In today's post I will be sharing with you a couple of methods that I use, on how you can get focused and more organised!
Hopefully by the end of this post you will be able to adopt these methods to help you feel clear of mind and more focused, thus becoming more productive!
Do you ever feel at times that you have so much to do, and the list is never endingly whizzing around in your head and you're just trying to get through the day as sane as you possibly can whilst remembering everything that needs to be done?!
Most of the time when this happens, you never fully complete that list. You may start a part of it and take a break, but you don't get back to it. Or a few items may seem mundane and you cant be bothered to do them and you tell yourself you'll get to it tomorrow, only tomorrow comes and goes and tomorrow turns into next week, and then next month.
Or if you're like me, you'll start one task and half way through you'll notice something else that needs doing, drop tools and go and start that task without finishing the prior, and the chain continues.
Unless something has a deadline, chances are, you wont get to whatever it is you want or need to do. Even if there is a deadline, you have all intentions of starting the task at a reasonable time, whether it be a presentation for a works meeting, or studying for a test/ exam, or writing the paper for class, but more often then not you wont start said task until a minimum 3 days prior to the due date.
Procrastination is a bitch!
I know how it feels, I've been there. I'm pretty sure I was a procrastination master back when I was in school. It got to the point where I would actually do my homework on the bus on the way to school, the day it was due in! Pretty sure the teachers could tell though.
But now I'm grown up, I have a family to support, work and school to manage and recently I now have this blog, the To-Do list keep growing. Not only is it just managing the basics of life, I now have goals I want to strive for!
How am I Coping with all this and actually keeping on track?
Lists.
I am such a list writer. I can't do anything without actually writing out a list. Whether its food shopping, general duties, what I want to do (bucket list), or if I have an event going on, either going to one or preparing a birthday party... I will write out everything that needs to be done in order to make that event the best it can be.
Sometimes, a basic list is not enough. There are times when there's much more going on in that noggin of yours that you need to get off your mind, as life gets overwhelming at times.
When this happens, I know it time for a Brain Dump.
What is a Brain Dump?
A Brain Dump is a method I use to just get everything off my mind and on to paper. Now this is something you don't have to list categorically. The aim with a brain dump is to just write out whatever it is that's overwhelming you mentally and emotionally. not quite a list, not quite a journal. Just a good old dump!
You can do this anywhere, anytime, and once you're done, you feel surprisingly lighter mentally and you stand taller physically as the "weight" has been lifted.
Sometimes that's often all you need as a form of an outlet if you don't want to talk to anyone or you don't want to spend hours documenting your feelings in a journal.
But if you wanted to you can take it a step further if they are tasks that you want to work on but don't know when to do what.
What I like to do is colour code each task to a specific category. This way I know what I need to do in terms of my blog, my finances or any upcoming projects I want to do. This way you can visually see the differentiation and focus on one at a time. From this point on it becomes easier to plan out the logistical side of getting shit done!
It may take a while to get everything together, but I can guarantee you that it will take less time than the time you've spent procrastinating from it!
Once you've established where you want to go and what need to be done, set yourself deadlines for an aim of completion. Write it down in your diary, journal or calendar.
It's wont all be plain sailing and the procrastination devil may make an appearance to try and divert your attention away for the task at hand. There will always be a show/ film on Netflix you'll want to watch, but they will be there when you finish your shit. Use your Netflix temptation as a Reward for your hard work!
Once you start ticking off your tasks, you start to feel so good about how much you've achieved and you want to keep on going. It's a slow start but with the determination behind you, you will get it done!