Getting Practical – Focus and Overwhelm

This morning has been one of those times when I am feeling scattered. Perhaps you know the feeling – where twenty thoughts seem to vi for your attention and yet nothing really seems to stick.

For me this looked like – I need to take a walk, no I should listen to this podcast, well I could listen to the podcast while I walk, wait did I update that spreadsheet, oh what about that book I was going to see if the library had and on and on it can go.

In times like these I can get very frustrated with myself. So if you are feeling something like this as well, I thought it might be helpful to get really practical. I watched a short youtube video by Tim Ferriss where he spoke about this very thing. In it he shared a very short checklist of things he asks in these times.

Am I eating enough? Tim is very health-conscious, much more so than I am, but I do think the point can be valid. Sometimes our lack of focus and/or overwhelm can be a simple physical need. As he said, we may just need to eat some nuts.

Am I consuming too much caffeine? Again see note about Tim’s focus on health. I am not a coffee drinker, so this is not necessarily my likely cause, but it could be my consumption of sugar etc.

Reflective Questions – he went on to share a few really easy reflective questions that he asks himself and answers – always on paper. He feels writing them out is especially helpful.

80/20 Analysis – What are the 20% of activities or people that are producing 80% of the positive feelings for me? And what about the negative?

What would this look like if it were easy?

He shared that sometimes the reflective questions, just allow him to process and let go. Other times they actually spark a change he wants to implement.

I hope that this serves as practical help for others who may be wondering how to process through feelings of lack of focus and overwhelm.