Planning & executing

Posted by Ken
Aug 9, 2021 at 04:50 PM

I feel your pain as my mind often wanders when I have work to be done. But, in fairness, I find a bit of wandering healthy for the brain and it keeps me sharp. But back to your question, I use a variety of techniques, but not necessarily in any special order. Timeframes and deliverables are the largest drivers for me, even if they are far out on the horizon. If I know something has to be done by sometime, then that at least orients me on a large scale. Sometimes breaking down the tasks/actions/work/etc. helps me to at least understand the magnitude of what needs to be accomplished. I do not necessarily need to schedule it or add time blocks, but it does tell me what I will eventually need to scale to get there.

Often times I’ll grab a piece of paper and just jot down two or three important things that I know I want to work on or try to accomplish in the immediate future. The rest can wait. This helps me focus. It can be done with software as well, so pick what works best for you. If I am having trouble focusing, I try to do a Pomodoro for any length of time, just to force myself to not get distracted. I may not be productive, but at least I am focused on the issue at hand. And, if I am in a groove, I try to stay in it. Email can run my life, and while I try to be responsive, sometimes I am my own worst critic. Not everything need an immediate response. Some things do, but not everything.

Other than that, it is sometimes a game of inches, but I’ll take whatever forward movement I can get. Eventually the scenery changes.

Regarding the wanderings, place any information in some type of notebook and come back to it later. Just because a page is on your screen does not make it urgent. I am terribly guilty of that, and am learning to use notebooks to hold information until I can get back to it.

Good luck,

—Ken