Park the Rabbit
The human mind is meant to wander. This is the result of Evolution. Hundred thousand of years, our ancestors could not afford to focus on just one thing. The mind that was constantly scanning, jumping, connecting, noticing the irrelevant detail that might not be irrelevant
Evolution is slow. Culture is fast.
Our known history is only of 15000-30000 years old. Only ~1% of the total life we lived as species. For ~99% of human history this mind was the ideal. Boredom was dangerous. A wandering eye could spot food, threats, or opportunity. A wandering mind could think of new places to explore, to survive.
But now the very wiring that saved our ancestors is costing my productivity. I start working something, my mind goes to some outlier, then 25 minutes goes going down that rabbit hole.
Core problem
- Pattern recognition: Connecting two seemingly unrelated ideas. Start at work A and after 30 minutes, wasting time on unrelated but similar task B.
- Creative leaps: The "random" thought that interrupts my work.
- Adaptability: A mind that can pivot an idea quickly to another These all the traits what made our ancestors survive, and was crucial to our species domination. When anything comes to our mind, the impulse is to pursue it, if not we might forget and that could lead to fatality to our ancestors. For us it is not.
Park
We generally call this going down the rabbit hole. So let's just park it. In Buddhism, the concept is known as Heart like a monkey. They teach it to watch it. So I decided to watch it. I park the rabbit so I can go down the hole later.
To avoid this is the most simple thing - tell you mind the thought is not lost. Have a pen and paper with you. Just write the thought you having while working, tell your impluse that I will not forget it, I've written it down. Don't worry. Your present self gets its focus. And once the work is done, go down the rabbit hole 🥕.