One of my biggest downfalls is that I tend to get distracted. I have lots of tasks in my head all floating around and waiting for me to do them. Often I write a big list of all the tasks and that helps get them out of my head – sort of – but I still find myself thinking of the other things I could be or need to be doing when I am trying to focus on writing.
I also find that I’m easily distracted by other things around me. Sometimes it is the ironing pile that I can see on the other side of the room, and sometimes it is the other tabs open on my computer screen or the little numbers popping up in the top of my Chrome browser telling me that there is a new message in my Inbox.
Quick Tip for Staying on Track
One way that I combat all these distractions is to set an alarm on my phone for every half hour.
I’ve actually just done that. This is my home day when I try to get lots of writing done so I have dropped my cherubs at school and I’m home again. I’ve looked at the clock – 9:05am – and I’ve picked up my phone. The alarms on my iPhone are super easy to set and I can set multiple alarms at once. Right now I have alarms set for every half hour – 9:30am, 10am, 10:30am, 11am, 11:30am, 12pm, 12:30pm, 1pm, 1:30pm, and 2pm. Around 2pm I will need to do some chores and then a school pick up so I won’t be writing then. In truth, I may not be writing through all the other alarms either, but I find having them set and dinging every half hour encourages me to think about what I am doing and how long I have been doing it for. I may switch later on to stitching my next Rainbow Cross Stitch block, or spend half an hour working on the quilting of a hanging I’m making from the Craftsy BOM blocks from last year, but I probably only want to spend half an hour on either of those tasks so the alarm will remind me to switch tasks again.
The other bonus of the alarm going off is that I have to get up from my chair. I have my phone plugged into speakers over there near the telly so when the alarms go off, I have to get up to stop the dinging. This is good for me. Otherwise, I can tend to sit all day at the computer and not move much – bad for my body!
Your Turn
How do you stay focussed on tasks during your day and avoid the distractions?
