Focus

How do you manage what's on your plate when you feel life pulling you in lots of different directions?  Take this post for instance.  I'm trying to write a bit about focusing and my phone is blowing up, Poesy is showing me things, and I keep glancing at my to-do list for the day.  In a busy life, how do we make our brains stop skipping from one thing to the next to the next?  Here are some things that help me stop and really pour myself into what I'm doing:

1. Make that list, but don't let that list rule you.  To-do lists are great right?  They help us remember all the things we need to accomplish on any given day, week, or month.  Lists are totally helpful, they really are...  until they rule you.  Sometimes I get so obsessed with accomplishing everything on my list, that I feel overwhelmed and can't properly focus on what I'm doing.  My brain is skipping to the next thing I need to be doing and then jumping to what's coming after that.  This goes hand-in-hand with my next suggestion...

2. One thing at a time, kid.  Yeah.  We have a ton of stuff to do in life, right?  Go here, do this, see them, pick up that... instead of constantly looking ahead, grab one thing off of your list and don't think about the rest.  Block that junk out.  You'll get to what's important, trust me.  It will be there waiting for you.  Tackle one thing at a time.  This really helps me with that "overwhelmed by the to-do list" thing I was just talking about.

3. Prioritize.  I think this can go one of two ways, depending on your personality type.  For me, putting the things I'm not that excited about at the top of my priority list ensures that my procrastinating self can't spend the last half of my day bouncing around all the things I'm not that into, and basically accomplishing nothing.  I'm always more gung-ho and geared up in the first half of the work day, and I know this about myself, so I zap through the more taxing tasks while I have my brain all pumped up to do so.

If you aren't a procrastinator, you might find the opposite to be true.  I have friends who do the more pleasurable tasks first, and find that those things help motivate them to tackle the harder jobs later.

 4. Eliminate distractions.   This one seems like a no-brainer, right?  Turn off the phone, Katie.  Close the To-Do list for the time being, Katie.  Those emails will be there when you come back for them, Katie.  For some reason, this is the easiest solution and the one I forget the most.  "Oh!  I need to answer so-and-so's email.  Oh!  I have two songs to learn for band practice tonight!  Crap!  I was supposed to finish that diy project this week!"  My brain is constantly skipping from one thing I need to do to the next.  Instead of answering that text in the middle of that business email, turn off the phone (or whatever) so you can actually pay attention to that ONE task you're actually trying to do.

5. Remind yourself that there's no such thing as absolute balance.  I think a big reason I can have a hard time focusing on what I'm doing is because of self-applied pressure to balance family, work, hobbies, friends, etc.  Most of us can find SOME type of balance for most of this, but I don't believe there's a perfect balance to be achieved.  Even if I get myself in a specific routine, life happens.  Extra things pop up.  Friends call on a whim to hang out.  My kids need extra attention one day.  Let the pressure of "finding balance" go and just do what you can!  Life is not supposed to be a well-oiled machine.  It's random and messy and full of surprises.  That's usually when the best things happen, anyway!

Anyway, these are some things that have helped me really focus lately.  Of course, I often need reminded of these points, but I've been trying hard to be very present in whatever I'm doing.

What are some things you do to help you focus when you feel scattered or overwhelmed?  Let's talk about it!  xo.

**Sandals from Bali ELF.