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CHAPTER 6- IMPROVE MENTAL FOCUS- MAKING PLANS AND SCHEDULES

No matter who you are, everyone is faced with focusing to make plans at some time in their life. Strategizing can be difficult if you are feeling overwhelmed or having trouble focusing. Don't despair! There are things you can do to improve your focus.

First off, whatever you are trying to accomplish, accept the situation exactly as it is. Thinking of how things will be a year from now does not help you today. I am fat. I am broke. I have no computer skills. Whatever the real truth is, that is the starting point.

Once you have accepted the truth, are you somewhere you can think? If the kids are fighting, the phone is ringing, and the husband is yelling, that is not a meditative situation. Move! Go into another room. Unplug the phone. Tell the husband you will talk to him in an hour. Whatever the chaos is, eliminate external distractions.

If you are having trouble facing a situation, I find a timer helps. Tell yourself, "Okay. For fifteen minutes, I will deal with this." Then set your timer. A timer helps you face dread, because you won't feel like you have to deal with it forever. Fifteen minutes isn't a lot, but it is more than you did an hour ago. This will make the process less overwhelming.

Calm yourself. Close your eyes. Tell yourself, "I am going to count backwards from twenty. Whatever comes to mind, I will not move until I hit the number one." Now do it. Visualize the number twenty, and count down.

Now that you are centered, visualize the situation as you would like it to be. Look at what is happening. See yourself doing it. What steps did you take to get there? Get up. Write it down.

If it seems everything needs to be done at once, take a breath. Watching Cars with my kids, I found an interesting scene. The old car says to the new car, something to the effect of, "Just when you find yourself speeding up that is when you need to slow down." This is true. Rushing into a situation head first, full of adrenaline causes you to miss things and make mistakes. Close your eyes. Count down from 20 again. Visualize the situation. Take a breath and really look at the situation. Even when it seems everything needs to be done at once, if you take a closer look, you will generally find you cannot accomplish one thing, without first accomplishing something else. This will give an order to your list. Having a step-by-step order to do things is half the battle in a stressful situation.

Fight of flight is a natural and chemical response. If the primate instinct you have senses danger, you may find yourself full of anxiety. Try to calm down and focus. Sometimes breathing or changing your focus just doesn't work. You may need to physically burn off some of that adrenaline. Go for a walk or do some exercise. If you are in an office situation and cannot leave, no one will know if you do twenty jumping jacks in the bathroom. It helps.

When planning, be realistic. Conquer the goals in baby steps and refrain from trying to do it all at once. Break down large tasks into smaller increments. Be gentle with your time line, too. Trying to cram too many tasks in too short of a time period creates stress. Rush jobs also sacrifice quality.

Cushioning is always a good idea. An interesting scientific fact is that when scientists were trying to calculate the orbit of the Earth, it didn't come out correctly until they realized it was an oval, not a circle. That is a perfect metaphor for those of us living on Earth. Something always happens. Know that. Expect that. If you plan for the unexpected, you will be much more successful.

In contrast to planning for the unexpected, don't "what if" yourself into doing nothing. Yes, things happen. But doing nothing doesn't even produce mediocre results. Doing nothing accomplishes nothing.

Practice discernment. For me, this usually applies to research. I can research something with great intensity before writing a word. Developing tunnel vision saves an enormous amount of time. As you go about your day, try to only focus on what pertains to the task at hand. Accomplish what needs to be done, instead of drowning in interesting details.

How are you taking care of yourself? Have you had enough sleep to think straight? If you're exhausted, even a 10 minute nap can help. Overall though, regular sleep produces better results. What about coffee? Too much coffee can be bad so be careful. If your hands are shaking and your brain is going too fast, lay off the coffee. Are you hungry? If you're starving, you are not really thinking about work. Go eat.

Take care of yourself. Eliminate, or reduce distractions. Visualize. Strategize and don't over extend yourself. Plan in small, realistic steps and expect the unexpected. You're human, but improving your mental focus will help you accomplish whatever you decide to do.