“We work the problems one by one. We do what’s in front of us. And then we do the next thing.” — Jonas Taylor, Meg 2: The Trench
This writing is Certified Human
The Obstacle
We get distracted every minute of every hour.
Things compete for our attention.
A never ending to do list.
Hundreds of reasons to stay busy and feel productive while ignoring or avoiding what's actually important.
We can go through our day without a plan or intention, bouncing aimlessly from one thing to the next.
At the end of the day, we can look back and not know what we actually accomplished that was important.
Our life drains away hour by hour.
The Gift and Opportunity
The old saying goes, one step at a time, one foot in front of the other.
We can take our day and segment it one hour at a time.
We can set a timer or reminder and really focus on what we're going to accomplish in that next hour.
Then do it again, hour by hour, without getting pulled away by urgent calls, text messages, emails, and interruptions.
We can reassess every hour what is important and then do just that.
We can get our life back hour by hour.
The Practice of Self-Mastery
• Set the hour
• Decide what matters
• Focus on that
• Reassess and repeat
CHEAT CODE: SET → DECIDE → FOCUS → REPEAT
The Why
I always have a lot of things going on, and it's easy to get distracted and bounce from one thing to the next.
I have ADHD, so whatever grabs my attention can easily pull me away and suck me down a rabbit hole. I can end up in things that don't really move the needle but feel fun or productive.
I can lose minutes or hours, or even more, in thought, research, or just feeling productive while doing little meaningless things.
At the end of my day, it's easy to look back and not really know what I did that was of consequence.
I set a timer on my watch and, every hour or so, remind myself what I need to accomplish in that next hour.
I can chunk my day into manageable, hour long tasks to stay focused on what's important and not get pulled from one thing to the next.
When I am able to do that, my day is productive, and I'm present in what I'm doing.
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