We think we need time, but what we really need is focus.
When I sat down to write the post How one of my clients systematically (and simply) dismantled her piles, I realized that my work sometimes feels like an exercise in tricking people into focusing. Though the example shared in the post was my client’s brainchild, it had me reflecting on the countless ways clients focus so clearly when we’re together.
As I sit to write this, I’m struggling with focus! There are carpenters cutting new hardwood steps just feet away from me. Christmas gifts that need wrapping. The world wide web just one click away. A to-do list of small things that require far less focus than this post! It feels impossible, until I strong-arm myself through it and get into the writing groove. To use these posts as an example. What I put off seldom takes as long as I expected, once I FINALLY focus.
With classic paper sorting projects, so much of my time is spent passing small pre-sorted piles to my client. Figuratively, and sometimes literally, I sit between them and the mountain of paper that has been in their way. Getting started is never pretty, but if you want to know how the sausage is made, imagine me finding a bag of paper. From there, I naturally create crude piles in my lap and on any surface surrounding me. These often look like:
Kids
Credit cards
House
Newspaper clippings
Probably trash, but I need you to glance at it first.
Medical
Then, I pass these micro piles to my client. Within these piles can still lie a lot of chaos, but to have a client focus on a single category at a time is profound. Projects usually contain countless loose ends and stress-inducing threads of life. When they focus on any of these, singularly, inertia breaks.
The mere fact that organizing sessions are 3 hours, forces a level of focus. What we accomplish in 3 hours is sometimes more than has been accomplished in years of spinning wheels.
The loudest wake up call I’ve had on the topic of focus was when I read a post on Cal Newport’s book, Digital Minimalism Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Cal Newport authored the Bible on focus, Deep Work. He preaches that we are capable of so much more than we realize, but few of us are willing to do the work it takes to focus at length without distraction. He’s not a fan of social media, multi-tasking, or even email.
When I want to poke holes in his theories, I remember that he’s younger than me and has written 6 books, and is a tenured Georgetown professor. Books to my name: 0. (Wait, I wrote an eBook!) In Digital Minimalism he teaches us how to take a radically different approach to how we use our boundless digital tools. I’ve never agreed with anything more, but still have been unwilling to take his proposed “30 Day Digital Declutter.” I’ll share this again in the new year, but please read this book preview by Eric Barket in the meantime.
Excerpted from the post, 5 things I learned about organizing in 2018
