Focus – Still Distracted but Moving Forward Anyway
So here we are, four days into February. Time to check in on my One Word goals and move forward into the next part of the plan. This year I’m working on Focus.
For January, I decided (with a little help from Steve over at Do Something Cool) to focus on removing distractions rather than getting more focused on one particular thing.
First the bad news: I finally settled on how to approach my January goal about halfway through the month. That didn’t exactly set me up for great success, did it? Two weeks to accomplish the monumental goal of removing the piles and projects that distract us from our home? Oh, and right after I got going on that an felt like I had some momentum going…the perfect storm of deadlines set in and I found myself missing out on my fifteen minutes a day plan on more than a few days. So are all of my piles of distraction gone? No.
But stick with me. There’s good news, too.
The good news is that while I did not spend fifteen minutes every day working on this goal, I did spend that time most days. Some days I made up for it with extra time; others I did not. While my goal of removing all of the piles of distraction from our home by the end of January did not happen, I did make significant progress. And the areas that were de-cluttered have remained so. I’d say that’s pretty decent progress.
In addition to getting the physical environment straightened up and more organized, I can already feel the benefits of this on my mental state – and perhaps the rest of the family, too. I am keeping track of things better. I am making plans for other projects and the steps are unfolding nicely. As I suspected, taking care of the physical clutter is going to have a huge benefit for all of us mentally and psychologically. It already is.
What’s the next step?
Well, since the piles of distraction are not gone, I need to keep working at that part of the Focus plan. But the truth is that distractions will always exist in life, whether literally or figuratively. And so the lesson to take away here is that I can’t expect to eliminate distraction and then just hope it will stay away from me. It won’t. I have to learn how to keep distraction under control and manage it as it comes.
I’m also going to add the next step to my plan to increase Focus. I am going to add the goal of focusing more on routine. All three of us need routine in our lives – but a clearly defined routine that works to keep us on track, not a routine that holds us back. We have a pretty predictable routine right now, but it’s not working. It’s too reactionary – we respond to the world around us and we do it in pretty much the same way over and over again. It’s not the best way for any of us. It’s getting us nowhere fast. And so we need to think about the routine that will make the most sense for each of us and for all of us as a family unit. This is going to include making decisions about who does what jobs around the house and defining specific times for things like getting up in the morning, doing homework or chores, and having time to relax. All of it gets done – eventually – but it’s often in a haphazard “oh-wow-I-totally-forgot-to-do-that” way.
So that’s the next part of the plan. For February I will continue to work on removing distractions and begin to work on clearly defining positive routines. These steps should lead to an overall state of improved Focus. Eventually. I’m OK with the baby steps.
How are your One Word goals coming along? Or your New Year’s resolutions? What have been your successes and challenges? Share it in the comments, friends – that’s where the best stuff happens!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love this? Share the love and tell someone!
25 Comments
Comments are closed.
I haven’t done my 15 minutes every day either, but great progess has been made. I’m much happier with my home. More relaxed. It’s wonderful. You are doing a great job. Slow and steady is the way to go. Just ask the tortoise. 🙂
Glad to know others fall off the wagon a bit, too! Life just gets in the way. But I find it much easier to get back on track the next day when it’s “only fifteen minutes” because it doesn’t feel overwhelming. I like the tortoise analogy – I’m so much more like the hare, impulsively sprinting off without thinking about how things might work in the long run.
What a great word! I love the idea of spending 15 minutes every day to work on your goal–I may have to borrow that idea. It would fit nicely with my word of “action.” Routine is a great one to add. I need to work on routines as well. Your baby steps comment at the end makes me think of the Flylady and how she approaches adding routines.
Thanks, Jean. It’s my word because it needs to be! And please, borrow away – I swear it really does work. I have to come over and read at your blog – I absolutely LOVE the title! So me. Have to go look up the Flylady, though – no idea what that is!
Routines are good. They are definitely my friends. So long as they are intentionally set to create a positive result, they are wonderful! Good for you for using tools that you know will work for you.
I am going to take a page from your playbook. I keep thinking that I’d rather do my strength training exercises (10 minutes a day) when I get home from work. I tried this for a while and sure enough something kept getting in the way. The only time this exercise plan has ever worked for me is when I do it as soon as I get up. I’m going back to that. Thanks for the inspiration.
Well I’m going to jump in the game with you on this one, Tammy. I am so bad at exercising. I fall easily and desperately into the “no time” category. I even have DVDs (which I actually really enjoy) that only take fifteen minutes to do but after work and school, even fifteen minutes is difficult. I hate getting up extra early to do this, but I’m starting to believe that no matter how well I plan, that is never happening in the evening – too much going on. So up early it is. We can check on each other!
Remember, it is not about perfection. Change is a habit and it takes time.
That’s the theory I’m working with. And today my kids started reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography. If ever there was a guy who believed the process of change an self-improvement was more important than the journey, it’s Franklin. So appropriate for today!
Ack, good for you. Mine has utterly fallen by the wayside. I need to pick it up again.
What, your focus? Your OneWord? Your magic wand? 😀
Good thoughts. I think your thoughts on routine are expecially right-on. You don’t want a routine that holds you back, but you don’t want a reactionary one either. Good luck with that.
I’m laughing because I can’t tell in print if that’s like “good luck go you” or “good luck aint’ gonna happen.” I’m going with the first one. 🙂 And thanks – I hope my thoughts are right on this. I’m learning more and more every day about what’s working and what’s not. Seems like all we do here is respond to the outside world and most often it’s an “oh crap” kind of response. That’s gotta stop.
Hang in there and it will get easier. Once you get all clutter organized you will feel so free. I did it this year and it made me so happy! Good luck.
It’s definitely helping already!
My word? Huh? Resolutions? Totally forgot…well, not really. I guess I’ve been ignoring my self-improvement plan a bit. Time to get back on the wagon. Thanks for the reminder.
I have to remind myself every day, Heather. Really. And you’re welcome. 🙂
I believe that if the places you de-cluttered remain that way, you have made huge strides. Baby steps.
I agree. Now, what to do about the places that refuse to remain de-cluttered…sigh.
Progress, not perfection, right? I think you’re doing a fantastic job and I need desperately to climb on that wagon with you! Hang in there and keep up the great work!
Come on up, there’s plenty of room! And the support club method works really well – keeping each other motivated (and honest) is a good thing.
[…] my last post on focus, I mentioned one of our biggest problems – reacting to the world around us rather than being […]
I’m finding your progress quite fascinating. You’re probably right that eliminating distractions won’t work. After all, I’m one click away from watching cat videos on Youtube right now. That’s how easy distractions can be. They’re literally a click away for me. Lately I’ve been using Leechblock on my Firefox browser to block certain unproductive sites, but there are still ways to get around it.
I think you can eliminate distractions up to a certain point, but eventually you have to gain some control over them. You can limit them, but not get rid of them 100%. So at what point does willpower need to take over? And how do we build that? I’m going to keep thinking about this.
I think about this all the time, Steve. It is an ongoing process. Like you said, it’s really not possible to completely eliminate distraction – it will always exist. And especially for those of us with things like ADHD, it’s extremely challenging. My first steps are to get rid of the excess distractions like the long overdue garage cleanout, the neglected pile of paperwork and filing, etc. Once that layer is addressed, we can work to manage the rest as it comes. I think control is a tough word – it suggests a “win” and I don’t know if it’s the right mindset, really. But I like manage. Willpower is a big part of it. How to build that? Good question…I’ll have to think on it too.
My one-word mantra this year was Reach. Not sure that I’m doing it every day, but I have been reaching a little more than I had been. Sigh. Life.
Yes, well, I’m not focused yet, either. It’s a process. Baby steps!