DistracTED

This is Ted Nash. The latest collie to join the Nash household. I think it's fair to say that he has turned our daily routines upside down and inside out. He's a typical 10 week old puppy - full of (in equal amounts) curiosity, energy, excrement and urine! Therefore I am generally to be found 10 paces behind him, extracting potentially dangerous obstacles out of his mouth whilst navigating razor sharp teeth and showing him the way to the garden for his toilet habits! In more sane moments I am trying to teach him all the usual doggy commands and give our other two collies some attention too.

When he eventually crashes into a blissfully deep sleep I find myself hurriedly doing all the things that I used to have all day to do; having a shower, eating, housework, admin, lesson plans etc and I'm amazed how much I can achieve because I'm so focused on getting it done, knowing that little Ted will wake up at any minute.

You see I have been dogged (sorry!) with poor concentration all my life. Getting anything done takes me a very long time because of distractions i.e. I allow my mind to wander. I generally have 6 or 7 tasks on the go at the same time and I can take all day (or all week/month/year) to finish them. I can't multi-task to save my life and if I get interrupted whilst in the middle of something then it could be days before I go back to completing it. But having Ted has made me make good use of my time and be very in the present (you know, that thing that I'm always banging on about in class).

For example; I know that I take far too long in creating our yoga lesson plans; hours can go by and I still haven't completed that evening's lesson because during that time I've rehashed it several times plus I've stopped to empty the dishwasher, do the ironing, make lunch and mow the lawn instead of staying focussed on just one task and giving it my full attention. What should take an hour takes several instead. Not any more .......!

See if you can stay focussed on at least one task today without allowing your mind to wander and be distracted. I can lend you Ted if it helps?!