We all have the little voice in our heads that seems to be talking all the time! It’s part of the decision-making process to “think things through.”
However, just like searching on the Internet can lead down a rabbit hole of twists and turns until you forget what you were searching for in the first place, so can thoughts.
So, what can you do?
Meditate – Center yourself – Relax – Focus.
These all sound great until you realize they aren’t working. Not that they don’t work, they just aren’t working right now.
Here are two excerpts from my book, It’s About Time: Time Management Tips from The Software Revitalist™ , published in 2009, to help you get past the distractions happening in your head.
Give in to a busy mind
There are times when our minds are spinning with thoughts or ideas that are totally unrelated to the task at hand. Trying to suppress them rarely works and takes your attention so you are not focusing on what you want to be doing anyway.
Instead of fighting it just stop, take a deep breath, finish the thought, and take notes.
Now you can bring your focus back to the scheduled task, you no longer have the distraction, and you have not lost the thought or idea. Just put it aside and focus on it later.
Schedule time to worry, but no more than 10 minutes a day
When you suppress worrying it hangs around and can easily creep up into your thoughts and distract you from everything else. Plan when you are going to worry, and your mind will calm down. Then, make sure you worry when you have scheduled it.
However, during your “worry time” try to find solutions rather than just lamenting. End the session when you had scheduled for it to end and mentally acknowledge that you have completed your worrying about this topic.
NOTE: This will take some practice, but I promise you it works because I have implemented it many times. One interesting side effect is that I hardly ever “worry: about anything anymore – I problem-solve instead.
