Squirrel!!!!!!!
Are you a person that is distracted among a sea of structure during a normal day? Do you fight to stay on task to keep focus?
COVID-19 has created an opportunity for all of us to take a break from the rat race, focus on our families and most of all, ourselves. For those of you who are naturally distracted this new found lack of structure feels like an overwhelming nightmare.
Take this opportunity to hone your focus! Here are some tips to practice while you are stuck in quarantine:
Take life one step at a time. When you are stuck in the house faced with projects you haven’t tackled for months or years it is easy to get overwhelmed and find yourself doing half jobs. Take it one step at a time by splitting tasks into smaller parts that feel more manageable. Teachers do this for kids in school that have a hard time with big tasks and research says it works!
Finish one thing before you do another. Right now you are thinking, ‘duhhh, if I could do that I wouldn’t be reading this.’ Well, I am suggesting you apply some intention behind this concept. When you find yourself becoming distracted, redirect yourself back to the task at hand. Practice makes perfect.
Use a timer for tasks/goals that feel big.For those tasks that give you a big push of resistance, use a timer. Laundry is a great example. Set a timer for 30 minutes and commit yourself to folding and putting away clothes. After the timer goes off, regardless of if you are done or not, quit and pick it up again later. This is another piece of breaking tasks into smaller parts.
Kristen Neal is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Clinical Director at Greenway Therapy . Learn more about her on her BIO page.
