$4.43 to focus.

I marvel at my inability to focus while at home. It has become my Monday morning routine to come to Panara, buy a Cinnamon Crunch bagel with Honey Walnut cream cheese and drink a few cups of Hazelnut coffee.

I've started this year trying to simplify and live more frugally (my Vibe is still for sale!), but have since decided that $4.43 is worth my not going crazy.

I have to pull away. Change my surroundings and dump my thoughts into a journal and I can't do that at home.

In fact I've come to realize that I have a number of habits that, if removed, inhibit my ability to focus.

• I always walk in circles when I'm on the phone.
  In fact, I have patterns that I walk when in the house - somewhat of a figure 8 through the living and dining rooms. This use to drive my mom crazy. This is what I do to process information. I have to move. If I were strapped down I would explode because information does not flow through my head without movement. Even when I read or write. I have to get up and walk around to think about what I just processed and what I'm about to process.
  
• I change my surroundings every two hours.
  Recently I've tried staying at the office thinking I would have everything available to me and would, therefore, be more productive. Not so. It has now become apparent to me that the minute I decide what I need to do next. I need to go somewhere else to do it. The library. My house. Anywhere other than the place I currently am.
  
• I need noise.
  I need visual as well as audible noise. I wonder if this has to do with me needing problems to solve. I do enjoy silence and will read and pray in silence; but if I'm trying to accomplish a task, I need a bunch of things going on in the background. In the past 20 minutes.
  
  

So in order to accommodate my needs I think I may contemplate building one of these:

Why this you may ask. Well I hypothesize that I would have my best phone conversations while walking the route. I would be able to think clearly through anything weighing on my mind. It may also serve to generate some ideas.

We sometimes get obsessed with "thinking outside the box" but I am wondering if boxes are exactly what I need. On Monday's I have my Panara box. In this box I dump my mind and thoughts onto paper, into files, and into cyberspace.

My home box consists of smaller boxes. My desk box hold all of my financial information. My bed box holds my dreams. My kitchen box holds my diet.

So really all that I'm ever seeking is getting out of the box I'm in that does not meet the need. My office box is good for processing emails and planning church services, but ineffective when I'm trying to generate ideas.

So my goal is to be fully present in the box box I am currently in, but to be aware of when it's time to get outside of that box.

OK. Off to the kitchen box to do the dishes.