FOCUS!

Does this photo give you a headache?  Yeah...me too!  Welcome to my brain! Focusing on writing takes a whole lot of discipline my friends.  Especially when there are so many other things on my mind. 

However, I recently tried a technique to help me focus which was introduced to me by a writer acquaintance. Now I will share this method with you. By the way, this technique can be used to accomplish any task; obviously I'm using it to keep my writing on track.

Start by setting a timer for 50 minutes.  During that time, allow yourself to concentrate fully on your task.  Turn off your phone, disconnect your Internet to keep yourself away from emails and other distractions, and just WORK! Fully immerse yourself in the activity for 50 minutes.  When the timer rings, it's time to take a 10-minute break.  You need to walk away from whatever it is you were doing.  (In my case, I need to leave my desk.) You can take a quick walk, go get some water or food, but only take 10 minutes off.  Then do the entire thing again.  Reset the timer for 50 minutes and once again immerse yourself in your task.

I used this technique the other day.  It was difficult, but everything worth having is difficult, don't you think?  It's really intense to work this way, but I got a lot accomplished, so it is definitely a productive approach.  I wrote using this technique for about 6 hours and I will admit it was exhausting.  But rewarding!  Not sure I could work at this intensity level every day, but for a couple of hours a few times a week, it may be the way to go.

So if you've been having trouble focusing, you might want to try this out.  It's really important to take that 10 minute break, and then immediately go back to your task.  Don't let that 10 minutes turn into 15 or 20...you'll lose your momentum and then the focus is gone, gone, gone.

Give it a try...let me know if it works for you!