Staying Focused

[CFOontheGo]

I get on the internet, intending to write posts for my blog, and I end up spending all my time doing "research". I have taken desparate measures, and now do not allow myself to get on the interenet until I have been writing for at least one hour. How do you keep yourself from being distracted?

[Will]

Step 1: Get off the forums!

Just kidding come back!

If you can't fight your distractions, the best thing to do is accept the fact you'll be distracted and work around that limitation.

Mark Shead of Productivity 501 recently interviewed me about interesting ways to stay productive. This is what I said:

I learned this from Tannaz Sassooni, one of my favorite Wise Bread bloggers: Put an old fashioned egg timer on the desk. When I start a long or boring project, I'll set the timer at 15 minutes, and no matter what happens, I'll force myself to take a break when the alarm goes off. At first I thought the timer will (a) stress me out or (b) distract me. But it turned out to be a great idea. I often procrastinate because I hated doing long and boring projects. But if I promise myself a 15 minute break no matter what, I'm much more likely to be productive. The gentle ticking of the timer is also a lot of fun. I sometimes pretend I'm a spy trying to break top secret codes from the NSA, while in reality I'm just answering emails from cool bloggers like yourself.

What I didn't mention is that during the break between the 15 minutes of productivity, I'm surfing Digg and chatting with Lynn about what we're going to have lunch that day. And by chatting I mean trying to get Lynn to buy me something to eat.

[CFOontheGo]

The egg timer is a good idea. If I told myself I only had to work for 15 minutes before I "had" to take a break that might work.
I think I'll try that and I'll let you know how it goes!

[imagine girl]

The egg timer thing sounds really interesting. Did you try that when we worked together Will?

Those of you who have worked with me before know my trick. Just put on your headphones, turn on the sports radio chatter and plow away for three to four hours. Then I take a nap. I love and hate my job.

[Greg]

Every since Tannaz recommended it, I've been meaning to give it a try. (Ok, I didn't try that hard, which is why 8 months have passed.) Today I moved the kitchen timer to my desk. I blocked off my day into 30-90 minute segments, and you know what, I was more productive today than I've been in a while.

The alarm going off was kind of jarring, but having a countdown timer really exposed how inefficiently I was using my time. I think I worked faster w/ the timer because I knew I only had to do the tedious work for 30 or 60 minutes. So yeah, the kitchen timer method does help with focus.

At least it did today. We'll see how long it lasts. The alarm on this thing is pretty annoying....

[MillionaireMommyND]

My favorite productivity tool is my digital kitchen timer, too. I illustrate exactly how I use it for blogging tasks in this post:

Productivity Tip: How to use a digital timer to get things done

Nothing can sideswipe my attention and redirect my efforts quite like the world wide web. The timer keeps me focused, motivated and targeted on the individual task at hand.

Here's an excerpt showing my typical blogging schedule:

Weekly (Blog Business):
15 minutes: backup previous posts and template changes
15 minutes: submit posts to blog carnivals
60 minutes: collect links; thank carnival hosts through comments, write and publish my blog carnival roundup
45 minutes: thank bloggers for new incoming links
15 minutes: identify new posts to write during upcoming week
(Total = 2.5 hours per week)

Daily (Blog Business):
15 minutes: reply to emails
15 minutes: respond to blog comments
15 minutes: read new forum messages
15 minutes: check stats
30 minutes: read other blogs, leave comments, copy my comments for future post ideas
(Total = 1.5 hours/day x 5 days = 7.5 hours per week)

Writing Process:
30 minutes: brainstorm, research, outline, collect links
60 minutes: write rough draft
30 minutes: edit, polish, proofread
15 minutes: publish to blog
(Total = 2.25 hours/post x 3 per wk = 6.75 hours per week)

TOTAL = 16.75 hours per week

With more blogging experience under my belt, I'm faster now with most of these activities.

[CFOontheGo]

Thanks to everyone I am starting to get myself back on track.
MillionaireMommy, I am copying your schedule and using it for myself. Now I don't have to spend the time to make my own!

[Leonardo Cassarani]

I use a surprisingly simple solution to stay focused whilst writing – the iChrono Dashboard widget for Mac OS X. Although it's nothing more than a stopwatch (told you it wasn't anything fancy!), the mere thought of time being tracked down helps me stay focused by constantly reminding me that I'm working within a well-defined window of time that doesn't allow for anything else to interfere with my work. I think the key to it is being extremely rigid with starting and stopping the stopwatch, e.g. being careful to stop it when you go to the kitchen to have a cup of coffee and starting it again as soon as you sit back down.

[purplefdu]

I normally make a list for myself grouped according to length of time they each take. I make sure to do two short, one medium, and one long before taking a break with the dogs and refilling my glass of water. Then I get to check e-mail and spend 5mins doing as I please. Then back to the list. Works pretty well and I take alot less time plus checking off the list feels good.

[MrsMicah]

Scheduling is a good idea if you have trouble sticking with it.

I frame it in terms of rewards. Like if I get this blog post done then I can do something fun I want to.

And sometimes I frame it in terms of punishment--like I can refill my water bottle until I finish the post. Not nearly as healthy but also effective...