A dead hard drive helped me to focus on my top priorities. In fact the dead computer became the top priority. At first, I was annoyed by this distraction. I had no time to lose and an endless task list. In the past, even as recent as two weeks ago, I would have been upset, overly critical of the situation, and eating chocolate. This week I took several deep breaths and asked myself, “what is the universe telling me right now”?
It was telling me that I was lucky to have had 2 extra years on a 9 year-old computer. It was telling me to reset a few things. Slowing down and taking a few steps back from my current hectic schedule and endless goals to focus on one thing at a time. In truth, multitasking is a myth. Focus can be defined as doing one task in any given timeframe. What ends up happening is we try to juggle multiple tasks and do each one poorly.
My task list for work, home renovations and self-improvement is long. This is natural as I change careers and adopt a new outlook of life. Where I fumbled is thinking of the long list even as I tried to do 3-4 tasks every week. Thinking about the other tasks hurt my focus. James Clear says this is a problem of not deciding on which priority to focus. A non-working computer severely handicapped me for a few days. However, it clarified my priorities. I was able to see priority 1, 2 and 3 for the next 7 days. All other tasks that had been swimming around in my head disappeared behind a screen. I didn’t lose them but I didn’t think of them either. This blog is priority 2. I am working on each priority one at a time.
To keep focus for the long-term, measuring the process of the progress is critical. In my case, I committed to publishing a blog every Thursday. A weekly blog had other benefits such as researching and shaping my coaching framework. Another example of this is tracking the number of days you reach 10,000 steps in order to lose 20 pounds. Measuring the number of days will tell you if you are on track.
Recapping the important elements of being focused:
- Decide on priorities; ignore all other important tasks until a slot opens up on the priority list.
- Do one priority at a time
- Measure the progress and the process
What is your top priority for today??
Copyright © 2023 Devashri Gupta. All rights reserved.
Further study:
Quick read: James Clear article on Focus
“Atomic Habits” by James Clear
