Saturday, June 9, 2012

Staying on Task

Why does it seem so hard to stay on task for long tracts of unstructured time? This is not rhetorical. This is a legit question I'm wondering. Seriously, if you have anything that helps you, please, do share!

Things I did today which are productive:

  • Went on a short training hike for an upcoming backpacking trip I'm going on. 
  • Posted three things on craigslist. 
  • Moved two more items into my new room.
  • Had a nap. 

The training hike was maybe four hours, the nap was an hour and a half. The rest of the day... I cannot account for it. I read some articles online. Sent some emails. Ate some baby carrots. I don't even know what else. The main things I have on my to-do this weekend are two very large and unpleasant tasks:

  • Prepare for an exam on Tuesday
  • Finish going through my old room (it is really just those horrible dregs left now UGH)
I guess I need to break things up into more manageable chunks, huh? It is so easy to be focused on small/short tasks, or larger pleasant tasks, or tasks that have discrete sub-tasks. But these large awful ones. You gotta make it as fun and possible and break it down into smaller steps. Okay.

Room:
I still have some time until the evening. Give myself one hour. Put on some fun music. There isn't a huuuge ton left. I should be able to get through the rest of it by then, or almost then. I guess I just need to make a pile of things that I definitely need to keep and then stack up everything else along the edge to be donated. I then have to find homes for those few key items in the new room, but I won't include that in the hour. The little hoardy beast inside of me is resisting this batch of sorting so much, I can feel it. Anyway, after one hour I will re-group, see how far I've gotten. Not be too hard on myself. 

Studying:
I think I need to have one or two small 'fun' things planned for tomorrow to help break up my time. Then I can give myself one hour chunks (which usually turn into larger chunks once you get going on something), and maybe throw in some random tasks too, laundry and what not. 

Okay this plan is not a super duper plan, but it's at least enough framework to start from. And now I have a little bit of accountability, because I'm writing this out and posting it in a semi-public place. 

GO ME.


1 comment:

  1. It is REALLY healthy that you see napping and hiking as productive. If you don't clear out your mind, you can't clear out your clutter.

    Keep it up!

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