In an environment of interruption and shifting priorities, focus cannot be determined by prioritizing a project.  If focus is to be achieved, let alone narrowed, choice must be used.  The question of “Why are you working on that instead of this other thing?” must be able to be answered, without fear of recrimination, “Because I chose to work on this now.”  Because, really, when the phrase “all things being equal” applies to priorities, my focus wanders all over the damn map.

This morning, I’m arguing on the internet to wake myself up.

My amazing wife has suggested to me that I not think about my goals in terms of which I should accomplish, and which I should discard.  She has suggested that, instead, I think about them in terms of which I should accomplish now, and which I should accomplish down the line.  This feels like procrastination to me, but upon further reflection, all deadlines for these projects are self-imposed.  My feeling of having to get them *all* done *right now* is internal, and is not a part of the goals and projects themselves.  If I look at my goals this way, I can arbitrarily assign importance, perhaps based on length of time required to achieve the goal, and then choose a goal on which to focus.  I can do all of this without feeling like I am abandoning the other things that I’ve started.

I need to finish what I start, after all.