The older I get, the easier it is to get distracted. Not all the time, but it happens enough these days for me to notice. I can be in the middle of one thing, something else pops into my head, and there I go, down a rabbit hole I never intended to visit.
These distractions are happening more frequently during my unemployment. If I am being fully transparent, I have about 5 different training programs in process for different technologies. Plus, my writing on Substack.
Looking back, I was never this distracted when I was working, not in the same way. There were always clear-cut priorities to work on, issues to resolve, and communications to deliver. Necessity dictated the tasks I worked on.
Fast forward to now. I am effectively my own boss. I set my schedule, determine what to work on, and there are no daily fire drills or issues to resolve. Well, other than trying to figure out where my income is going to come from.
Yet I find myself distracted by the simplest things. The biggest distraction is chasing technologies that keep recurring in job postings. Yesterday, it was Snowflake databases; today, it's AI prompt engineering. It's become almost maddening.
I feel like I am bouncing from one thing to the next, never fully mastering anything. And I still don't have what I need for my freelancing portfolio because I keep getting sidetracked.
The issue is all mine. I'm still very unsure about which direction to go, so I keep changing my mind. It feels like being on a long trip without a working GPS or even an accurate map. What do I do while I'm waiting for God to answer my prayers and make my direction clear?
My cousin and productivity coach, Mark, would tell me to pick something and do it. Stop jumping around and do something, dig in. I'm afraid. I am not afraid of failure; I am afraid I'll put all my time into the wrong thing. It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud, but it's the truth.
So what's next? I have to settle on one thing to try, then follow through and try it. If it fails, I need to learn something from it. If it succeeds, it's a huge win. The only thing I have to do now is figure out where to start. I think I'll start with a conversation with my cousin.
Have you ever been paralyzed by too many options or decision paralysis? I'd love to hear your story.
—Daniel