My house is a pigsty. My 'to-do' list is half-forgotten under a pile of other notes and it doesn't have a third of what I really need to do on it. My story sits on a 5-subject notebook buried in a pile on the edge of the dining room table. (You should see my dining room table. Seriously, have you seen it? Because I haven't seen it in days.) I don't even want to think about the pork roast I meant to cook three days ago that's sitting in the fridge (hopefully not rotting).
Today, all that crap stops. Regardless of what else is going on in my life right now, I need to get my head out of my ass and get to work. So what if I'm scatterbrained? So what if things that are happening stall me to the point where I drop on the couch afterwards and embrace the TV coma?
"Geez Louise, girlfriend, you're pathetic."
Today I will work, regardless of distractions. I have too much to do and too little time to do it in for all this lollygagging. And if something does pull my focus elsewhere, I will take care of the immediate issue and then get back to work. I will not be lured into watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy, or Dr. Phil (my new secret shame), or leftover Frasier and Friends episodes.
And if I'm all done with the stuff on my list for today, if I'm sort of close to getting my daily life in some kind of order - I will sit down with that damn notebook and WRITE. Because regardless of what else is happening in my right-now life, writing is my forever-life and it doesn't deserve to be shunted aside like the ugly girl at prom.
So there. =op
Good for you! Have you tried the "timer" method. It works for me when I'm overwhelmed I set it for ten or fifteen minutes and work on the task at hand. Then I set it for a break (5-10 minutes). It really helps me get tons done.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
You go, girl! You inspired me with your no-holds barred pep-talk!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I concur with JB's suggestion of the timer - works wonders to get focused on a task when there's so much pulling and vying for your attention!
Good luck, B.E.! I'm off to buy a timer!
ReplyDeleteThis sort of reminds me when we first found out The Only had a form of ADD. We'd tell her to clean her room (as in it was a fire hazard and we couldn't walk from the door to her bed without stepping on something!) and when we'd come back thirty minutes later, she'd be sitting and playing with something that caught her attention. We worked with a psychologist to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteWe had to learn--and to teach her--to break down the whole "clean your room" into manageable tasks like "find all the books and stack them there." Then we could work on putting the books back on shelves.
So...break down your tasks. Can't find the dining room table? That's your task. Start at one end and clear it to the middle, making stacks. Then clear the other end, making new or adding to old stacks. Now, go put everything up. Then move to the next area.
Timers are good if they work for you. They never helped me much. I am glad to see you getting galvanized! Time is going to pass way too fast once your life starts rolling again. Then you'll be doing the Muppet flail because you've run out of time. ;-)
Now get busy! Shoo. No hanging around the intrawebz for you, young lady!
Episodes of Friends often lured me away from school work in university. I now have all ten seasons lol. I ended up working with them in the background more times than I can count ;)
ReplyDeleteYou can do it. I believe in you. Rah rah rah!
ReplyDelete