Using this strategy boosted my focus and limited distractions immediately. It’s a simple and effective strategy to “park” your distractions or to-do lists for later.
In this video, I've got a quick and easy way for you to manage distractions when you're working on something. Whenever a distraction comes up in of a later to do, you simply write it down and park it to save it for later. The parking lot idea is a simple yet easy trick to help you concentrate better and stay locked in.
In this video, I've got a quick and easy way for you to manage distractions when you're working on something. I use this idea at work and at home pretty much whenever I'm doing any task. And it's really helpful because for me, my mind is constantly running and rattling off things I've got to do in the future. Maybe I've got to get groceries later on. I got to send this email to this person. I've got this work event coming up next week to prepare for whatever might be, myself included. We've got distractions going on and this idea really helps with that.
And it's called the parking lot. What it is is that anytime a distraction comes up in of a later to do, you simply write it down and park it to save it for later. So for example, if I'm preparing for a training at my job, I'm in my office, I'm locked in, trying to focus, I'm doing some research or developing an outline, whatever it might be, something comes to my brain as a distraction. Maybe it's oh, I just remembered I've got to talk to my coworker about this other project or ah, this would be a good idea for a copyright video.
Whenever that happens, I simply write it down on a sticky note and park it. This is the same purpose of an actual parking lot. What do you do there? You leave your car there and get back to it later when you need it. And now that helps us think about this parking lot idea is that it eliminates the tabs that are open and ongoing in your brain. What happens if you've got 20 tabs open on your computer? There's a lot going on and it can diminish your focus on whatever it is you're trying to do. So putting these to do's in a parking lot closes that tab for now and helps you stay focused on what you're doing.
In the past, before I learned this great tip, I would be distracted and I'd be forgetful. I'd have these great ideas in the moment, but then I'd forget them later on. Now with this idea that I use, like I said, all the time, I can remember the running to do lists easier while still maintaining my concentration on the task at hand. It's also really helpful to do if you're struggling to fall asleep and you're ruminating in your mind while you're in your bed. Maybe you're thinking about the next day's to do's.
Well, you can use this parking lot idea to brain. Dump those to do's or those distractions and you can get to them the next day. The parking lot idea is a simple yet easy trick to help you concentrate better and stay locked in.
