sound to the previous. Whether I will be able to keep doing that is another matter.

 

filters and other effects can help when the basic arrangement falls into place.