Ultimate Productivity
Quiet Your Internal Chatter to Focus and Get More Done
By Claudine Motto
If you’re a home-based business owner, finding ways to minimize interruptions and staying on task is key to getting things done. Usually, the focus is on the interruptions that come at you from the outside – but what about those that come at you from the inside?
The internal chatter of other things you need to do, remember to do, or want to do can be just as loud and disruptive to your focus as the ding from e-mail or the ringer from your phone. While there isn’t a way to turn off the thoughts in your mind the way that you can turn off your phone, or disconnect from the Internet, there are a few simple but effective ways to keep the internal chatter to a minimum and keep it from derailing your plans:
Start with a clear mind – you can’t expect to be able to focus for very long if you have thoughts and to-do’s tugging at you. At the beginning of the day and any time before you plan on working on a project, write down everything that’s on your mind – including any e-mails you need to return. This may seem like double work if you’ve already got a to-do list, and you “know” there’s e-mail in your inbox waiting for you to deal with it – but if these things are swimming around in your head, releasing them onto paper is what makes the difference.
Get the facts – if capturing your thoughts on paper doesn’t rid you of the nagging feeling that you need to take care of all those things now or you won’t be able to get them all done by the end of the day, pick the 3 tasks that are most nagging you, estimate how long they will take you to do, and ask yourself – “if I get to these things at x time, will I realistically have time to take care of them?” If the answer is yes, acknowledging that may be enough to relax you and keep the chatter from popping up. If the answer is no, reprioritize – what could you postpone? Or what do you need to get off your plate before you can truly focus? Sometimes the best thing you can do is actually do whatever’s bothering you.
Acknowledge the pull – if you think of something you need to do and are tempted to break away from what you’re doing to take care of it, ask yourself if it can wait, or if you’re using it just as an excuse to get into your e-mail, or to distract yourself. In other words, what are you craving? Sometimes acknowledging that the “to-do” is just an excuse will be enough to pull you back. Other times, you might decide to break your focus regardless – if that’s the case, say why: “I’m bored, so I’m using this as an excuse to go on Facebook. I’ll check for 10 minutes and get back on track because…(and fill in why it’s important to get back to what you were doing)” – saying this can help you stick with your intention of keeping the distraction short.
Take baby steps – if you try to focus longer than your mind is comfortable (or capable) there will come a point when it’s just impossible to stop the chatter. Long blocks of focused time aren’t better than short spurts – what counts is the quality of your focus – so work with what works for you. Reduce how long you try to focus by 15 minutes at a time until you get to your sweet spot.
Break the monotony – shift positions, get up from your chair, look away from your monitor, take a few minutes to stretch – a little physical movement keeps you from getting bored and it’s a mini-refresher for your mind. You’re not a machine – take breaks frequently.
Eliminating outside distractions is important, but it’s only half of the equation – learn to quiet your internal chatter to truly maximize your ability to stay focused, on track, and accomplish what you set out to with your day.
2010 Claudine Motto, All Rights Reserved.
Claudine Motto works with women entrepreneurs who want to create more success, flow, and joy in their home-based business. For more information about her coaching and consulting services, or for tips on how to create more success and joy in your business, go to http://www.vistalnorte.com or “like” her Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bemoreproductive.