Old habits die hard. I know. But even if the new year angle is slipping away from you, try new month instead or just flat out hit the reset button regardless of the calendar and make a commitment.
I once heard it said that it takes two weeks for something to become a habit. If you’re struggling with the same challenges from January and from 2022, make this be the day you decide that you’re just not going to tolerate the same results (or the lack thereof) anymore.
Easier said than done? Not really.
Let’s say that there’s a course you’re taking. Maybe it’s a songwriting course, or perhaps it’s an acting course, or maybe it’s even my interview tips course. If you just can’t seem to make a dent in it, don’t put all kinds of pressure on yourself to get it all done in one sitting. Do what’s called the pomodoro method. You simply set a timer for twenty minutes and only work on that one thing. That’s it. Just that course that you’ve been having trouble chipping away at. Or whatever it is that you just can’t seem to make headway with.
Now, I know what you’re going to say. “Bruce, I really do try to stay focused on one task, but then emails come in or text messages, and I get distracted.” That is a very valid argument and I’m happy to tell you that there is a solution to avoid those detours.
For my mail I use Outlook, which means that notifications come in at the bottom right corner of my laptop screen. But guess what? When I absolutely need to stay on one task and not get pulled away by something like an email message, I simply put something like a postcard over that portion of my screen so that I can’t see what’s coming in. Make sure it’s not something see-through, though, or you might pause and say, “What did that say? Was that from Steve? I better look.” (Pro tip: go one step further and hit the Mute button on your keyboard – mine is on the F1 key – so you can’t hear them coming in either.)
This is going to sound scary, but you can actually go even more extreme than that.
For the next example, consider all the folks out there who are doing their own video editing. You wish you could farm it out, but instead you’re doing it yourself. You really want to get the latest project done to upload it to your YouTube channel, but whenever you try to work on it, yup, something prevents you from finishing. Go one step further than what I suggested above and close your email altogether! Besides, your computer is using up enough memory with the drain you’re putting on it from the video project, so it’s good for your machine too.
We’re on the right track, but we still haven’t addressed that device that’s surgically attached to your hand, which is your smartphone.
There are three options here (unless I go to the extreme of suggesting the unthinkable fourth, which is powering it down altogether). First is that you can choose to turn off some or all notifications. Second is that you can simply put your phone on Silent or even on Airplane Mode. (The latter will help you save battery too.) But third is something that I do regularly when I’m sitting at my recording rig, about to start recording an interview for my “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast, which is to turn the phone around completely so I can’t even see it. (It’s in a stand, but you can lay yours face down on the desk. Of course, my phone is on Silent too so that its noises don’t go onto the recording.)
Notice that these are all extremely easy to implement and CAN be started today. Don’t wait for March 1st and don’t wait until it’s too late. Your work, your business, your career are all counting on you to show up and be efficient. Don’t be up at 2:00 in the morning trying to finish something you could’ve done at 2 in the afternoon if you’d have worked more efficiently.
It’s also a waste of time to send a connection request and wait and wait to see if it gets accepted and then wait and wait some more to see if the recipient answers the introductory private message you sent to them. Eliminate the guess work and call me via the resource described in this article and let’s have an actual voice call about what else you might need help with. I have been helping clients from around the U.S. for 19 years now: performers (music), authors, podcasters, entrepreneurs, small business owners, people just like you. I look forward to hearing from you.