The Daily Habit I Do That Helps Me Focus

Maybe you can?relate?to his.

Often, it feels like I have a hundred little things on my mind.?I have to write this email, I have to write this post, I have to get something at the store, I have to?make?reservations?for?the weekend, I have to mail in that?bill, etc.?What happens, if I’m not careful, is that all these little things prevent me from doing the big thing I should be doing at that time.

The most obvious time this happens is before I go to sleep. Although I’ve been tired all day,?occasionally?a million little things come into my mind and an hour goes by and I’m still awake.?Frustration,?personified.

Same with work, too. I have something I should do, I really should. But my mind wants to think about anything but that big task —?I think about this email or some?outstanding?issue or whatever. And it delays me from starting it.

Well, I finally?figured out?how to stop all that — it helps me sleep at night, it helps me stay calm throughout the day and it?guards?against my?procrastination.?And it requires the most basic technology there is: pen and paper.

Before I go to bed or when I need to do something for work (like, writing this post, for example),?I get a piece of lined paper out and I write out my thoughts.?Literally, just let everything come out that’s on my mind.?Sometimes, I write half a page;?other times,?I’ll fill up three. Doesn’t?matter?what I write about or how much I write, I just keep writing until I don’t feel like I have anything left to say.

And then it’s done, my mind is clear and I’m ready to focus.?From there, I can sleep, write a post, read a book, whatever; and I do it in peace, with just that on my mind.

I?admit, I’m slightly embarrassed having to do it — the writing looks like?chicken?scratch?and I feel a bit like a crazy person writing out my thoughts. But, I’m going to keep doing it, because it works.

Experts?who believe in this method

I realized what I was doing was hardly unique. Two LinkedIn Learning time management?instructors,?David Allen?and?Dave Crenshaw, both?preach?similar messages.

Allen, for example,?said that the?“brain is for having ideas, not for storing them.”?Rather than carrying around all these little to-dos and?concerns?in your mind,?he suggests writing them all out and then?tackling?them in a?strategic?manner.

Crenshaw said the?exact same thing. He said?you should keep your to-do lists in established “gathering points” like your calendar or a physical?inbox, and that “your mind is not an acceptable gathering point.”

The takeaway

I have this?metaphor?in my mind about the whole situation. I see my mind as an engine, which performs at its highest when the oil inside of it is pure.

These little thoughts I have — I need to do?laundry, don’t forget to set that meeting invite, I need to buy more soap?— are?impurities?that get into the oil and slow the engine down. Sometimes, so many impurities get into the oil it?clogs?the engine, and I can’t do anything at all.

Writing out my thoughts on a piece of paper is like?straining?that oil, so it’s pure again. Afterwards, the engine runs smoothly, as I?cruise?down the highway of peaceful productivity.

Do I feel a little?silly?writing?out?my thoughts on a notebook? Yea, a little bit. But it also makes me feel good, because I know it’ll mean my engine runs smoother.

Plus, it makes me feel better that Crenshaw and Allen agree.

Enjoyed this post? Read more like it in my book,?How I Found Peace: 14 Revelations That Cleared My Mind.