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What Are You Doing Right Now?

Tue, Jan 29, 2008

Productivity

 reading or working?

Are you looking around the room to see who I'm talking to?

Are you looking around the room guiltily to see who I am talking to?

Why would I ask?

Because if someone asked me that, I would be doing the same thing!

This morning, one morning after launching my weekly podcast on staying focused and productive while working at home, I found myself with about 10 windows open, no notebook as I suggested in the audio, and no plan to use what I was reading.

Just reading because it was interesting. Because maybe I would stumble upon something amazing… not that it would matter because I would have forgotten it 5 minutes after closing the site anyway

But I did manage to redeem myself by immediately asking myself these questions as I opened each window…

  • am I using this now? 
  • do I have a plan in place to help me use it later (notebook for example, the lifehack blog has got a different, and very simple spin on how to use a notebook for increased productivity)
  • what am I doing? Or better… what am I supposed to be doing. Is this it? No? Then shut the window fool. Blush

On top of that, I found myself checking my email about every 15 minutes – who's going to be emailing me at 3.30 am? Actually, my niece/VA Sahrina did, but she is the exception and not the rule! She was probably trying to get some peace and quiet :0) BTW, I don't usually get up that early, we had a storm and I wanted to get some orders printed just in case the power went out.

I thought that it would be a good idea to spend the day asking "What am I doing" and see how many times you catch yourself (or me) playing instead of working – filling time instead of using it to move another step forward.

ACTION TIP

  • ask yourself right now – What am I doing?  Hopefully at this moment you are learning a habit that is going to net you a lot of good work time today and the day after that, and so on and so on.
  • ask yourself that question often for the rest of the day.
  • Stick a post it on your computer screen, not in the middle, it works best at the top right Laughing  I just did mine and accidently wrote on my post it upside down (I do that a lot!) But it worked well because I was able to stick it so that it doesn't cover my screen, you might want to try that.

If you are looking for more focus in your business and would like to spend your working time wisely, subscribe to WAHM in Focus for free weekly tips on productivity, time management, organization, focus and of course – how to put them into ACTion. 

Also, you can listen to our WAHM in Focus podcast series.

5 Responses to “What Are You Doing Right Now?”

  1. It is so very easy to get sidetracked online…..I think it’s a common problem. It helps me to set my timer for 15 minutes and do only the thing that I set out to do, otherwise I can end up with multiple windows open, too! 🙂

    JoLynn Braley’s last blog post..Passing An Emotional Eating Test with Blog Site Issues Galore

  2. This is a great, simple approach to staying productive!

    If aimless surfing is a problem, I highly recommend the LeechBlock add-on for Firefox. It allows you to block whatever sites you find distracting during times when you need to be productive.

    Never the Same River Twice’s last blog post..How to Do Scenario Planning

  3. That’s a good tip to help maintain your focus throughout the day Jan. thanks.

    Karen (Karooch from Scraps of Mind)’s last blog post..Domain Registration

  4. GG says:

    Try netnotes for your computer. It is freeware that you can make post-its and bring them up for projects.

    As for me, today was a low, low energy day…I did one post and then cleaned out about 600 emails–(not spam, don’t ask).

    Anyway, congrats on your podcast! I’ll have to check it out. Make sure you put it up on iTunes.

    GG’s last blog post..Dogs of Fawnskin: Buddy

  5. I’ve just managed to kick the checking email habit. I am going to look into the the Firefox add on to stop surfing needlessly now.

    PreSchool Mama’s last blog post..Money Saving Tips – PreSchool Clothing


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