Stick to a schedule

I recently read an article where a person said she would get started on her daily routine. Then she would get a little bored with that and switch to something else she enjoyed more and never get back to what she needed to do. She wanted to know how to avoid wasting all her time with the distractions.

While it is easy to get distracted, especially by more enjoyable tasks, they can keep us from doing what we need to do. To avoid letting those distractions use up all our time, it is good to organize our schedule to allow for the more enjoyable tasks. Here's how.

1. Make a schedule to allow enough time to get done what you need to get done. It doesn't have to be written in stone. A mental schedule can do the job.

2. Include in your schedule when you will do the more enjoyable tasks. This is important - to know when you will have fun.

3. Stick to the schedule.

So for example, today you have a blog you need to get done, plus some programming on a web site, and you want to spend some time on a project for a client. You also like to check in on some forums where you enjoy responding to questions and suggestions. It is easy to get bogged down working on the blog or project and switch over to the forums where you spend so much time you don't get back to your other projects in time to meet your own deadlines. To avoid that, you set 3:00 p.m. as a time to check in on the forums, and stick to that. Your mind will know you will get to the fun stuff then and you can relax at your necessary work. If you are tempted to go to the forums earlier, resist the temptation. It is a matter of discipline. Then when you get to the forums, you won't have to feel guilty about it. It is part of your schedule. Just set a time limit so you don't lose track of time and end up having to work later to get your necessary work done.

Distractions don't have to hurt us. Manage them with your schedule and you will be fine.