How to Lose Your Focus

#sol17- December 12, 2017

I will admit it, I was a little grumbly about last week’s special events (we had Christmas Around the World afternoon, a music rehearsal, a music assembly, and our swim carnival all disrupting our schedule last week), while this week (our last week before break) our schedule is pretty “normal”. Here’s the truth- the worst disruption I did to myself.

It started as a “must do”- I got a reminder from the company that I have booked part of my travel with that I was responsible for procuring any necessary visas. I was able to apply for the visa to India online, but I had to get all kinds of things sorted for that, including scanning a passport picture, and a copy of the data page of my passport. I needed to do this at least 4 days before travelling, but I did not want to wait that late in case (for whatever reason) the visa was not automatically granted. So I applied for the visa last week, when I really had no time, as I was finishing up reports. If you apply for a visa it turns out you have to list travel dates and contact information in the country, so I dug that out. The visa is supposed to take 72 hours, so I pressed send and waited.

Less than 24 hours later I had an emailed copy of my visa, so of course, I felt like I had to print that out right away. Better do it while I remembered, right? Since I was printing that out, I rationalized, I might as well print out everything else I would need for the break (flight information for my trip to Vietnam to meet up with son #1, hotel information for that trip too, itinerary for the trip to India-to match the visa, flight information for that trip too). Sadly I was too early to check in and print boarding passes, but the damage had been done- I was by then totally excited about my upcoming trips and unfocused on the day ahead  (never mind all the other days between then and the trips). It definitely made me focus on something other than my grumpiness about changed schedules, so for that, I was grateful. It also made me feel more empathy for my students who are definitely feeling ready for the break (but not so much for the three who left a week early).

The calendar has also conspired against me. This weekend was a long one, as the Sultan of Selangor (the state that one campus of our school is in) celebrates his birthday on the 11th. While long weekends are a treat it made me even more excited for days of relaxation (so I warmed up this weekend by going to a movie, eating out, getting a massage, and more).

This morning I had to corral my long lost focus to help my students prepare for our upcoming parent share- still more work to do. I know we can do it! I am not usually a “count down to break” kind of person, but I am going to blame it on printing out my travel details too early! As I write this I realize it is by now close enough that I can check in for trip one and print out that boarding pass. Trip 2 of break will have to wait. Maybe my focus is not so much lost as it is redirected.

 

 

*Former student, Zhi Hong, still slicing.