Do One Thing

I am now, as I have been for the last week, blocked. I'm stuck. I can't get started. I have no plan. I have no idea what this article will be about. I don't know how, when, or if I'll be able to publish it. I am devoid of any kind of idea or inspiration, and I can't see a start, middle, or end. I'm not able to focus and my attention keeps wandering. Halfway through typing each sentence, I have to use every ounce of will to remember what the end should be. Every instinct I have is telling me to go and do something else. Usually, get some kind of snack.

It's not the first time I've been in this situation, and it won't be the last. The surprise isn't that it happens, it's that it doesn't happen more. Like everyone, I have a lot of competition for my focus and attention. The demands of a full-time job. A long list of incomplete household tasks. A family that would benefit from more attention than I'm currently giving them. A phone in my pocket, beeping and burbling to tell me hundreds of things a day that I'm better off not knowing. Oh, and an ongoing global pandemic. And an impending climate disaster. And my knee's a bit sore, should I see a doctor about that? Or is it age? Everything spins around in what Dylan Moran memorably described as:

 ..being in the washing machine of your own mind. Thinking "What's this? When does it stop? Am I enjoying it? I don't know. Oh, it's time to go to sleep. I can't. I'm too worried.

Whenever I struggle with focus, my first instinct is to regard myself as deficient in some way. Everyone else is able to do this stuff, I need to be better. That's my perception. The reality is that for much of the time I am able to balance all these competing priorities without noticing. It's natural to have felt overwhelmed and inundated on occasion, but it's better to view these episodes as moments of clarity rather than a crisis. My brain is making me stop, and acknowledge what my current cognitive workload is. If that workload seems unrealistic, the best thing to do is intervene, and make the necessary adjustments. And breathe out.

I'm used to coaching and mentoring other people through feelings like this, but it's against all of my instincts to follow my own advice! Nevertheless, here are my tried and tested three steps to retrieve some direction out of the muddled mind:

1. Brain Dump. Every preoccupation you have swirls around your mind, crashing into every other one and looking bigger and more difficult to deal with than it actually is. Take a pen and as big a piece of blank paper as you have to hand (pen and paper is the best medium here), and force everything out of your head. Don't edit. Pour your brain out onto the page.

2. Sort. You now have a piece of paper with a number of random thoughts, tasks, and observations. The first thing to do is to identify which things are actual tasks that need to be completed. You'll see things that you've written that aren't that important, urgent, or helpful. Cross them out as boldly and dramatically as you can. Put the remaining tasks in the order you think you should do them. You may start with the oldest, or the easiest, or the most complex. Think about what's important to you right now and prioritise the tasks accordingly. You may find it helpful to transfer your new list to a new piece of paper, note-taking app, or any tool you currently use.

3. Do ONE thing. Take your most important task, and do it. Don't worry if it takes a long time, don't worry if your attention wanders, and don't worry if it isn't perfect. Keep chipping away at the first task until it's done and then cross it off the list. And congratulate yourself.

You may then continue down the list, or you may find your equilibrium returning and not feel the need to. This isn't a productivity system. It's not intended to help you complete more tasks. It's intended to help clarify what's important and reduce noise. It's the process I went through before picking out writing this article as the next thing I should do.

One thing is done. Cross it off the list. Breathe out.