D W Stratton

Yesterday I had to do a task I have been avoiding for a couple days. I didn’t know where to start and wasn’t sure what the outcome should look like – two factors that I struggle with in a new job all the time. My inner drive to have things perfect didn’t help, either. It didn’t take much to distract myself and delay it yet again.

How did I finally focus on the task? I just everything else down on my computer – Outlook, Instant Messaging, browsers, anything that wasn’t related to the task. By removing all outside stimulus, I was finally able to keep myself focused long enough to get interested in the task. Once I was able to find a little thread I could tug on for awhile, I was was able to get the entire task done. It didn’t take all that long, either.

One thing that had kept me from starting was all the guesswork involved. Not everything is absolute when planning the future. These things drive me nuts because I like it to be “right”. By focusing, I was able to make educated guesses. I put the rationale in comments so I could remember how I cam to that conclusion later. When I bounced the ideas off the other project manager, she thought them all to be sound guesses. I hate guessing but I learned that I can do it with the best of them. I have a hard time admitting that since no one knows the answer, my guesses are good enough. By recording the reasoning, I will hopefully be able to defend the guesses later.

I don’t think I could have finished this task without shutting down the outside stimulus. When I don’t want to do something, any interruption will do. I will even look for them subconsciously. The trick for me is to rob myself of those distractions. What works for you?

Focus: a central point, as of attraction, attention or activity.

Picture of me this week

What is the focus of my life? I believe that would be a difficult, or even impossible, question for anyone to answer. We each have many points that have our attraction, attention or activity. I am a father, a husband, a son, a brother, an uncle, a cousin and nephew. Each of those aspects has its own responsibilities and requirements. Then there are the work related focuses. I am a project manager, a coworker, a subordinate, a contributor, an activist, a visionary and a catalyst. In my personal life, I am a woodworker, a reader, a musician, a writer, a gardener (of sorts), a homeowner, a repairman, a gamer, an advocate, a friend and a believer, just to name a few.

How do we do it?  No wonder I am tired and often feeling like I am not getting very much accomplished. I know I often feel this way, especially when my areas of focus conflict. I want to be successful in all these areas, but there are only 24 hours in a day. Am I alone in these feelings? Apparently not.

A friend of mine started a blog this week. Apparently, she is feeling it, too. Life is busy. We keep adding more and more things. As I was thinking about this over the last couple days, wondering what is the solution. Is running faster the solution? Is eliminating roles the answer? Is it better to do one or two really well or a bunch mediocre? Am I doomed to just running around all the time? Am I just spinning plates or actually keeping all the balls in the air?

Help came, as it often does, in Tara’s blog post. She has an uncanny ability to post what I need, just when I need it. Tara homes in on the answer: Focus. When I am being a Dad, be a Dad. When I am a wood worker, be a wood worker. I have a tendency to work in one area of focus and beat myself up because I am thinking about another. If I would just focus on the moment and what I am doing, I could finish faster, be more satisfied and be able to move on to the next more quickly.

The last couple days I have been making a conscious effort to be who I am at the moment and not even think about the other. I have found myself dropping into flow for the first time in weeks. It is wonderful. I have been sprinting so hard in so many directions for so long, I had let myself forget how to do it.

My advice for today is to focus on just being yourself, whatever the focus is at that moment. The dishes will be there when your done. So will the report that is due on Friday and the car that needs an oil change. Take things one at a time and focus on it until it is done and give yourself a pat on the back. You deserve it!

Welcome back to the thoughts of Focus. I have to admit, I lost focus for several months now. I have had just a few wild things happen, including changing jobs, trying to sell a house and move my family, getting a son into college and a few other things I won’t share here. I have had to focus just to keep my sanity. Unfortunately, one of things I did not focus on was this blog.

For the past few months, I have been struggling with the urge to write, but a frustration of having too many baskets for my eggs. I finally sat down this weekend and spent some quality time with Google, researching how to make one blog do everything I wanted to do. This new site is the result and I am quite excited. Finally, my blog, my pens and my books are all in one place. Yes, I have had to come up with a few tricks and slight-of-hand maneuvers to make it work. So far, though, I am pleased. It will mature more over the coming months. Take a look around. I hope you enjoy it. Leave me some feedback. I would love to hear it.

Meanwhile, one thing I have learned while writing for Mind Like Monkey is the value of a calendar. I will make one for this site so I know what to write about. Having that in front of me, decided in advance has helped me settle in to regular writing. That is what I need here.