Out of Focus

I may be alone in this, but as I get older the laser focus of my youth has been replaced with a sort of multi-taksing-attention-deficit-disorder. I find myself wondering why I went into the Kitchen for the fourth time and what was so important that I went after it four times. As I stand there in the kitchen, bewildered, I wonder if I’m slowly losing my mind or getting early onset Alzheimer’s.

Somewhere between raising children, climbing that corporate ladder, and trying to “work on myself” I left something behind – my mind!  I once could sit down and churn out 30 pages worth of writing without an iota of effort. Not now. My mind seems to wander and I lose my focus.

This condition complicates everything but makes sitting down to write really, really hard.  I think of a thousand things I need to do that have nothing to do with writing. I get up and do some of them and others I forget before I actually get there to do them – like whatever was in the kitchen. Yeah, I know this sounds like procrastination, and it is. But, it’s part of the same problem – being scatter-brained. How did this happen? When did this happen? I guess I’ll never know for sure, so I guess it’s just best to deal with the problem at hand.

I find that a routine helps. Praying helps. It helps to get some distance sometimes too. Oh, and lists – lots and lots of lists. My husband has already learned the chant “if it ain’t on the list – it don’t get done”. His question is usually, “Which list do I put this on? The to-do list, the to-get-list, or the to-want-list?” I usually respond, “The to-wish list?”

Am I alone in this? What do you do to find your focus? (I could use some help here).

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