Must Focus

I've joked for years that given enough time, I can think my way through a brick wall. I've also known that to do so, you must focus in single-minded obsession on those things that are important. The world, however, is now geared to perpetual distraction. The social media platforms are all dedicated to stealing your attention, either by triggering your fears, your rage, always your emotions. Nor is it just the platforms. The on-demand world permits easy avoidance of the hard work that is needed to accomplish, well, nearly anything. "I'll just watch one show on Netflix." ends with a binge session of eating, watching, and zero productivity.

Throw in the most divisive and poisonous political environment in my lifetime, and the obstacles to good work can overwhelm most everybody. It's not just me. Chuck Wendig hosted Kameron Hurley at his blog, Terrible Minds, to discuss working through the upheaval. There's some great advice in that article. Go read it and see for yourself. (Disclaimer: I know who Chuck is; he has no clue I even exist. If he did, he'd think I was wrong about damn near everything. Go read the article anyway.)

I've let myself get distracted. And angry, which is why I haven't blogged in months. Like I did with so many other things, I will fix the problem. In my case, that means going cold turkey. I've already purged a goodly chunk of my Twitter feed to get rid of the politics. I'm down to runners, writers, and travelers. Things that add value to my life.

It's time to perform triage on the distractors and, if I can't do it with a scalpel I'll bring a bloody great axe to the job. One way or the other, it will happen.

Must FOCUS - Fixed On Course Until Successful.

One of the best acronyms I've employed. Time to put it on steroids.