Little Quits

Another full day in the outpatient clinic. As I was learning to practice seeing the patient and doing the chart before going into another patient’s room, there were challenges. My mind started to wander. I would think about lunch, what email message triggered the notification sound, what updates there were since I last checked on social media.

In the past, I would answer to any one of these urges to satisfy my curious mind. What I was actually doing was temporarily leaving the ongoing task incomplete, switching my brain gear to focus on something else. After that shift, I would tell my brain to resume the task where I left off, oftentimes not particularly according to my will.

Little quits. A little quit is not completely abandoning ship and not do what you set out to do. It is a temporary leave of absence from the task at hand. As you decide to jump off the momentum of the ongoing assignment, you use up effort to change scenarios. This change may last longer than you anticipated, and it may become harder to go back to your original work. This translates to longer time spent to complete the task you meant to do.

Why do we engage in little quits then? Little quits make us feel better at that instant. We think that our task is tough, or we are getting tired; the next most logical thing to do is to take a break, mentally and physically, from what we are doing. Little quits give us instant gratification, without thinking about the consequences. We get the dopamine hit of “rewarding” ourselves by doing something else other than the obligation we are supposed to tend to. Little quits are sneaky and easy to achieve. They seem innocent and necessary.

Little quits are in fact saboteurs. They delay the completion of a task. They argue with our desire to concentrate on one thing at a time. They ignore our ultimate goals. They hinder us from developing our full potential.

What are some things we can do to avoid or minimize little quits? No matter what we do, plan our day in advance. List all the things to do at least one day before. Prioritize and decide what things must be done that day. Decide what tasks are the toughest. Set out to do those things first.

Do the necessary preparation before each task. The more prepared we are, the smoother things go. I also find it helpful to always prepare for unexpected things to happen, which is part of life.

Consciously choose to keep distractions to a minimum. Technology can be a friend or a foe. While you are focusing on completing your mission, turn off notifications on your phone, the sound of a new message in your email inbox, or close your office door so people will not interrupt you. There will be less things to grab your attention to somewhere else.

It is very important to focus on the results. What goals do we want by completing that quest? Whenever we are tempted by the little quits, it is helpful to refocus on our goals and purpose. For example, do you want to finish work on time, leave work at work and go home to your family? When you are distracted by things other than the task at hand, remind yourself why you are focusing on that one task.

Channel the productive energy sources in you. When you are focusing on getting your work done on time so you can go home to spend quality time with your family, what emotions are you experiencing? Probably in the flavor of focused, determined, or even excited. Remind yourself throughout the day of your ultimate goal and your motivational forces. Little quits will always try to grab your attention and you do not have to answer to them. May the positive forces be with you!