I have far too many windows open on my laptop. It mirrors the absurd number of windows open on my phone, and it shows the number of windows open in my mind. I am not a scatterbrained person, but I am a person who carries too much at all times. There are forty windows open on the phone. Close to that number on the laptop. All of these combine to show that I believe that I need all of these tabs active in order to reach for the projects/conclusions/research I am presently engaged in. If I learn nothing else from this time abroad, I’ve learned this: I need to cut down on everything I am doing because I end up not doing any one thing very well. In other words, in order to be excellent one must focus on the object of excellence alone. I know that I am an intelligent person. To be able to reach for and juggle so many windows and projects only serves to confirm that for me. However, that level of brain strain is reductive at best.
Instead, look to the key tenets of focus…
- Keep an active and lively journaling system. I have so many things that run through my mind that I should be making a list of them and, once I am done with what I am working on, going to the next item on that list of things that pop into my mind as I work. Normally I just open a window with the intention to get back to it… Obvious fail.
- Accept the things you cannot do. I’m paraphrasing AA here, but it works all the same. Acceptance is a huge part of workflow. If you try to do everything, then nothing gets done very well. So, focus on what can be done and mentally allow yourself to set the rest aside.
- Be better…to you. I love ellipses. That pause between statements opens the door to so much meaning. In this case it bridges the gap between self improvement and self-allowance. We are biological machines that need care. Make sure to take care of your machine parts–be it the mental or physical side. You have to be in condition to grind through the tough days. I turn summer into an adventure, because I know the fall is going to be a rough grind of responsibility.