Are You Scatter Brained?

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

It’s easy for a day to get derailed from time-to-time, but what do you do when your mind starts to drift? What do you do when you just can’t find the motivation to keep your focus on what you need to be doing? What do you do when you get scatter brained?

I personally believe developing focus is one of the hardest things to do in business. With all the distractions we have with texts, emails, Facebook, organizing your leads, cleaning that imaginary layer of dust off your desk can make your mind stray in no time.

 
What is Scattered Brained Thinking?

I’m known to say things like, “What was I saying?” or to lie in bed wondering about 27 things in the span of two minutes.

But the work I do is very focused work. As is what you do – you’re talking to people, helping your team achieve their goals, juggling different prospects at different stages.

You probably have at least 53 thoughts going through your head in any quiet two minutes you can find.

 
How to End the Scatter Brained Thinking

So, what do you do with all this scatter? How do you get back to focused and results-driven work? Here are a few tips on getting past the scattered thinking in just a few minutes.

Whatever you do – don’t check your email

A study conducted by the U.S. Army and the University of California Irvine shows that when you check your email a few bad things happen: You change screens twice as often; you stay in a “high alert” state and your heart rate is more constant (not a good thing). Another study shows that checking email all the time is more damaging to your brain than smoking marijuana. So, if you want to get back to sharp, focused thinking – skip the inbox. The best way to deal with email – schedule two or three email sessions a day.
Don’t go to Twitter or Facebook, either. I recently went on a Facebook diet. It had to be done. Anytime I had to wait three seconds for something, I popped over to Facebook to see what was going on. So, I started only checking Facebook on my phone, which I keep in another room when I’m working. Try it for a week. You’ll have much more fun liking pictures and posts when you get a page full than when there’s just one new update. Plus, you’ll strengthen your focus.

 
Spend Some Time with your goals and accomplishments

Sometimes scattered thinking comes into play when we’re not crystal clear on why we’re doing what we’re doing. You can get a second wind when you spend a few minutes focusing on what you want to achieve. Another trick that works is to write down a few things you’ve accomplished. Being hard on yourself will only lead to further procrastination.

 
Keep a running list of what you’re thankful for

When you start to feel your blood boiling and that out-of-control feeling, it’s a good time to take a quick second to revisit all that’s good in your life. Your spouse. Your kids. A car that runs. Food on the table. A desire to do something better for your family and yourself (meaning your business). Good friends.  A heart of gratitude is a great cure for what’s ailing you.

 
Clear Your Head

This is an old writer’s trick for curing writer’s block. But it’s also a great trick for anyone who can’t get started or focused on their task at hand. Write down everything that’s worrying you, bothering you or needs to be done. Take 10 minutes and get it on paper. Then, prioritize your list. You’ll find that you will be more focused. And as you check things off that list, you will feel more accomplished and moving forward toward your goals.

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