SISTER WISDOM

Focus is key in getting things done. Be diligent at what you’re good at and see what happens. Let other things go, unimportant things.
Distraction is the enemy of focus. Planning becomes procrastination and procrastination is the enemy of action.
What distracts us?

Distraction #1: Prep Work

Before I can write or exercise or go here or fix that, I need to… get my gear, do my research, find my tools, what-have-you.
Solution: set aside a designated prep time. Take 5 minutes and list what needs to be done to get ready, then do it as quickly as possible. Set a time limit and don’t go over it.
And, once you’re prepared, note what that looks like and change your habits a bit so you now keep all your gear in one accessible place.

Distraction #2: Opportunities

We love opportunity in America. It feels anti-American to hear opportunity knocking and not answer the door. I am telling you right now it’s okay. Lock the door. Deadbolt it, turn off the lights, and hide under the kitchen table so Opportunity thinks you’re not home.
We’re blessed because we live in a world where anything is possible. With endless possibility though is endless distraction. If you don’t focus on a few possibilities, then none of them will become reality.
Solution: Make a list (big) of your top goals, your priorities, your Absolute Yes list. Tape it up. Compare every single opportunity to it, and only consider the ones that get you closer to your goals.

Distraction #3: Details

Details matter, but there’s a time to focus on them and a time to pretend they don’t exist. As a writer, I can easily slip into detail-edit mode while I’m writing. I break my flow, my concentration, by nitpicking over a word choice. I have to make myself focus on the writing and ignore the “detail” monitor in my head. Once I get a piece written, it’s time to go to edit mode.
If you’re organizing your house, teaching your kids, or writing a book, you deal with the same tendency. You have to fight that perfectionist tendency (need matching containers and a labeler, need new crayons and stickers and better curriculum) in order to get the job done.
Solution: Break projects and steps toward your goal into two parts: 1) get it done and 2) fix the details. Set a time limit to complete the first part: get it done. Then, if you have time left over and you still really want to, you can go back and fix the details. Often I find that my attention to detail was really just a way of procrastinating. I might be overwhelmed or tired, and I’m looking for a way to avoid the work altogether. Quit letting yourself make excuses, set a short time limit, focus, and do all you can. Then quit!

Distraction #4: Side Issues

Rabbit trails tend to lead us on interesting journeys but at the end, we end up lost. “Where am I? Why am I here? What am I doing?” You know that dazed feeling? It comes from this common problem: letting a related side issue pull you so far off course you can’t remember where you started.
I’m sweeping the kitchen when I find a toy on the floor, so I leave the broom and take it to the toy box, when I notice the toys are all mixed in a jumble and I’ve been meaning to sort them so I start sorting them, find a pencil, leave the toys to go put the pencil away, notice the dining room table looks awful, get out a new tablecloth, start looking for candles for the centerpiece, wander out, trip over the broom and wonder what it’s doing there.
Ehhhh. Nobody wants a day like that, but we let it happen to ourselves all the time.
Solution: Keep a notebook handy, or a list on the fridge; keep a small basket handy too. When you’re working, drop the random out-of-place stuff in the basket. Jot notes on the notepad to remind you of stuff to do later. Deal with it later, after you’ve finished your current task.

Another solution: Get in the habit of checking off each task as you complete it. This means you’ll want to write it down first, of course, and if you’re not already using a planner or list of some sort, you should because it will take a load off your brain. Finish a task, check it off. This reminds you to stick to it, gives you that little high from getting to mark it done, and shows you what’s next on the list. It’s a win-win-er…win situation.
Online solution: Since the Internet is basically just email with 10 trillion side issues attached, a click away, this is a big problem for, well, anyone who checks email. A few ideas for solving this:

• use a reader for your blog subscriptions (thus yr not distracted by the cute sidebar ads and buttons)
• use an email client which downloads your emails into a desktop interface
• keep a note of ‘want to check out later’ either on yr computer, in an email draft, or on a real piece of paper. have some designated ‘computer free time’ to check that stuff out later.
• have ‘focused computer time’ and free computer time. and OFF-SCREEN time. Too. Lots of it.
• employ the 5-second rule. you click, you’re at a new site, you’ve got 5 seconds. Is it worth your time or not? There’s so much good stuff that you don’t need to waste time on the mediocre. If it’s not great, let it go. Close the tab. If it is great, add it to your reader, book mark it, put it on your list.

The end.

Freedom from distraction is freedom to focus.

Freedom to focus is freedom to accomplish.

All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. (1 Corinthians 10.23)

This post is part of Steady Mom’s 30-Minute Blogging Challenge.