This past week was busy for me. Lots of things that I needed to get done didn’t. Other things that were urgent did get done. Yesterday, in my quiet time at home, I decided to stop and list what things grab my attention.
My list included: Email, my business accounting software, phone calls, my calendar, my sales prospect software, business operations, my list app on my phone & computer, & my web store platform.
I’m guessing that others may list: TV, social media, exercise, children’s schedules, Netflix, house chores, laundry, and so on…………..Whatever grabs your attention during the day should be listed. There is no right and wrong list.
What occurred to me late last night is that nowhere in my list of attention sources was there any mention of my goals or what I am trying to accomplish this week, this month or this year! The tug of war for my attention has never included a truly thoughtful and present reminder of what I am trying to accomplish.
Something to prioritize my attention grabbers is missing.
It’s no wonder that I drift at times. Lose days or weeks at times because what grabs my attention and what I respond to has no measuring stick in my daily life. The attention getters scream at me while my roadmap stays hidden from my sight.
Many say that we should simplify our lives. Listing what grabs my attention was a first step (for me) at trying to do this. Making myself conscious of the sources that interrupt my day naturally was interesting. There were only 8 things —- not one hundred that do this regularly.
Within each of the 8 areas, there are many things. Some important. Some not. The fascinating thing is that because these 8 areas provide input into my day, I feel wanted and sometimes overwhelmed. Feeling wanted is such a basic human need. It feels good to be wanted. Yet it causes us to drift. We feel good, do lots of things, and risk going nowhere.
Listing the goals or outcomes we would like to see in our lives is the easy part. Dancing to our attention grabbers each day becomes routine. The difficult part is finding a way for your goals and desired outcomes to scream for your attention amidst everything else each day.
Our attention grabbers need to be filtered in a way that we end up spending a majority of our time on things needed to be done along our roadmap of goals and outcomes. We need to align our efforts and spend more time on doing things that will make our future a little better. It’s the only way to get there. Even when it doesn’t appear that way, as we pass up something we used to easily do for something that is less certain and more difficult.
Most things we want in the future will require us to do things that are less certain and more difficult. This is always the case. Find what grabs your attention and then measure them against the roadmap you have drawn for your life. Get them aligned, spend time on the roads you need to travel on to get you a little closer to your dreams and never give up. Never.