I get distracted easily. I battle with this constantly.
To be truly cool, you have to get stuff done. Here’s how:
1. Eliminate Distractions. Even one distraction can bring your house of cards down, so be complete about this. This means:
- Clear your desk. If you need to, clear it all off into a pile on the floor to deal with after you are done.
- No internet or computer programs open that are unnecessary for your project. *
- No TV or Radio unless it is instrumental or unless you are doing art work and you work best with music.
- No noise. If you have other people nearby that make noise on a regular basis, consider getting a pair of noise canceling headphones.
- No phone. That’s what voice mail and caller id are for. Don’t answer it. If you think it might be important you can listen to the voicemail and decide when will be the best time to call back. Imagine that you are in a meeting and can’t be interrupted.
- No email or feed reader.
- Just you and your project.
2. Visualize Take 5-10 minutes to visualize your project and what you need to do overall and today.
3. Planning Write out the plan for your project whether it is to clean the house, design a website, complete a writing assignment, create art, complete a day of errands, studying for an exam, or whatever. Write out the major steps from start to finish in a basic outline format.
4. Today Plan Write out the action steps you will take today and the approximate time you will be working on each step. Be as granular in your outline as need to keep yourself on task, but not any more than is necessary.
5. Breaks & Rewards Build in breaks into your Today Plan. Write in the times and use a timer to stay on track. Here is a free online timer. Plan a reward for the end of the day.
6. Take Action Work your plan. Use your Today Plan as your guide. Keep moving forward. When you find yourself getting distracted go back to your Today Plan. Be strict with yourself about keeping distractions from creeping into your project time.
Complete Article: How to Focus Your Mind on the Project
Tags: howto focus, get stuff done