This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge 2015. If this is something new to you, check out the website here to find out all you need to know.
Immerse yourself
I don't know about you guys, but most of the time I'm trying to juggle a lot of different things seemingly all at once. When I'm doing one thing, I have a niggle at the back of my mind saying I should be doing one of the other things. With my concentration distracted like this, I don't do as good a job as I should be doing.
I'm trying a different tack now though, and I'm trying to ignore the other things and fully immerse myself in the task at hand. I find a timer is very handy for this, I set it to go and then forget about everything except what I'm doing. I let myself get completely into the world I'm writing about, or reading about, and let my mind wander free when I'm there.
I know I'm not going to get carried away so much that I miss something else (like collecting the children!) because I've set that timer, so I can let myself go and get more out of the time I spend on the task.
I work my way through my to-do list in this way, trying to forget about the rest of the things on it, concentrating on one at a time. It's a work in progress, but I'll get there I'm sure.
Do you have similar distractions when you're trying to focus?
(P.S. I'm hoping nobody has noticed that I've posted this a day late. Sshh, it'll be our little secret ...)
I like that you use a timer because that's something I've resorted to when I've have a bunch of things to get done. Sometimes I'll make up a list of things to do and I'll work down them, giving myself a set time to do each. I hate leaving things unfinished so when the timer goes off I have to move onto the next one, which motivates me to go back and complete anything left unfinished.
ReplyDeleteThis also works if I'm writing. It's much easier to pick up a story if you finish for the day in the middle of a sentence. I always find that if I end my writing at the end of a scene, it's much harder to get into it again the next time I pick it up!
I need to try this method. I, too, feel stuck when I come back to something, mulling over where it's going to go next.
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