I know how hard it can be to focus on getting your work done at home. Trying to focus while the world is falling apart and your kids and other loved ones are clamoring at your door is not an easy task!

I’m sharing my list of 5 go-to helpers to get me focused and help me stay in the zone.

Focus Music:

When I’m working on monotonous tasks that don’t especially need me to be creative, I play my dance list on Spotify. Lil Nas X features heavily, I love him so much! This keeps me away from my usual distractors like reading or doomscrolling the apps.

However, when I’m editing the last thing my brain needs is words filtering through! So then I open up my YouTube focus music. I have two on my bookmarks bar so I don’t have to go searching for them. One is made of Gamma Binaural Beats that’s low and calm. I can kick up the volume on this to block out the loons in my house. The other is an upbeat instrumental list. I listen to this one when my energy is flagging. Those deadlines wait for no one!

In terms of pay apps, I’ve used Headspace—my meditation app—and Brain.fm. I found for myself they don’t work. But give them a try, they might work for you. And I’ve found Headspace to be a great app all around.

Timer:

I use Toggl Track and set my limit to 30mins. Then it gives me a 5min Pomodoro break. Just enough time for a stretch, bathroom break or to fill up my water bottle. You can use any sort of timer, but I don’t recommend using the one on your phone. I’ve found that my hands somehow find their way to social media!

House Training:

I’m not talking about your pets. I’m talking about the people in your life, be they at your house or trying to contact you through other means. My kids and loved ones are now trained to realize that if I have my headphones on, I am not available and not to be interrupted. Unless the kids are very young it is unlikely that they really need help and that you are the only one who can help them. This will be the hardest and will take a while. As with all things parenting, be consistent! May the odds ever be in your favor.

Plan ahead:

Know your need-to-dos for the day. Block off time to complete them.

Have a plan for dinner. I don’t necessarily mean a huge balanced meal, although that would be ideal and make our mothers happy. But even just a plan of ‘I have to stop at such and such time to order the pizza we’re having.’ But using the crockpot or Instant Pot to make dinner even easier is a great idea as well.

Running Thoughts:

Honestly, this has been a game changer for my ADHD brain. I learned it from the Getting Things Done method. I use AnyList for our grocery list. It allows you to share with someone and that’s how my husband and I navigate that task. But the life-changing use came when I started using it for my Running Thoughts. You know, the ones you get when you’re in the middle of something. You either think, it’s ok I’ll remember later (hint: you won’t) or you decide to take care of it now, that it’ll be super quick (hint: it’s not). I keep this list on my phone as a quick-open app and as a solo tab open on my computer. This gets those thoughts out of my brain so they aren’t running around distracting me. Write them down and you can come back to them when you have time.

These 5 things are going to make easy work of sticking to your writing goals! For more helpful information and interesting tid-bits, sign-up for my newsletter.