As a mom, I’m constantly after my kids to do something. Do their homework. Put away their laundry. Clean their room. Something.
My kids are like Dory. They get started on a task and quickly forget what they were supposed to be doing. Whether it’s something shiny, or something more interesting, they’re off to the next thing within five minutes of every task.
I’m starting to realize I’m the same way at times!
My problem is I don’t have anyone to tell me to get back on track.
Today is a perfect example. I got up this morning, knowing I needed to write this post. I went through my email because I didn’t read every one yesterday. That took longer than I expected because I had to jump to Facebook a few times and answer emails and look things up online and…
Yeah, I couldn’t even get through email.
Then I remembered I wanted to publish this post today, so I jumped over here. Except nothing is ever that easy.
Getting focused is something we all struggle with at times. At any given time, I’d be willing to bet you have at least five things you’re doing – either actively doing or thinking about. For me, right now, I’m thinking about what I need to do today, writing this post, wondering how long I can hold out until I need breakfast, and considering asking my son to turn down his iPad (it’s a snow day today), not to mention stressing over the fact that I won’t get a full day of work in because of that snow day.
Oh, and add in that I can’t make up the time over the weekend because hubby is probably working all weekend, and I’m a mess.
FOCUS!
I need some of it.
One of the things I’ve found most effective is setting a timer. If I have a task, you know like writing a book, that is going to take me a long time, I set a timer and refuse to let myself worry about anything else until the timer goes off. Then I get a good stretch of work done and don’t get distracted.
After the timer goes off, I can do all those other little things for 5-10 minutes, then jump back into work.
I also do things like turning my email off and flipping my phone over so I don’t see every notification, but the timer works the best for me.
What really bugs me is that I have to do it at all. I wish I could just sit down and do exactly what I need to do. I doubt I’m alone on that one.
How do you focus when your attention is pulled in different directions?
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