Well Santa made it. All the wonderful gifts and family have arrived. I hope if you celebrate Christmas, he visited your chimney too. He really did improve his sense of direction because he focused and did the exercises. He had only one complaint: he left a note next to the hearth to ask if there was anything I could teach about “ramping down” to a task that seemed so boring. I hear this a lot in my office, how do I get to the task I really have a hard time focusing on because it takes so much brain energy to get started. Helloooooooo procrastination. Here’s my advice:
Create a routine that makes you “prepped” for the dreaded task. For example, my son was studying for finals and on his last final, the day before, he got out of school early. He was procrastinating to focus on studying (finals burn out) so he made a cup of coffee (something he doesn’t do very often.) He then went for a jog. Came home showered and then his brain and body were energized and settled.
Ok what if you are doing a work task, a home project, a dreaded tax task, etc.?
1. Find the time of day your brain is most alert and be consistent to do that task the same time every day.
2. What do you need for extra brain power? Cardio? Coffee? A little Suduko or something to start quieting your brain like mindfulness? For me sometimes it’s just doodling first or cleaning my office.
3. Make a deal with yourself: I’ll do this for 30 minutes and take a 5 minute break to have a snack or stand on my head or walk the dog, etc.
So recognize the games you play with your mind such as avoidance, I will clean the entire house before trying to straighten out the nest of mangled xmas lights b/c it takes all my patience.
4. Set a couple of alarms on your phone and make the last one a final warning. You’ve allowed yourself to see how much time you’ve wasted and now it’s ultimatum time (If I don’t do this my hourglass will run out and I won’t be able to finish.)
A word on ‘finishing”—decide before you start the task if you will finish 25%, 50% 75% or the whole enchilada. That way there are no dissappointments. If you say to yourself, ‘I can only do about a quarter of this today’ then you will be more successful with less guilt!
5. Use your self talk coach: I can do anything for 30 minutes. Truthfully if it’s a cumbersome task for your brain, be sure to block out ample time because once your brain does focus, you want to take advantage of the “flow” state of our mind.
Well that’s about all folks for 2018. Santa’s ramping down into some serious fun for the remaining week so…
See ya in 2019!
Cheers to a great memory goal for 2019! What’s yours?
Remember me until 2019,
Jenn Bulka, Memory Specialist
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