I hate to say it, but this trial was kind of a flop. Tracking or noticing if I was ever really in focus on something was a complete failure, at least it felt that way. There were definitely some moments I was able to look back and think, “damn I was in the zone there.” One last thing I won’t really be able to measure the impact of in a few weeks is in regards to long term goals.
Focus on Future
Long term focus is definitely something I struggle with. I find myself constantly pursuing something new with the intention to return to the prior interest. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, but hey maybe I will one of these days.
Last year, I wrote a few posts on essentialism, one of which was literally a brief discussion of stepping away from all my side projects I have going on. I wish I could say I learned my lesson since that time. There’s definitely improvement, but I still find myself trying to pack a few too many things on at once.
Luckily, my most recent project has a very set end date. Over the past few months, I’ve been learning a lot about game development for the Game Maker’s Toolkit 2019 Game Jam. This is an event in which the goal is to make a video game in 48 hours. My goal is really to make something, anything. I’m totally new to this, but have been interested in participating the last few years.
Because of the amount I’ve needed to learn, I’ve really put a lot of other things on hold. Sure a few things slide into my inbox here and there, but I’ve been able to keep a surprising focus on the game jam.
The Daily Grind
Throughout the trial, I’ve made note of the things that lead to a loss of focus, and and taking steps to mitigate that. For example, I struggle with work sometimes if I’m sitting in silence. I started just putting some music on to get out of that silence. Here are a couple of my go to choices:
Something else that may have helped recently is setting some time in the day to let distractions reign. Going for walks, I let my brain jump around from thought to thought off the leash. Afterward, it tends to be easier to sit down on something.
In the end, tracking focus kind of seems like an oxymoron to me. If you’re focusing on something, but have to track that you’re focusing, you end up losing focus. Of course the intention to track would be a hindsight thing, but then you have to remember and all that. All in all, I don’t regret this trial, as there are some benefits, but it didn’t quite turn out as expected.
With this one behind me I’m gonna shift my focus from my mind to my stomach. For a while I’ve wanted to try doing larger meal prep days, and am going to try starting this week. My initial plan is going to be preparing all my meals Monday to Friday on Sundays, but might adjust as time goes on.
Trying Out Before Buying In 