If you find yourself lying awake at night unable to sleep or being anxious about your work and the multitude of tasks that seem to be on the urgent list, then this simple but powerful tool that I have used for many years, will be of help.

The intention behind the distraction list is to get all our worries, our mental to-do lists and reminders out of our subconscious and on to paper. One of the reasons we can’t sleep is because the mind is trying to remember all these “to-do’s” that are grinding away in the background, creating a low-level hum which works against the calm we need in order to rest.

The simple act of writing things down takes them off the background cycle of worry and brings them into the light where they can be dealt with. Once in writing they can be reviewed, prioritised, actioned or discarded. Here’s how you can eliminate distraction today:

WRITE IT DOWN

Take 20 minutes to write down a list of everything that is on your mind, worrying you or niggling in the background. Include the full range of things from ‘take the cat to the vet’ and ‘buy Angie a present’ to ‘draft the proposal’ and ‘ speak to John about his absenteeism’. Keep on writing until everything is down and you can’t think of anything else.

ORGANISE YOUR TASKS

Next is to organise. As a first step I like to move my personal items to one side in order to separate it from business. Then I mark any items I can delegate, and cross off anything that is never going to get done and needs to be dropped from my worry list. Typically, this is something that has appeared on the list many times before, and on examination is something that isn’t a big deal. For example, this could be a well-meaning intention to hold a house-warming party and it’s now 6 months later!

PRIORITISE

Having separated your list into personal and business, delegated where you can and deleted what isn’t important or ever going to happen (let it go!) you have a shorter list that needs prioritising. First mark all tasks that have an urgent deadline and put them at the top of today’s actions. These are the things you must get done. Rank them in order of importance and commit to doing them first.

SCHEDULE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Then schedule the remaining items so that they get done and can be removed from your anxiety list. This scheduling is important as it reminds us that everything does not have to be done today and by putting structure into your list you can create calm in the chaos. This will also help you be aware of the tasks that will keep you busy over the next weeks and months.

Lastly, I find that I use this distraction list technique whenever my anxiety levels are rising and life feels a bit chaotic, and if in the middle of the night I can’t sleep I switch on the light and write down what is grinding in my head. The effect is profound.

I would love to hear if this distraction list has helped you. Email me and let me know the results.