Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have. Here’s the next tip:
Keep A Tangent Log
No matter how hard you try to stay focused on the task at hand, sometimes a little voice inside your head just won’t leave you alone, so to shut it up, you allow it to lead you off on some unproductive tangent.
It’s reminding you about something you need to get at the store, or it’s sharing with you a great idea you don’t want to miss, or it gets really annoying and starts singing a song that you haven’t heard in a while, but you remember you love and you don’t want to forget again.
Since there’s no removing yourself from your voice, at least you can pacify it without letting it derail you altogether.
All you need is a pen and paper.
As you focus on the task at hand, anytime that little voice urges you to fire-up your browser to look for something or to get up, go to the kitchen, and add potatoes to your grocery list, instead of obeying it without argument, write down what your being told or reminded to do, then at the end of the day (or during another break), go through the items your list and take action on them.
Don’t let the voice interrupt the flow of your work.
