I recently listened to a Ted talk on NPR that talked about how we are never happy when our mind is wandering. It sucks the joy out of the particular task we are doing and makes us melancholy. You can go to Trackyourhappiness.org and an alert will be sent to your phone to ask you to rate your happiness and then it will ask you what you are doing. After a few days it will give you a "happiness report" of when you are happiest the most!
Most people were least happiest when their mind was wondering.
As a mom it is easy to let my mind wander when I have lost vision and focus for why I am doing the often mundane tasks I am doing. Here are a couple of tips that have helped me "get back in the game".
1. Reading books and blogs that inspire me as a mom are tools that refocus me. Facebook and Instagram definitely don't do this. They definitely send confusing messages. But I can pick up an awesome book and read a paragraph or two and I am reminded of the "why" for what I am doing. Some of my faves are:
* The shaping of a Christian Family by Elizabeth Elliot
* The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
* Inspired to Action (blog)
* The Art of Simple (blog)
2. Getting up before my kids get up. When I have time to schedule out my day and write down some goals, I can stay focused. When I spend time with Jesus, I get happy!
3. I make clear boundaries when it comes to social media. There is nothing like getting sucked down a black hole when you decide to check FB for a few minutes and then you totally forget what you were doing before! Ha!
I want to be in the moment with my kids. I know as an adult there is nothing worse then when I am sharing something with another adult and I can tell that in their brain they are just somewhere else. I would just rather not share with them! I always want my kids to want to share their lives with me!
What are some ways that you stay focused on the task at hand?
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