I am an inherent procrastinator, get easily distracted and crave variety. Yet, I am very productive and very good at meeting deadlines, regardless of my natural tendency to daydream about next year instead of focusing on something that is due in two days.
Although it’s not comfortable airing my faults online, I feel that this is worth sharing because I want to show others with similar struggles that they can be distractible and get things done.
But maybe you’re not like me. Maybe you are just temporarily distracted because you have something extremely difficult going on in your personal life, like divorce or the passing of a loved one. Or maybe you are going through or anticipating something lovely, like a new relationship or an upcoming move you are incredibly excited about, either of which could take your mind off the work tasks at hand.
In both cases, I feel that it’s better to work with your difficulties rather than against them. After all, it’s difficult to change your natural way of being overnight and it’s definitely hard to stop being upset or excited about major events in your life.
But here are a few things you could try.
Schedule around your ability to focus.
Figure out a session length that is doable for you. For example, if you know that you can only work for 30, 60 or 90 minutes before your thoughts start drifting into next week’s meal plan or how you will be a full time writer in your late 50s (not me, of course), then build this into your weekly schedule.
Break down your work into these time increments and then allow for quick breaks in-between. The breaks could be used to stretch, make a cup of coffee, give someone a quick call or read an article you’ve saved for later. Use this time to give your mind some variety and a break from the work. Then, start on the next increment. And pretty soon, you’ll see that you are actually getting through that to-do list.
Another thing to be mindful of is the time of day or the days in the week when you are more focused. Monday mornings and Friday afternoons are likely not the best time to book work that requires a high level of concentration.
You know how it is – no matter how well you’ve planned out the week ahead, Monday morning you is not hitting the ground running as well as Friday afternoon you planned. People want to tell you about their weekend, your boss has had a light bulb moment on Sunday night that they want you to start on right away, or you’re still recovering from a big weekend and not really feeling productive until noon.
And by Friday afternoon, you may be exhausted and can only bring yourself to do easy and quick tasks, that take no longer than 10 minutes to do.
If this sounds like you, try to load up Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with as much of your important work as possible. Then, if smaller bits occasionally spill into Monday and Friday (or, heaven forbid, the weekend), then it won’t be as much of a tragedy.
Spread your creative or deep work over several days or weeks.
Producing something innovative or of a high quality requires focus and time. By time, I don’t mean the amount of time required to produce it, but more the fact that such work is best done in layers.
Luckily, working in layers is very good for people who get easily distracted. The catch is to schedule the layers over several days or weeks, depending on the nature of the work and the time you have available.
I find that it’s best to work in three layers, if possible. This can involve going from macro to micro layers, which involves mapping things out at a high level and then fleshing them out over two more sessions. Another way is to work through rough draft, revised draft and final versions.
Again, make sure that multiple layers are not happening on the same day. Trust me, you will see an improvement in the quality of the work you produce, if you’re not rushing it and if you give yourself the opportunity to let the ideas simmer in your mind overnight.
This approach also allows you to invite others into the process, giving them enough time to consider your drafts and for you to action their feedback.
Welcome moments of high focus when they come along.
You will have days when you are so into a task that stopping would kill your flow. This is a good problem to have.
Unless you feel that continuing would cause burnout, which means that you’ll be reluctant to pick it up again the next day, see if you can shuffle around what you have on for the rest of the day so that you can take advantage of this moment of clarity, focus and inspiration.
This is especially true for creative work.
I have had days where I’ve blocked out my morning to do non-creative work and then totally felt the need to work on a writing project. Because the inspiration for creative writing is unpredictable, I usually just lean into it and then stay up late until the other work is done as well. And it doesn’t bother me, because it was my choice to do so.
Also, I know that it would be hard for me to ignore my urge to write and focus on something else. It’s much better to flip the two in my schedule, even if I get a bit less sleep that night.
Stay in touch with your motivation.
I find that it’s much easier to stick with a task if I am highly motivated to do so. This could be something internal, such as how much I enjoy the task or how well it fits with my overall career goals. It could also be something external, like meeting a deadline or responding to someone’s urgent request.
Focusing is much easier if you have a clear timeline and understand why you’re doing the task, especially if it’s work you enjoy. So, try to understand what drives you and then, as much as possible, fill your days with such work.
In some cases, this may eventually result in a career change. And why not?
Thanks for taking the time to read the post.