"I CAN'T FOCUS"


Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash

I've been told this in one form or another countless times in my life.  The ability to hold onto one thought or sit through one task has always been an incredible struggle for me.  One that I continue to battle to this very day.  One that I sense may be a struggle for my 2 young daughters.  

I've been in the graphic design field for the majority of my career so I felt confident from a technical standpoint that Robbie and I could create the vision we had. However, I was also keenly aware of the countless planning tools that currently exist in the marketplace already.

So you might ask, why another one?

For me (chris) personally, creating Daily Grit was more than just a random thought to design a planner.

It was the result of decades of shame, extreme effort, psychiatric medicine, anxiety, depression, books, therapy and ironically, numerous planning and focus tools.  I knew I was capable of far more than my mind would let me be.  Daily Grit was birthed from an outcry of feeling like I was personally never going to be able to focus and produce like I knew in my heart that I could.

I have spent the better part of my life researching, rigorously trying, reading, talking to therapists and taking psychiatric prescriptions to help control the onslaught of thoughts that pervade my mind.  I was the kid who was always in trouble for not paying attention. I was the adult that would get called out on not being as productive as others.  I was a miss(ed)fit that continually struggled to find his place in corporate culture.

You see, not many, if hardly anybody knows that I have a very difficult time with focus. I've been ridiculed for it many times.  I've actually been diagnosed with borderline ADHD. I have a very hard time sitting still.  The channels change in my mind every few seconds and I'm constantly flooded with thoughts.

How have I coped?  I learned a long time ago to take a linear approach to task management because I would get so paralyzed on where to start on a task that I would just never start or end up wasting a tremendous amount of time trying to start.

I remember getting a flyer in the mail one day that talked about ADD and how you could learn to manage it. It had a truly simple suggestion. It talked about when you're doing a task, just start working from left to right, or right to left, top to bottom or bottom to top. 

While this seemed so simple, it really changed my life. The change came in learning how to break every project or task I had into little steps and to focus singularly on the one task I had to finish to get to the next task.

In case you wonder why we created Daily Grit, it was for people who have the same struggles.  It's for the solopreneurs out there with wild visions, but with the challenge of how to make meaningful progress with the constant external and internal distractions threatening to side track you.  We sensed a need for simplicity when planning because otherwise, we're just wasting time.

We discovered that we needed straight lines to our outcomes without too many extraneous tasks so that we can focus on the work that will move us forward. We created Daily Grit because it helps us identify outcomes to aim our action towards.

So to answer the question of why I wanted to help create Daily Grit ... it's because it helps me focus and create meaningful progress and progress is what drives me.

I'm more productive now than I have ever been so if all Daily Grit ends up being is a tool that helps me create order in my life, then it was worth it. However, our hope is that it can help so many others out there.

For every person out there who sincerely desires to have greater control over the constant demands for their attention and focus, but who continue to struggle daily, please know there is hope and you can make progress on your goals.  We can simplify life and break the complex and arduous tasks into attainable steps that over time, will begin to turn into meaningful progress in our lives.

Remember, everyone is struggling and you are LOVED!

Chris