While attempting to write this feature I have, in no particular order: refilled my water glass, eaten a snack, refreshed my email, gazed out of the window, set five separate alarms in a bid to time-block my afternoon, retrieved a Diet Coke from the fridge, guzzled said can of DC, refreshed my email a second (perhaps third) time, taken a toilet break, gazed out of the window some more, spent at least a minute considering a second Diet Coke. It’s not that I don’t want to write this article – I’ve been excited about it for weeks. It’s that I have a real issue with focus, and despite trying all the productivity tips I’ve been fed by social media "experts" and book authors who have bound and published their hacks promising turbocharged productivity pre-8 am, I’m yet to overcome it.
It’s one of the things I find most frustrating about myself, and what’s worse is that it feels completely out of my control. Sometimes, when I try to write, my mind morphs into what I can only describe as the shop floor in Oxford Street Primark. Or one of those huge, warehouse-style American thrift stores. While there may be some gems lurking, you have to sift through the chaos in order to reach them. I rummage around in my mental word bank for an introductory sentence that feels a perfect balance of engaging and on-topic, while remaining concise (you’ll see I failed the third point this time around), but there’s so much clutter up there it feels overwhelming.
