Have you suffered with this?

[Andrew Leatherland]

I've been asking a few questions on here recently so thought it was about time I tried to give a little something in return. Its nothing new and has been said on here plenty of times but I've learned in this place some things do need repeating. Hopefully though I'll bring somethng slightly new to the table. I decided to add it when I was back on the old forum and came across Steve Wagenheim's 60 tips for IM success thread. In at 50 I think was jumping from one thing to the next.

The constant thing that gets many of us, newbies and seasoned pros alike, is wheel spinning, information overload and warrior forum addiction. All of them happened to me this weekend and threw me right off track.

I was putting following a simple plan to test it out. I had been quite disciplined up until the weekend - working on my keyword research etc. I spent a little time on the forum as per my plan and then something caught my eye. Before I knew it, this spiralled. I spent most of the time available to me on Sunday bookmarking threads on a single subject. Then I started running of down the path of the threads. At the same time, a couple of product ideas popped into my head. This went into yesterday until the evening when it hit me, just how much I'd been screwing around.

Yes there were some positives. I had 2-3 product ideas and yes I had gathered a whole raft of threads and reports another area.

The downside is I had lost my discipline in getting what I started last week up and running. In addition I had left a gap between finding my keyword and setting up a domain whihc contained. All of my work to that point could have been pretty useless. Among other things I had become a victim of Parkinson's Law which basically states that a task takes up the amount of time alloted to it.

In one weekend I was struck with every curse that affects every warrior who struggles to make money.

Before I go back to what I should be doing I thought I would share this story and pass on what I'm going to do in the hope it can help some others who suffer from the same.

Now I can't change what has happened and I need to find a way to capitalise on it so it's not totally wasted.

Firstly I'm going to open up an ideas file on my laptop (hardly rocket science I know). I'm going to capture the product ideas and a brief description of what they entail. I'm going to keep that open each time I'm working on my current project. That way if something springs to mind I can get it down before I forget.

Secondly I've organised my bookmarks so that I can capture things in key areas. I do need to keep dipping into the forum to support my current project. Now if something slightly off my project catches my eye I can very quickly skim it to see if there is infomration that I might want to build on I can just bookmark and come back to it when I have the time.

What I want however is to build the self discipline to have specific times for drifting around and contributing to the forum (I'm a believer in Karma). If I need to come and find some information related to a project then I want to develop the discipline to come in, use the search function, get what I came for and get back to my project with no messing in the meantime. I think its a skill many of us should aspire to.

Thirdly I'm going to help myself stay on track with my main project by breaking it down into sections and tasks and setting an alloted amount of time to complete the task that is quite ambitious.

Why I'm particularly working on this is that I did it a few times last week. What I found was I worked with a lot more focus. I found what I needed and got it done. I started making hard decisions about what was a waste of my time and dropping them or storing them to come back to later. I was a lot tighter in what I was doing and did things that would only contribute to increasing my success.

Finally I actually felt more positive about the likely success of what I was working on when on many previous occasions I hadn't felt so positive about what I was doing and it showed in the end product.

Hope this is of some help.

Andrew

[WritingMadwoman]

Good post Andrew!

I've done the same thing, and I've found that the only thing that keeps me on track is to be really firm with myself. When I'm in the middle of a project I try not to spend too much time browsing here because it's way too easy to get absorbed for hours.

I try to do a quick visit first thing in the morning - then shut down the browser and not allow myself to come back until later, AFTER I've gotten my main work done for the day. Sometimes I still sneak in but for the most part I follow my schedule.

Your idea file is a great idea! I keep telling myself I need to create a "swipe file" but so far all I've got is a gargantuan collection of disorganized bookmarked threads. Not easy to find what I'm looking for! LOL

Wendy

[tessmac9708]

Its called "New Toy" syndrome.

You get all enthusiastic about something until the next new shinny thing comes along.

It happens to everyone, but you need to stay focused, or you'll end up as as a serial opportunity seeker otherwise known as a "Newbie"

Newbieitis as it is technically called, can be very addictive if you let it get a hold of you. There is no known cure and is very expensive to treat.

DR Graham

[Randy Meirndorf]

I know its just one more thing to distract you, but you should definitely check out www.simpleology.com Its a free course by Mark Joyner, and got me out of years of tire kicking. Teaches you to laser beam focus on the task at hand.

[acedalright]

Yep, maintaining focus is hard even for the most diligent people, you're not alone, but rest assured we are all just like you.