Working with a Timer

My attention span, which has always been paltry, seems to have really tanked.  Yesterday, I undertook some things I really wanted to do: write an essay, sort papers on the family room couch, exercise on the treadmill, create a psycho-path to make navigation in my bedroom safer, make macaroni & cheese for supper, attend an Osher lecture.  Some have set durations, like cooking continues until it is done or a class has a fixed duration even if my fidgeting diverts me to check e-mail or FB posts while the Zoom session continues.  Others are better done by deciding in advance how long I want to spend, then setting the timer for that duration.  Treadmill always goes to completion, as the countdown offers landmarks.  Tidying and writing just could not engage me for more than a fraction of the interval dedicated to it. For the paper sorting I got frustrated quickly and abandoned the task.  For the bedroom I did better, not completing the duration but satisfied with what I did.  For the writing, I set an hour, lasted about a third of that using the library's timer, but just ran out of thoughts to keep me in synch with the outline that I had successfully placed before pursuing text.  

Some productivity experts recommend a Five Minute Rule, setting a timer for that interval, starting the project, then deciding whether to continue or abandon.  I usually last more than five minutes, so that may be worth a try, at least to avoid the procrastination that results in not pursuing an initiative at all.