Dan Reads and Writes

In about two weeks from now, I would be taking my comprehensive exam for a business degree I am working on. The test covers 18 topics and I have scarcely reviewed for them. I was going over one of the materials for taxation earlier but wasn’t absorbing anything. It all looks foreign to me, which is ironic because as a tax-paying citizen I should be able to understand how I am being taxed. Don’t get me wrong, I am interested in mastering the subject, I just don’t have the focus for it.

Lately I have been struggling to find the focus and work on just one thing. There’s all these thoughts in my head about what I am doing now, what my future would be. Expectations I have for myself, my colleagues, friends and family. It doesn’t help that I overthink, I am overstimulated by what I see on social media and there are way lots of distraction options to keep my focus somewhere else. Instead of the task at hand. In some days it’s so bad that I end up not accomplishing anything.

I am sure I am not alone in this, most adults probably face the same challenge. I am not the first person to ever have encounter this problem. So how do I fix it? How do I find the work that I need to do engaging? How do I keep moving so I can get things done, be more productive and feel a sense of accomplishment?

I have been (again on the social media) watching videos on Youtube that talks about productivity, and there’s one specific content creator that has been inspiring me. He came out with a book recently, which I plan on reading. Along with the other book recommendations he has. He lives such an amazing and enviable life, but it also looks attainable. And the answer to that is – just do the work! Hahaha, I know it’s pretty obvious.

So how do I exactly do the work? He talks about having a bias for action – he says waiting on something to get started only delays any progress you can accomplish. A few years ago I had a dream of blogging for a living, the digital nomad lifestyle was such an attractive notion for me. You get to live and work anywhere, without the confines of a schedule and physical office. There’s also a certain level of financial freedom that can go with it, if you get paid enough that is. But all the work that I have done thus far was to push me away from my goal. I took on freelance work but I had to be online during certain times of the day. When I got tired of that I moved to an office job that also required me to report to a fixed shift AND a physical location. Don’t get me wrong, I am very much appreciative of all these opportunities given to me. It’s just not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life.

Now this is where I am applying the “bias for action” mentality – this year I plan to learn a skill that would allow me to work remotely. Few things I am looking at would be software development, content creation and/or anything that allows me work online. I am going to put in the effort to achieve the first option since it appears to be the hardest. Thank god for the internet for the overflowing resources I can use to learn. I’d give it a year while I am working on my current job, then see where it takes me. It’s gonna be tough, I know. But I want to think that I am made for tough times. I am (partially) smart and can be very determined if needed. If others have done, then I can do it too.

I just need to wrap up things I am entangled with, like that business degree.

BRB, I have a test to prepare for.