Needing Some Serious Intervention

Lately, I've been feeling like my life is like one of those books by Laura Numeroff- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give Pig a Pancake... I'll start out with one simple task and before I know it it's ballooned into the realistic staging of the Battle of Gettysburg in my backyard. It starts out innocently, I'll be preparing dinner then.... I'll start checking my email, take a peek on Facebook, remember that the laundry is still in the dryer and start putting that away, before I remember that I wanted to write down the next events in my story before I forget them but first I should put that blog entry that's been floating around my head into words, oh and what about dinner?

Last year, I wrote about my addiction to multitasking but awareness hasn't led to any behavioral change. I need someone to stand behind me and poke me with a pointy stick the moment I start veering off task. Any takers out there? I'll even give you a cool title like Task Facilitator. Unfortunately, at this time there are no funds to pay for this position so what is a girl to do?

I considered hitting myself on the head with a wooden spoon each time I feel myself wandering off but this could possibly lead to more problems, instead I've initiated a home intervention experiment. I've been forcing myself to work on one task at a time. When I feel myself straying, I mumble 'Focus. Focus' a couple of times and this has been effective. Although my youngest has been mumbling it also but it sounds more like a four-letter word.

Is it working? I don't feel like I'm getting as much done as before but I'm not as tired and cranky at the end of the day (which is a real plus). I still have to remind myself, like I'm one of my kids, to finish what I started before I go on to something else. I even managed to write this entry without checking my email or Facebook once (okay I did glance at my email but I didn't click on anything). I guess this is progress but I still may need a Task Facilitator so keep those sticks sharpened. I'll keep you all posted on my progress.