Staying Focused (One task at a time!!)

[Lillith]

If I'm in my kitchen (where I am most of the time!) preparing a dish or baked good and something spills on the counter, I immediately wipe it up. Then I realize the counter could use a cleaning so I stop what I was originally doing and clean the counters. Or, let's say I'm in the bedroom changing the linens but dust on the furniture catches me eye, so I stop w/the linens and start dusting the furniture. Am I the only one who can't stay focused on the task at hand?? (Please, please, say some of you can relate to this!)

[Escher]

Heck, that's the way I clean...

oh, these keys belong on the counter...hmm, this counter needs wiping... oh, now the paper towels filled the trash...oh, I'm under the sink for garbage bags, might as well change the dishtowels.... etc.

[sneezles]

My Golden Rule:

Never clean the woodwork you'll end up cleaning the entire house!


BTW, the book is finally in the mail! :p

[AndreaU]

Originally posted by Escher
Heck, that's the way I clean...

oh, these keys belong on the counter...hmm, this counter needs wiping... oh, now the paper towels filled the trash...oh, I'm under the sink for garbage bags, might as well change the dishtowels.... etc.

This is me to a T! At home, in my classroom, outside in the yard, in my car...

[Chefzhat]

Originally posted by Escher
Heck, that's the way I clean...

oh, these keys belong on the counter...hmm, this counter needs wiping... oh, now the paper towels filled the trash...oh, I'm under the sink for garbage bags, might as well change the dishtowels.... etc.

My goodness. I hope your lovely spouse appreciates you. :)

My dh is great around the house, but somehow changing the dishtowels is below his radar!

[Jazzmatazz49]

I was the same way, but after teaching ADD kids for a while, I finally shamed myself into focusing on one thing at a time. It really works much better that way, although I have to put blinders on sometimes.

[rosie_one]

I used to do this too, still get caught up in it now and then. The flylady routine beats that out of you. I hop on that bandwagon when things are bad and it helps me get it together.

[mbrogier]

You've described my life to a T.

Here's something we all should look into. ;)

http://www.strattera.com/index.jsp
:p

Flylady drove me nuts. All those emails were way too much, and my attention span is 15 seconds, not 15 minutes. :o :p

[Beth]

It's not just cleaning -- start to paint something out doors -- need something to pry up the lid. Go to the garage, get out the birdfood to fill the feeders while there. Phone rings on way through kitchen. Start to switch washer loads while on phone. Stop half way through to hang up phone. Discover the cat made a mess and stop to clean it up. Notice the spots on the cabinets and wipe them down. Take the rag to the laundry room where you spot the tool to pry open the paint.

I tend to multi-task a lot, but sometimes it works better than others. And this is without the DH or kids at home. With them, add 2 interuptions to everything! The more tired I am or the further behind life is in general, the worse it seems to get -- or even while you are so busy that everything is getting behind. It seems to be part of the process. Some days I can multitask through completing all those things and keep moving through more, but other times, I can't get any of them finished. Don't know if it's me or just the the way the day goes.

[wallycat]

ummmm, no.

I do that with stuff I want to read, but cleaning, ha!!

I do what has to be done so no one in the house gets sick and end of project ;)

[Lillith]

Thanks to those who replied and confessed to having the same, er, "disorder" as I. The bright side is that everything eventually gets done (even more so w/all the "side-bars!).

[Jewel]

It's the story of our lives. DH and I are identical that way. Maybe that's why the front of our house is painted ivory with dark burgundy trim, and the other three sides are still 25 year old skanky light blue...and we started painting before we got married, and we've been married since 1999. :o Why our kitchen that we remodeled ourselves three years ago still has no baseboards. :o Why our main bathroom that we remodeled a year ago still has no baseboards, door frame, or trim pieces put back on. :o Why the garage we spent our vacation cleaning out still has a pile that has to go to the recycler. :o

Now he's talking about painting our bedroom. :eek: Somebody stop us!!

[JHaris]

I sometimes have to laugh because many times I get started on one thing and what I end up finishing(?) is completely opposite. I once was cleaning the window sills in a bedroom and thought I would "touch up" with some white paint that I had. Well, one thing led to another and by the end of the week, because that "touch up" made the adjacent area look bad, the whole bedroom got painted!

DH watches with this funny look on his face as I proceed from task to unrelated (in his eyes)task. Now, in my mind, everything makes perfect sense.

[Lillith]

Originally posted by Jewel
It's the story of our lives. DH and I are identical that way. Maybe that's why the front of our house is painted ivory with dark burgundy trim, and the other three sides are still 25 year old skanky light blue...and we started painting before we got married, and we've been married since 1999. :o Why our kitchen that we remodeled ourselves three years ago still has no baseboards. :o Why our main bathroom that we remodeled a year ago still has no baseboards, door frame, or trim pieces put back on. :o Why the garage we spent our vacation cleaning out still has a pile that has to go to the recycler. :o

Now he's talking about painting our bedroom. :eek: Somebody stop us!!

This made me laugh! Problem is, as I see it, you have a different "disorder"...starting a project but not finishing it. I'll start something & move on to something else, but eventually will finish what I first began. Taking the circuitous route isn't the fastest, but sometimes produces the most results :)

[Kay Henderson]

Originally posted by Lillith


Taking the circuitous route isn't the fastest, but sometimes produces the most results :)

I agree on this one. I remember a comment by Peg Bracken the author of the "I Hate to..." series. She noted that it was easy to ignore a spot of jam on the door, thinking grandly that someday she would do the woodwork in the entire house, when actually, the most efficient thing would be to wipe it off. I think it depends upon the circumstances, how well a person can judge the passage of time and how long something takes.

For example, this coming week, I'll be out of town for two days, will prepare for my DH's 60th birthday party Saturday, and compile and send out a newsletter. I won't dare get too distracted 'cause there isn't much time to spare.

The thing I have to watch out for is deliberately distracting myself if there is something I'm avoiding.

This has been a most interesting thread. I'm glad you started it.

Kay

[Cookin4Love]

So, let me see if I get this...

What you're all saying is that I should not be stopping to read this thread (and others) after every paragraph of the essays I'm grading? :D :D :D

[Jewel]

Originally posted by Lillith
Problem is, as I see it, you have a different "disorder"...starting a project but not finishing it.

Oh, how right you are Lillith! And it's embarrassing as heck, but it's so hard to stop. Problem is, DH and I are the exact same way. Now, if one of us was the opposite, then one of us would simply nag the other one until we got the project done! Both of us have the "it looks good enough for now" chromosome, so we walk away from the project and forget to go back to it. It would take us one Saturday to finish the kitchen, and maybe a full weekend to finish the main bath. The outside of the house is a lost cause. It's not the painting, it's the scraping of 25 year old chipped paint on wood siding that has us running! :o

[Canice]

Oh, I've always been that way and wouldn't want it "beat out of" me; otherwise I would set out to dust the book cases and end up with...dust-free book cases. As it stands, I set out to dust the book cases and end up with dust-free bookcases, dust-free everything, vaccumed floors (may as well do the whole place as long as I've got it out!) watered plants, sorted mail, etc.

But I am soooo with you, sneezles, on the woodwork; my apartment was built in 1917 and every ceiling, wall, hallway, and door (and it has lots of hallways and doors) is loaded with wainscotting, paneling, moulding, trim and every other word there is for "dust catcher". Never mind that it's a huge project in and of itself...it invariably leads to vacuuming, dusting the whole place.

[swquilts]

GUILTY TO ALL OF THE ABOVE!!

:rolleyes: :eek: :cool: :D

[BarbaraL]

I not only do this, I also talk like this sometimes. We'll be talking about something, and someone will say something that reminds me of something else, that reminds me of yet another thing . . .
I happily proceed with this mental leapfrogging, and eventually say something completely unrelated to the original topic. How I got there is completely clear to me, but utterly confusing to my DH. Drives him crazy. DD, however, has gotten very good at following my logic (that drives DH even crazier) - thinks we're both nuts.

[imloulou]

Originally posted by Lillith
Am I the only one who can't stay focused on the task at hand?? (Please, please, say some of you can relate to this!)

If there was a club...I'd be the president! :D :D :D

[imloulou]

[i]O
Flylady drove me nuts. All those emails were way too much, and my attention span is 15 seconds, not 15 minutes. :o :p [/B]

Me too! I go visit Flylady a few times a year...whenever I need some serious motivation...but I am no longer on any email reminder list:rolleyes:

[hlao23]

Originally posted by BarbaraL
I not only do this, I also talk like this sometimes. We'll be talking about something, and someone will say something that reminds me of something else, that reminds me of yet another thing . . .
I happily proceed with this mental leapfrogging, and eventually say something completely unrelated to the original topic. How I got there is completely clear to me, but utterly confusing to my DH. Drives him crazy. DD, however, has gotten very good at following my logic (that drives DH even crazier) - thinks we're both nuts.

I'm like this and so is my sister. I feel sorry for people when they have to be around both of us at the same time. :D