One of the ways I survive life and work is to do it now. If I have a idea I make a note of it straight away. If I need to remember to take something with me when I leave the house I put it by my shoes, on top of my car keys or hang it on the front door handle. Any place that I can’t miss it.
If I need to buy anything I tell Alexa to add it to the shopping list straight away whether I’m in the office, the kitchen or the living room. Alexa has a million uses, but I mainly just make shopping lists.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who makes notes on post-its or blue tacks signs to the window, door or computer screen. I’ve been known to put a reminder note on the dashboard of my car, over a Tupperware in the fridge or inside a shoe. If I do the note now, I’ve got more chance of remembering the task later.
At work I often try and do a raft of jobs all at once. But if I’m trying to be very focused on one thing and a new task comes along that I really don’t want to distract me, I’ll take action by emailing myself or starting a draft email as a reminder to do it later.
One problem with attention dysregulation is that some tasks are hard to do while others are super interesting. When a task seems impossible to start I often ask someone else to talk it through with me and share ideas. If time is an issue, I’ll get a meeting in the diary with that person to focus on understanding the task and how to get it going.
When I’m doing a project, writing something or making a resource, I never start with a blank sheet of paper or word document. Before I’m due to begin I make notes of ideas, headings and links as I’m going along. They might be added to a document, emailed to myself or put on a list. So when I come to start, I already have some kind of structure and lots of notes, which feels much better than facing an empty page.
Being impulsive and distracted isn’t always great, but I use it to take action in a positive way, and help keep me on track with work and life. Whatever the task, if I ‘do it now,’ or take some action now to make it happen later, I definitely have less stress and more confidence.
