Paweł ChalacisPaweł Chalacis

I don’t think that I’ve ever been so focused in my life. When I ended working for my last company I had the most unproductive period of the last year (and yet it definitely was not the most unproductive period of my life… sad but true). Lack of need of getting up early, not knowing how is next week going to look like and general boredom - not the best combination.

After I moved to Auckland it took me few weeks to settle down and figure out everything. I’ve found quite good gym, near by swimming pool and good places for open water swimming. But most importantly I’ve found new motivation for training. I’ve set up general plan for the whole year again, but that will come to life after my next race. Race, on which I’ve focused all my strength in last few weeks.

Many people say that it’s very difficult to start. Hell yes it is. But it’s also hard to restart after short break. You know, missing trainings, feeling slow and tired, not being “in the zone”. Yet give it few days or weeks and all those feelings will go away.

There are few things you can do that will help you stay focused.

Have detailed plan of everything related to your goal.

Whether it’s agile project board or training plain, the more you can plan your time, the less time your actually waste procrastinating. I’m not saying that it will work for everyone, but give it a try!

Do everything in line with your calendar.

If you’ve planned swimming session at 1:30 PM, be in the pool at 1:30 PM. If you want to sleep before 12, go to bed at 11:30.

Respect your own time.

Plan your day so you don’t have to wait for anything. If you take bus to work, do something so it’s not wasted time. Read a book, listen to the podcast or learn few new words in the language you’re trying to master.

Learn to say no.

Sometimes you have to be selfish. Sad but true.

Learn to prioritise.

Let’s face it - you won’t be always able to do everything you’ve planned. Build your weekly plan around key stuff to do, put those at your sure slots - when you are always free and rested.

Don’t be afraid to fail.

Nobody is perfect. Nobody does everything perfectly. Don’t beat yourself if you miss one training session (yet try not to do that too often ;)).

Analyse past weeks and try to see patterns.

If you fail to achieve everything you’ve planned for given week, try to figure out why and fix that in next weeks. Have some time during week booked for “retrospect and planning”. Learn from your mistakes.


I love being focused and driven by my goals. Especially when I can see real results. Is all that training regime worth it? Well, it’s 3 days till Ironman 70.3 Auckland. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

I feel ready!