We had a cousin who was a veterinarian. In talking to him about his work, he used to say that on the days that he performed surgery he used to "warm up" with spaying a few cats. He felt that the spaying procedure wasn't that complicated so that his fingers could return to the muscle memory of delicate surgery. Once done, he was ready to tackle more difficult procedures.

When my husband and I have difficulty getting back into work or having difficulty focusing on a task we say we need to do a little cat spaying. Start with something that is relatively easy in order to ease into the work.

These weeks following my mom's death have been tough for me to get back into my writing mindset. Partly because my schedule is greatly disrupted and partly because I am still grieving. I know that I need to be kind to myself and give myself a break, yet I find myself wandering aimless around the house or sitting at my desk staring at a blank page.

I have to remind myself to do some cat spaying. I am trying to accomplish some small, easy but necessary tasks in order to get me primed to work on some larger ones. So far this morning I have gone through and organized my electronic files and put on my calendar some deadlines for submissions. Still not at all what I need to do nor what I usually do in a work day but it is something nonetheless.

What about you? What do you do when you have trouble focusing? Do you have any sayings that get you back on track? If you are feeling aimless, what "cat spaying" can you do?