How to stay focused

[charlesputnam 0]

Hi folks!

Have you ever been in situations where you intentionally try to distract yourself by doing trivial matters? It’s such a hard state to get out of. Any advice or suggestions to help me get back on track?

I’d really appreciate your support.

[Xarsas 9]

Hey there,

Well it's essentially procrastination. You're taking out the trash and cleaning the dishes because you don't want to go cut the grass, and this way you can tell yourself you're not actually putting it off, because you're busy with other work. Just too busy.

I try to deal with it by working on a to-do list and tackling the most unpleasant/difficult items first. Where possible I split these tasks over days as well. You can also try rewarding yourself? "If I do task X, I can go have a coffee" or something that you value. I also find it best to tackle these kind of tasks when you are as fresh as possible so you don't make it even more difficult by being drained from all the other stuff you have done. The knock-on effect of this is that normally after getting that dreaded task out of the way you feel relieved and/or proud of yourself so you can quite often breeze through the following things you need to do.

 

[Wildermyth 88]

I like to work with positive reinforcement in order to get things done. Instead of completing tasks because you fear the consequence of not doing them you focus on the positive effects of doing them. For example you exercise because you want a strong and healthy body to carry you through life much easier, and not because you fear being fat, lazy and unhealthy.

It's also worth exploring added activities to the ones you struggle with. If you don't like to vacuum for instance then try to listen to some music while you do it. When you study then try to do it in a comfortable chair with a cozy light source nearby. There are things like that you can try to explore in order to make these activities feel more meaningful and accessible.