Today in honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day, Lisa and I thought it would be fun to make a list of all the things that distract us in life. In all honesty, it would probably be easier to make a list of things that don't distract me. I tend to be quite scatterbrained and flit from one thing to another without finishing anything. However, I am supposed to make a list of things that distract me AND I am going to attempt to write this post without any interruptions!!
1. The internet--Duh! It's a big distraction for me. I'm working on it; I promise! I think it may be a slight addiction at this point, so I am making strides towards lessening my dependence on it. I've even been closing my Facebook tab on a pretty regular basis lately!
2. My kids--Whose aren't?! I could move around the house diligently cleaning and not get any interruptions (or at least I assume that's true, I've never tried diligently cleaning my house!) but the moment I sit down to do something, the kids need something. Or I'll try to make a phone call..."Mommy!!" Even going to the bathroom gets interrupted!
3. My phone--I try to keep the sound off, but then it's easier to lose. It makes all sorts of noises that distract me. The little ding that means I have a text message! The other little ding that says I have an email. That whistling sound that says someone has sent me a Tweet! All those little noises distract me. Not to mention those few times that someone actually calls me to talk!
4. Cleaning--I'm trying really hard to be better at cleaning, I promise. I've read Fly Lady and other motivators, but it still isn't sticking. One Fly Lady rule that really distracts me is the "one touch" rule. If I remember correctly (I can't go look it up, because...no distractions) the "one touch" rule says that when you pick something up you have to put it where it belongs. It is meant to keep you from moving the same items around and around and never putting them away. The problem is that when I'm in the bedroom and I find something that belongs in the kitchen, I go there to put it away. While in the kitchen, I find a toy. The toy goes into the toy bins in the dining room and then I find a piece of trash. When I throw that away, I realize the trash bag is full, so I take it out. Then I notice that the mail has been delivered and...WAIT!?! Wasn't I cleaning my room?
5. Making brownies--This is not a unique occurrence. It's actually fairly common.
6. Checking email at home--Sometimes I want to sit down and try to accomplish some "paperwork" stuff at home. So I open up my email on my iPad and I notice that Julie has sent me a pin on Pinterest. But my email doesn't tell me anything about the pin except her cryptic and curiosity inducing comment: "hahaha!' So of course I click on the pin. Then the iPad switches over to the web browser, which loads halfway before it brings up the Pinterest app. So I can finally see the pin Julie sent (which is hysterical, btw) but now I'm in Pinterest instead of my email.
7. BuzzFeed--Please tell me I'm not the only one. Someone will post a link on facebook and I'll go look at it. Their interface is pure genius from their standpoint!! All over the sidebars and throughout the articles themselves, there are links to other lists. So I click on one or two to open in new tabs, and all of a sudden I've got 20 tabs open...and that's a slow day!
8. My brain--I am truly, truly working on being still this year! But whenever I sit still and try to think about nothing, my brain starts thinking of all kinds of other things: like what's for dinner, whether Frances remembered her violin for school and if I remembered to pay that bill. Being still and appreciating quiet takes a LOT of discipline and I'm not there yet, but I'm going to keep trying!
9. Making lists--One list spawns another or a double check on something I already wrote and I get distracted and don't always come back to finish the initial thing I was working on. Even making lists to help me stay organized only ever halfway serve their purpose!
I'm not sure, after making this list, how I ever get anything accomplished!! For the sake of full disclosure, I wrote this post on a weekend during "quiet time" when the boys were supposed to be napping. I didn't keep track of exactly how many times they interrupted me, but it was more than a handful. But, for the most part, I succeeded! I didn't check my email or facebook at all during this post. I didn't go look up relevant posts to link up here (though I will later). And look! I wrote out a whole list of 10 Things That Distract Me!! What? I didn't finish it? Crap!! It must have been a squirrel!!
Your Tuesday Ten hostesses are:
We hope you have enjoyed our Tuesday Ten Lists! If so, please link up one of your own and share using #TuesdayTen!
Rules:
1) Link up a post, old or new, pertaining to the Tuesday Ten topic for this week and add our Tuesday Ten button to the post or to your sidebar.
2) Please do not link up contests, product reviews, or sponsored posts.
3) Visit your hostesses and follow them on social media.
4) Visit three other linked posts as you can and show those bloggers some love by commenting and/or sharing!
Come link up again next Tuesday, January 28, 2014 when the topic will be "Things you should say to your kids/spouse more often - based on this Kid President video.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by! I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a link so I can return the visit.