I think this is one of the trickier excuses because other common excuses often masquerade as this one.  For example people often say “I’m not in the mood” when they really mean “I’m tired” or “I just don’t want to”.  I’ve certainly used the phrase to express boredom or to cover up not knowing where to start – something that tends to make most people want to do just about anything else.

But when I use the phrase as an excuse it usually means something more akin to “I can’t concentrate” because I’m too busy worrying about something else and that’s taking up too much of my brain capacity.  For the computer geeks the CPU usage is maxed.  We’re human so turning that voice completely off is usually asking too much but reducing it to background noise should be doable.

Getting the worry or distraction out in the open is the first step using whatever techniques work best – lists, five questions, etc. then ask yourself if there is anything you can do to fix things right now (absolutely right this minute, not tomorrow.) If the answer’s yes, then that’s probably a priority.  If the answer is no, then put the worry aside until there is something you can do.

Sometimes even that is asking too much – when my father was in the ICU for ten days telling myself to postpone the worry wasn’t as helpful as it was for being distracted by bills.  But even then, when I stopped beating myself up about how fast I was working and let myself run at about 60% capacity I got things done.  Any movement is refusing to give the excuse any leeway.

I’ve done pretty well reducing my use of this one, doing a greater percentage of things that I really enjoy and are part of my personal goals has helped me be less resistant to the things that don’t come so easily.

Next week:  ‘Nobody will notice if I don’t do it because nobody is paying attention’

Technorati Tags: dealing with distractions, setting priorities, staying focused