I get really excited about setting a new goal or priority in life and will be really good at focusing on it for about...3 days. And then by day 4 I start thinking "wow I'm doing such a good job with my new goal I'm going to try to do this too" and so I do that for another day or two. And then I realize I'm not doing goal 1 at all anymore and I'm only sort of doing goal 2. So then I do nothing.
Last week I started off quite strong with my goal of becoming an Early Riser. I was doing such a good job that I started thinking "Maybe I'll start eating better...?" And well, needless to say by Saturday I was not getting up early or eating that great.
*sigh*
Lucky for me my new favorite site wrote an article yesterday about "The Magical Power of Focus" and I feel I'm equipped to start this week off right. This week marks the start of one of my stated important goals - taking my GMAT class. So using some of the tips from Leo here is how I will focus this week on this one goal:
- Focusing on the Task at Hand: Just because my GMAT class starts this week doesn't mean I'll suddenly have less to do at work and in my regular life. The old me would definitely be distracted during this class thinking about all the stuff I need to do at work tomorrow. So I'm going to try to clear my brain totally of outside commitments during the 2 hours I'm at class. I can't work on work while I'm there so there is no point in thinking about it.
- Be Positive: Approaching this class with the mindset that "I'm going to rock this" is much better than coming in nervous and freaked out that this test is going to be "too hard." Negative Thoughts - I vanquish you!
- Do a Little Each Day: I have to do a little studying each day in order to make this a strong habit. If I let it build up the goal will seem that much more unachievable.
And that's it. I'm not going to try to implement too many strategies at once. I need to focus. Hopefully I will be able to show some real progress this week with this new focus on focus.
....although I might still try to become an Early Riser at the same time. I can at least try!
3 comments:
I'm totally serious about this. Sometimes I feel handicapped by a tangle of thoughts that keep me from focusing on any one thing. I would love to hear how others are able to block out the interference and focus on the task at hand.
Right? It's terrible because then you never get anything done. You only sort of do things.
I was totally overwhelmed by the 6 things I had to do for my manager this afternoon so I tried it out. And sure enough - first I focused on Subject 1 without looking at e-mail or anything and I finished it. Then I did Subject 2. Within an hour I had finished 3 of the 6 things.
But of course my inbox looks awful now. Give and take I suppose?
I agree as well. For me, I think I focus too much on the final outcome and just completing all these different tasks/goals. Meanwhile, I'm rushing to get something done and not really doing my best or getting the most out of what I'm doing. Boy Aaron once called me a "parallel processor" in helping to explain why I was sometimes slow to respond or to catch on to things (you know what I mean). That's because I'm thinking about fourteen different tasks/to-do's at once!
I like the "Focus on the Task at Hand" suggestion and will try to do this more.
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