Weekly Note: My (lack of) Focus

Plus Goodnight Moon, fancy coffee, and a new app

I have a deadline on a big project and you’d think that would be enough to get me motivated but you would be wrong. Somehow I have less focus and am procrastinating more than ever. Is it the state of the news? Is it my phone? Is it the never-ending list of household jobs? The mental load of motherhood? Yes, it is probably all of those things. So how can I fight through all of that and get my butt in my chair to do the work?

Here are some things I’ve tried so far:

• Using an app. Ironically, the best way I’ve found to focus is to use my phone. Specifically, the Forest app. If I use my phone during a Forest session, I kill my tree. And I don’t want to do that.

• AirPods. Even at home I need to use my AirPods to help me focus. I usually put on a background music playlist (something with no words) but they even work sometimes without any music. My husband also works from home and I can hear his calls if I don’t use them.

• Co-working. Co-working with friends in a cafe works really well for me. We get to catch up, work for a while, chat for a bit, work some more all while enjoying a fancy (or not) coffee and delicious snack. I try to do this once a week.
  

  

  Working breakfast

• Retreats. This is obviously only an occasional thing but there’s nothing like a couple of concentrated days in a cabin in the words or a hotel by the ocean to get my work done. No responsibilities. No children. Just creative time.

  

  My Highlights cabin - take me back!

How about you? How do you focus and get your work done? I know some people use accountability partners and I think that could be a great tool. Or you can be your own accountability buddy with a sticker chart system (which I have used in the past until I forgot about it, whoops.)

p.s. some of the links are bookshop.org affiliate links so I might earn a small commission if you buy from them, but as always I encourage you to visit your local independent bookstore instead. This month I’ll be donating any affiliate earnings to the LA wildfire relief.

• Do you read Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s substack

  Looking at Picture Books
  ? I loved the breakdown of Goodnight Moon this week. I can still recite that book from countless bedtimes. I laughed out loud at this part:

MAC: There is a tiger skin rug on the floor.

So these rabbits have killed a tiger. Or bought this tiger skin rug, presumably from a store for rabbits and run by rabbits. What I’m saying is that in this world rabbits hunt tigers.

• Follow KidlitForLosAngeles on Instagram for the latest news about an auction for Los Angeles wildfire relief.

  kidlitforlosangeles

  

  A post shared by @kidlitforlosangeles

• On Kidlit Survival Guide this week I shared some ideas for creating vision boards. Do you have one? Here’s mine:

  

  My 2025 Vision Board

• I posted this last week but reposting and I will continue to keep this open.
  If you’re a teacher in LA please reach out when you’re ready and I will donate a virtual school visit to your class anytime in the future.

• I finished The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan and Pictures of You by Emma Grey this week. I’m now reading The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers and The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. Pictures of You was a real page turner and I enjoyed the dual timelines. My copy is now in my Little Free Library ready for the next person to enjoy.

• I came across the app Notion in two different places, on the same day, so I downloaded it. It can be used for myriad things but so far I have set up a reading log (thanks for the tip

  Becca Freeman
  ; template from
  Beyond the Page
  ). TBD if I keep it up but I like how it looks so far. Does anyone else use Notion? What else do you use it for? I think I could use it for writing tracking too for sure and other projects.
  

With love,
Christine xo

Buy my books from your favorite local independent bookstore, my local indie Linden Tree Books, Bookshop.org, or other online retailers.