Getting Distrac.

Having spent this morning making lovely new friends here at WA, I caught myself red-handed in the act of becoming distracted. Ironically, this was after I’d said hello to a new member (hi Baldy Kev!) and advised him to stay focused.

This led me to think about how easy it is to veer off course.

When I first started off on this wonderfully exciting course (and I can’t believe it’s only been 2 months), I worked my little fingers to the bone day in and day out. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning to carry on with the next lesson.

However, the more I learned, the more I seemed to tie myself in knots with new-found knowledge. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Thank goodness I wasn't too well up on this internet building business!

During my first month here, I became – obsessed isn't the right word, but it’s not far off – fixated on making my site looking the best it could possibly be. The problem was, I wasn't focusing on the content, more on the shiny new plug-ins I’d just seen on somebody else’s site. Once I’d seen the video on how to identify a plug-in, I was off……searching for this and that, digging deep into the code on other websites then trying to find the plug in to add to my site. Eventually, my brain almost exploded and I just couldn't take in any more information. I had to take time out from WA and go cold turkey.

Coming back a week later with a clear head, it was obvious that instead of writing new, engaging, exciting (as exciting as juicing can be) content, I was looking in not only the wrong direction, but I was trying to look in every direction at the same time.

My WA email notifications would pop up continually…….”someone has just liked your comment”, “someone answered a question”, “someone is now following you”, “someone, someone, someone…..”. Each time one popped up, I’d immediately pop back over to the site and answer it, taking me away from the task at hand. After all, it’d be rude not to, wouldn't it?

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s wonderful to make all of the great new friends and become a part of this fabulous community, but it was time to take myself in hand and become more disciplined.

So from now on, I've decided to turn over a new leaf (or 5).

My new resolutions:

1. I’m dedicating an hour at most every day to focus on the WA community where I’ll leave comments on sites, answer messages, chat to people and all the other lovely social things we get up to.
2. I’m dedicating the remainder of my WA time to writing content for my site – after all, that’s why we’re all here.
3. I’m turning off my Outlook email notifications. This’ll prevent me from getting distracted. I know it only takes 5 minutes to answer a post, but when you suddenly find an hour’s disappeared because you looked at something else on the way, it a time stealer.
4. I’m going to stop looking a shiny new plug ins, bells and whistles.
5. I’m going to take it easy and accept that I can’t do everything at breakneck speed and earn thousands of pounds in the first few months (I can’t be the only person that has that little thought in the back of their mind).
6. KISS – not sure if it’s a UK thing, but we say Keep It Simple Stupid.

In the words of Paul Simon “slow down, you move too fast”.

If you want to turn your Outlook notifications off; from the File Menu, select Options, then Mail and remove the ticks as required.

Stay focused folks......