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Hurricanes and Distraction

As a motivational speaker, I’m either out speaking or in my home office here in North Carolina.  Since the hurricane starting heading this way (and the Weather Channel started freaking me out!), I’ve been constantly distracted.  What is the storm doing now?  What will it be doing? What might it do?  When might it do it?  Good grief!  I’ve lost more productivity than I did on Amazon Prime Day!  Clearly I needed to get a grip.  After all, I’d done my prep; all there is to do now is wait (and hope the power doesn’t go out).  Today while the storm rolls in, I’ve managed to pull it together!  I’ve been able to focus and get some work done, and I thought my tips might help you focus on just a “normal” day.  (Whatever normal might be – I’m going to define it as a typical crazy day sans major weather event.)

Here’s what I did:

Last night I wrote out a prioritized list of things I needed to get done for work.  The list is really helping me stay focused.

I’m only watching three storm updates:  1.) first thing in the morning, 2.) when I break for lunch and 3.) mid-afternoon.  (Could you try that with e-mail?  Or other things that distract you?)  Yesterday I watched them all day.  Got nothing done.

I’m staying off social media.  Yes, I do want to check in with all my friends across the state, but I’ll do it tonight.  Or, honestly, I’m pretty sure they have other things to worry about.  Is it really about them, or is it about me?  (My ego or my procrastinating?)  And more often than not, I get sucked into random funny videos and other trivia – not truly connecting.

I’m asking what I call my clarifying question – “What do I need to be doing that will generate revenue?”  That is what matters to me when I’m at work.  Your question could be something completely different, “What do I need to be doing that will get me out of here in time for my son’s ballgame?”  “What do I need to be doing that will get me promoted?”  You get the idea.

Meant to post this on Friday – but the power went out.  Sometimes no matter what you do to stay focused, the unavoidable happens.  Then, just start again – see above.  Limit inputs, stay off social media, and know what really drives your desired outcome.  And take an umbrella – you never know.