Busy instead of productive

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed a decidedly negative trend in my work habits.  I have been reacting to the environment rather than trying to create the right one.  I have been busy instead of productive.

Busy is such a seductive temptress.  If you are busy, you can tell people how busy you are and how hard you work.  ”I can’t do this or that because I am too busy.”  It sounds good, but the results are quite unfavorable.  It’s always been interesting to me how quickly good habits erode and how long it takes to rebuild them.  Many times I think that I have no control over what happens, and that if events overtake me then I am powerless to control it.  No doubt that happens at times, but it has been the norm rather than the exception.

I was talking to a good friend yesterday and telling him how my mind just feels muddled all the time.  I am not thinking clearly, and as a result I am not executing well.  Things that should have been done a few weeks ago are being set aside each day because “I am too busy.”

I know well enough to know that things like this ( for me ) take time to fix.  Doing things I enjoy ( like writing here ) need to happen because it is fuel for my brain.  There is something about writing for me that frees up my mind.  I also know that part of it is just taking the time to do it.   I also have to be more disciplined about my time and the interruptions I am allowing.  Just like I wrote about a few weeks ago, one of the main benefits of working in solitude is the control over interruptions.  And yet, I have not been taking advantage of it.

All of that to say that today I am taking some steps to adjust and try to re-focus on the important things.

How do you adjust when your life starts to spin out?  What are the adjustments you make and the disciplines you introduce ( or re-introduce ) to fight back?