It can be hard to protect your time to get important work done. Sometimes we get interrupted by other people who need us to drop everything we’re doing and work on their thing first. Or we get an unexpected phone call or some other kind of interruption that we didn’t plan for and need to take care of. But sometimes we are our own worst enemy when it comes to protecting our time. We sit down with every intention to get our work done but then a thought pops into our head about something else we should be doing and like a dog who sees a squirrel, we get distracted.
I write my books and work on the blog in the mornings. I do this so that it doesn’t interfere with anything else I’m committed to during the day. Also so I don’t get the stink eye from my wife.
Every morning since last June I’ve woken up at 5:00 AM. I should say almost every morning. On the Fourth of July we had friends over and stayed up until 3 so I woke up at 7. Then one day I woke up at 5 but fell asleep on the couch as I waited for my coffee to brew. I woke up at 6 to cold coffee.
But for the most part, for the last eight months, I’ve been on fire with waking up early and writing for two hours each morning. However, over the last month, I’ve really been struggling with focusing. Which I realize is ironic, having just published a book on how to improve your focus. The reality is, we are all human and can use a swift kick in the arse sometimes, even if it’s us kicking ourselves.
I’m almost done writing my next book which will be on memory. It’s an interesting enough topic, but I’ve gotten into the bad habit of procrastinating during the first hour of my day instead of writing. I’ll check my stats, or I work on email, or I get lost in Facebook. Then I’ll look at the clock and see that half of my time is up. Wasted. Gone forever. I feel tempted to throw in the towel and give up.
Today I got back on track. I let the last month go and started over. That’s all you can do sometimes.
If you’ve been beating yourself up for not sticking to your plans and protecting your time, let it go. It’s a new day. We have another chance. Recommit yourself to your goal and begin again.