Today's visit to Gripsholm Castle

You can use your gut in many different ways, but one thing is for sure, you should never defy it. That's one of my basic principles.

A simple example from earlier today was when I came back after leaving the kids at school and preschool. As I entered the kitchen, my gut told me to check the bags from the US one more time, because that's where the missing Manuka honey lie. I don't know why my intuition was giving me these signals at the time, but I did what my intuition told me to do. And sure enough, at the bottom of one of the bags in another bag lies the honey! Just like that. As I had thought and searched before without getting anywhere. And how appropriate that it turned up just today, as the girls and I are struggling with a sore throat.

Some days are completely impossible. To do lists are long and numerous, the phone rings, important emails pop up that need a quick response, the mobile phone beeps countless times, daydreams take over, meetings interrupt the writing when it's flowing best etc etc.

The ability to focus and be present is the key to good productivity, at work and in everyday life. To focus is to narrow your attention to something specific, to keep your eyes on a specific goal. It is the key to concentration, efficiency and clarity. The problem is that attention is a limited resource and distractions are all around us. There are many different things competing for our attention all the time, and that poses a bigger problem today than ever before. The brain is not built to "have too many balls in the air" all the time.

I was just listening to a Ted Talk about how we humans develop and what is important in the early years of life. Several British studies show similar results, namely that it is important not to start life in poverty, because then you are more likely not to do well later in life. Furthermore, and even more importantly, all the studies show that parents play an extremely important role in the early years of a child's life. Whether you are poor or rich.

It's almost the weekend again. I'm going offline. All weekend. It will be so nice! The computer will not be used and the phone will be on flight mode. I wonder if I can do that?

Thought of the day:

Do you ever go offline?

This article is part of The 50 day challenge, where I challenge myself to write an article a day for 50 days! The articles can be about anything, short or long, but I can't miss a single day!

I just had a conversation with an elderly lady who visited the health centre for various complaints. She tells me about this pill here and that pill there and how she wants them to help her so badly. How she wants so much to feel better soon.

I think during the conversation that it is good that she has sought treatment, but I also wonder what she has done to feel better, so I simply ask:

Writing seems to have become an evening habit. I thought it wouldn't be like this...

Today I thought I'd spin on cozy moments and how important they are. With three kids in the family, it's hard to find time to spend with just one child at a time, but we try to make it happen as often as possible. Tonight, our son opted out of an activity because he just wanted to sit on the dock and dangle with his legs. I thought it sounded great and we went down to the dock. Realized we hadn't been there together since the quickly passing swimming season.