Sometimes it is SO hard to quiet my mind, decrease my desire to indulge in every possible distraction, and focus on whatever task is at hand.
Recently, I had a huge pile of paperwork standing between me and my spring break from work. I found myself in that same mental battle trying so hard to focus but really not wanting to and not succeeding.
Then, I tried timers. This is a simple but solid gold strategy. I set my phone or an online timer for 15 minutes and made a pact with myself that I would work for 15 minutes straight before giving in to any distraction. It worked so well! I found I often worked past the timer to finish a task or a portion of a task. I then let myself check twitter, read my e-mail, or allow myself a short break before setting the timer again. This strategy also allowed me to figure out how long each task was taking me, so I could set reasonable goals for how much I could get done over a period of time.
15 minutes worked extremely well for the task I was completing, but 10 minutes or a half hour, or some other chunk of time may work better for a different task or different person. I was amazed by how much I was able to accomplish.
Do timers work for you? Have you ever tried this? If you try this out, let me know if it works for you!
