The inability to concentrate

I have this problem lately - I can't concentrate. That's why I haven't been posting. I sit down to write posts and I can't do it - I either can't sit still long enough, or what I type is jumbled and pointless. I write posts and delete them. I owe people emails. This is the third time this has happened in 6 months - I just lose the ability to focus, and then suddenly, one day, I get it back. Blogging isn't the only thing I can't concentrate on - I can't concentrate at work. This just isn't like me - I don't know what the problem is. My attention span is about 15 minutes - at most, and even this is difficult. Usually, I can sit at work and concentrate and work for like 10+ hours a day, bill almost all of it and be really productive and efficient. The past two weeks have not been like this.

Maybe it's because work is slowish, it's the holidays, I feel no real time pressure, the partner isn't in, nothing is "due." I am one of those people that works well under pressure. When my work load goes down, my motivation and efficiency go down also. But I am also experiencing much higher than normal anxiety (ever since I went home to Michigan - maybe because of the holidays?) and extreme irritation and agitation at literally everything and everyone (damn all those green olives I've been eating - water retention...).

Whatever the problem is, my days have been more like this: try to read a paragraph, read a blog, read a paragraph, return to blog and post a comment, read a paragraph - maybe edit it, return to blog to read other comments, edit a little more, check email, edit more, IM someone, decide to switch projects because obviously this is the problem - the project just isn't holding my attention, read a paragraph, try to blog, read a paragraph, enter my old time, edit a paragraph, call my sponsor, type a paragraph, read a blog, read a paragraph, leave the office and go shopping for an hour (yes this did hold my attention for an hour yesterday), read a paragraph, shop more online, read a paragraph, check other email account, switch projects - because this one is boring too, read a paragraph, clean my office, give up and go home. I'm serious - this is what it's like lately. I'm managing to eek out 7-8 hours - slowly and painfully, .2 of an hour at a time.

Then I go home to cat puke on the bed (this was last night) and have to stay up late washing the sheets (and the mattress pad because it penetrated all the way through). The sheets won't dry fast enough so I rotate the mattress and organize the already organized closet late at night, all while thinking about how I'm not going to get any sleep and don't want to go to work anyway since clearly I'm not going to get anything done. I tried to read a book, but that lasted for all of three pages before my mind was somewhere else. I finally fell asleep and was woken up early this morning by my cat standing on my chest, which hurt, incredibly, thanks to all the olives I've eaten.

So - that's it folks. Now I have to go struggle through something else. I sure hope this doesn't last long.