“Schedule Drift”
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“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until focused.” -Alexander Graham Bell
When trying to adhere to a schedule you’ve set for yourself doesn’t work as well as you want it to, it can be frustrating, and sometimes may drive you to go off-schedule entirely. At least, it does for me. I’ve been using a handful of different Pomodoro timers to help me stay focused during the day, and I finally found Tide, which has been fantastic overall. However, even with all of the external enforcement, I still manage to fall off almost everyday. I’ll go over my allotted time for working, work right through a break, spend 20 minutes on what should have been a 5 minute break, that kind of thing. I tend to do better with things when I can name or personify them, it helps me put a word, face, or image to a concept, so, I’ve coined the term “Schedule Drift.”
So, yeah, you might have a regimented schedule to help you stay on task, avoid distractions, maybe do some physical activity during a short break, but sometimes you just… drift. Like I’m doing right now. My 5 minute break ended, and I heard the bell in my headphones, yet here I am, still typing away at something I find far more enjoyable than work. Talking about working just feels so much more productive. I’m not alone in feeling that way, right?
So, how do we quell this subconscious desire to drift from our schedules?
I’m sure you know what I’m going to say, but I think both the terms “intention” and “mindfulness” come to mind. I currently work a relatively boring, run of the mill, desk job. I sit in a fluorescent office staring at two computer monitors all day, listening to music or answering phone calls from patients. Because of this, I normally get sucked into any distracting thing I can get my hands on, be it social media, or some 3 hour YouTube video about the Augur of Dunlain. I just can’t seem to get away from any distraction, which feels defeating at times, especially since this job is a stepping stone in a potential career path for me.
So, what can we do? How do we migrate from staying on break for a couple minutes longer or working right through our breaks? I’ve found two methods that have been incredibly helpful for me. One being keeping a distraction tracker. Normally I’ll keep a note open on my PC, somewhere buried under about 15 other windows, that I can quickly Alt-Tab to the next time I have some random thought. Similar to what David Allen has said: “your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” If you continue to think of things, but then don’t do anything with them, it can feel kind of discouraging. Especially when you get home and ask yourself “what was the thing that I can do to make doing x, y, or z easier?” So, with this little notepad window, I can just type whatever is on my mind, then quickly Alt+Tab back to what I was initially working on. This removes the idea from your head, but lets you keep a record of it. This almost skirts around the ever-present threat of context switching. But a simple switch to a note is enough to get an idea out, and immediately go back to what you were working on.
Be intent on being mindful
Going back to those two cliche terms: “mindfulness” and “intention” let’s step foot into those methods — in terms of intention, it’s important to set forth what you plan to do while working. For example, on Mondays I normally send out over 100 patient records to clinics, hospitals, and healthcare facilities. I tell myself before I even start working that I will hit a minimum number of faxes, with the understanding that it’s okay if I miss the mark by a bit. Setting a goal for myself that I know can be obtainable. Of course, not all work is quantitative like this, so determining the intention you set each day is subjective. Next, check in with yourself. Discover that you’ve somehow mindlessly wandered over to Amazon and have been going down a kayaking rabbit-hole for 20 minutes? You’re not alone. Recognize what happened, acknowledge it, and most importantly, do not be judgmental about the action. Simply know that sometimes distractions occur, and you’ll be that much better at catching it happening next time.
Now, in terms of mindfulness, that’s simply being present in the moment while working. Your mind will wander, you may start to daydream about that trip you’re taking next month, you may feel your focus slipping a bit, and all of that is okay. The important thing is to acknowledge the wandering, daydreaming, and slipping focus. Then take a break for a little bit, maybe 5 minutes, just to let your brain relax and get out of the mindless workflow you’ve found yourself in. Then, when you start working again, do your best to remain present in the work you’re doing. This is tough for especially mundane tasks, but it helps immensely when it comes to the more cognitively-demanding tasks. Finally, be intuitive — know how your head works, and know that it’s okay to take a break for a little bit if you’re feeling fatigued. Being in tune with your mind and body is a fantastic way to understand how you focus, what keeps your focus, and what may drag you back down the hole of distractions, and with that, you can mitigate and reinforce as necessary.
So, yeah, mindfulness and intention, got it, but…how does this all tie together?
So, with Schedule Drift, it’s normally caused by us falling into a mindless routine, or it’s just a force of habit. When we fall into these states, it’s really easy to lose track of time, and just get lost in the work, or whatever we’re doing. I’ve stayed up really late working on trivial issues just because I could, and never found an answer. Then the next day? I didn’t even need to be doing all the extra work, I just didn’t want to do something a certain way, or wanted to find a workaround. I’m write in this blog on my Pomodoro timer breaks, so, sometimes I end up just typing through the whole five minute period, and then some. By being aware of what we’re working on, while a bit more tiring mentally, is a huge help to maintain focus, regardless of the task at hand. Even if it’s something we love doing. Distractions are always going to happen, especially when you have a dog as cute as mine. So, pop your headphones on, set a timer, let whomever you’re in the house with that you’re gonna be working for a while, and to only get you if it’s important, and then just start cranking away at whatever you need to work on.
In short: do the work to the best of your ability, minimize distractions, and really do your best to focus on focusing on what you’re doing. But just remind yourself that it’s okay to fall off the wagon sometimes, just do your best to hop back on, and keep pushing through. You got this.
