Imagine yourself having a time of your life working and thinking of great ideas that you want to do afterwards. All of a sudden, your thoughts began to overflow, to the point that those thoughts stopped you completely from doing anything. Until seconds later, all of your thoughts and ideas were erased completely from your mind, leaving you stuck on a spot, doing nothing… until you gave up thinking and just lied down and sleep.
Welcome to my life right now.
Brain stuck. From the title itself, it’s already self-explanatory. If you have a lot of ideas in your mind that you want to do at the same time, probably to save you time and effort, this can be the result. Overthinking and overprioritizing may lead one not to be able to finish a task on time, until one gives up and ends up procrastinating.
I’ll be honest with you because I’ve been like this lately. So I want to make sure that this will not happen to me again.
I thought of listing down things on what to do if you’re in this state while you’re trying to reach your personal and/or family goals. These things are still in the stage of being tested, but who knows, because like I’ve said in my previous posts, nothing will happen if we don’t give it a shot.
- List down things you want to do. You have a lot of things going on in your mind that you want to do, but it’s better to list them first. In that way, they will not disappear from you head overtime, that will also remind you on what you have to do.
- Plan on what to do first. What do you think is the most important out of those things you’ve listed? Try to rank them from the most important to the least important, that will help you prioritize what to be done first and what you can easily do the next day.
- Schedule it up. Remember that you can’t do every single thing you’ve listed in a day. Try to put up a schedule based on their level of importance, e.g. You need to make a weekly inventory then do the laundry in the next couple of hours, or you need to review for the big exam by studying, let’s say, three nights a week, but you need to do your homework first as it will be due the next day. Sort them out based on urgency and not just pick on a task you think it’s easier to do.
- Sync in all your calendars on all your devices. Whether you are studying or working, you need to make sure also to schedule the hours you spend on your mobile phones or computers for your personal needs, like social media. Make a strict schedule as to when you will open your Facebook account or YouTube. Better yet, download some free productivity tools such as StayFocusd where you can block your social media accounts while working or studying at home.
- Write a journal. If you’re the type who hates writing stuff (like me), this will be a good opportunity for you to make plans ahead. Writing a journal doesn’t just keep your head running, it also helps you remember things that you need to do. In my personal opinion, this is much better than just saving your tasks on your mobile phone’s memos app, as they have the tendency to get erased whether by accident or with a virus if we won’t be careful.
The key to keep your head focused on things you want to achieve is planning ahead and weighing their importance. The more you keep your thoughts organized, the more you will realize that you’re saving time on other things that also need attention, and this also helps your mind (and even your body) be at ease. Your brain also needs exercise, so I hope these tips will somehow freshen up on what you need and have to do. Just don’t forget to list then first, as well as writing down your big WHY for you to be focused.
The Lazy Banana 