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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Daydreaming?

Hello all. I have been snooping around 43F for the past month or so after hearing and reading about GTD, and have been looking for a productivity community that might be able to help me. I'm a student working on my undergraduate degree, and I've noticed that my work habits are less optimal than desired, even when I get myself out of the house and go to an area where I can study (a coffee house, which does not have the sleep inducing characteristics of a desolate library, nor the temptation to talk to others). One problem I've noticed is that I tend to daydream quite a bit. Usually, when this is an "open loop," I just write it down and get it off my mind, even if it is something as mundane as "watch The Office while cleaning room tonight." The problem is how to deal with non-academic thoughts that occupy my mind, which cannot be added to some sort of project/action/to do list (such as when I've replayed a conversation I had earlier that day).

Any insights?

joshbickford's picture

Take a quick break, change...

Take a quick break, change what you're focusing on. Your brain can only study one subject for so long before it needs a break.

If you feel it's important, make sure you write down what you were thinking about so you can return to it later.

 
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