This past week I was swamped with putting out fires for Ignite. (Okay, yes, I hear the irony in that sentence now.) Just when I thought the hard stuff was done, several tasks that seemed straightforward ended up getting complicated to the point they seemed to take up most of my week.
The thing is I can get so locked into a project that I let almost everything else fall by the wayside. Instead of making progress on other projects or creative work, I want to wait until I can switch to that “mode” before I even think about them.
If (for example) I have 4 posts that are almost finished, I can get so focused on The Big Thing I am working on that I don’t just take a few minutes to get one posted (which may have something to do with my radio silence last week). This goes for other creative endeavors, as well. Instead of working on part of a craft project, it may just sit on the shelf until I feel like I have enough time (whatever that means) to work on it.
There are definitely times when I’m easily distracted and just flit from one thing to another. I counteract this tendency by going into tunnel vision mode when I’m really ready to get to work on something. The bigger/more urgent the project the more I am laser-focused on it – to the detriment of other things I need to do.
Finding some kind of balance would be good.
How do you focus without going into complete tunnel vision mode? Have you found a way to get things done in smaller increments without getting totally distracted from the major project(s) you’re working on?
