Before you begin to read this I want you to know you may be surprised. I am not here to help you set goals today. Or to help manage a hectic lifestyle that may need some goal setting. I am not an expert on that at all. In fact I have lived by the seat of my pants for a long time. Here’s where you can feel free to judge me.
I have a problem with attention span. Mainly because of the excessive amount of TV watching I did as a child. I never realized it until adulthood. Am I okay with it? No. Can it be irritating to some? Maybe. I never knew how difficult it could be to handle. I seriously put my best effort forward and just come short. Now am I throwing a pity party right now? No. I work my problems to my advantage. Allow me to explain.
I plan for my forgetfulness. Yes that’s it. Two to three minutes or even days before I set everything up so when it’s time to execute I have already started the process or completed it in some kind of way. I’ll give you an example. If I have a report due or paperwork to send I finish as much as I can right away. When distraction sets in ( and it will) I place that information in a place that others will see it and remind me it’s sitting there. Or actually where they will put something else and ask me about it. I also set reminders. I have at least two alarms that I set a day to keep me focused. Productivity is very important to me. I have a lot to accomplish in a day. So I almost have to trick myself and others into helping me stay focused.
So what about goals? Well if it’s that hard for me to plan my day you can almost guess how goal setting has been for me. HARD! Yes honey I’m not the advocate for goal setting. I’m all about getting to a certain point by a certain time frame though. Essentially it’s the same thing but understand that if I use that word it makes me lose interest. I know you have to make a certain time to get started. Plus develop a timeline. All of that is necessary to stay focused. But I’m not here to speak on that. I’m here for the ones that have been defeated by timelines, deadlines, and circumstances. The ones who find more excitement in catching up with Wendy Williams than Brian Williams. The ones who have seen every episode of their favorite show on Netflix in one night. The ones who sit in front of a project that’s due by Friday on Monday and say “Eh..I got time. I’m getting Starbucks.” We are the people that annoy the organized. We frustrated the highly successful. We’re called lazy or unfocused. Slow moving or not driven. We’re given up on quickly. Folks are scared to ask us anything because they think we aren’t smart. The truth is …. we’re geniuses.
The time it takes for people with short attention spans to figure out if they want to do something is quicker than others. I can tell in the first 5 seconds if I want to continue. I mean why waste time? That just means you are sure of what you want and are looking for. BOOM! I’m not lazy. I’m not interested in finishing because it is not beneficial to anything I got going on. I’m an adult. I don’t have to keep going if I know from either past experience or research that it’s not for me. Not my fault that things beneficial to my life don’t cross my path daily. I’m not slow moving. There are 24 HOURS in a day. It will get done. Ask me anything. I am an arsenal of useless information. Found out the other day that Steve Tyler of Aerosmith may have African American descendants. Singers at that. How do I come across this info? I take time to read. Oh yes the unfocused are actually extremely meticulous and execute tasks quickly and well. I literally had a conversation with three people last week. Answered and listened to each one. Yes they were concerned I may be wrong but eventually surprised I wasn’t. And that I was actually listening. I wouldn’t suggest doing that but it worked at the moment.
Now there is some downfall to this lifestyle. I miss the organic development of relationships. I find that you almost have to stick to people like yourself. They are the only ones who don’t get offended by your characteristics. There are ways to find us. Just look for the people at the party who aren’t talking. The guy at the grocery store posting pics of the produce section on Instagram. Trust he came in with a list and already got his stuff. Betcha his cart is full. Find us in the movie theatre. We came alone and we’re leaving first. We have no interest in reading the credits or waiting for you to figure out how to navigate the stairs. We go to restaurants you have never heard of. We travel to cities that have a array of quarky thrift stores or game shops. And we wear at least one t-shirt with a super hero and/or Sci Fi reference frequently.
But we won’t have a planner. Or a briefcase. We are the group of decisiveness. We know what we want. And when that changes WE KNOW. And we’re okay with that. So stop trying to make us miserable. Stop trying to fit us in your boxes. We live outside the lines. We blaze our own trail. And then make the path visible to others. All completely by accident. It’s a rush living this way. But can be hard for others to understand. That’S what I plan to achieve. To get all those nay sayers that believe this way of life could never satisfy. I am hear to tell you about life without lines. I broke every boundary and am living a life without fear. Now excuse me while I go be great!
Life Without Lines 