Wallabies and NSW Waratahs centre Kurtley Beale concedes contract talks have been playing on his mind, but says he intends making a decision on his future before the end of the Super Rugby season.
Beale only signed a one-year contract extension with the ARU and NSW Rugby Union back in January.
While earlier this month Beale said he loved playing in Australia and for NSW, a deal still has to be finalised for beyond this year.
"Hopefully we can be able to sort something out, because it does take a bit of a toll on the mind," Beale said on Monday.
"You want to know your future, I think I'm pretty similar to every other bloke out there.
"I'm pretty confident in the way things are going and hopefully we can get that done sooner rather than later.
"It (contract negotiations) is always going to be there (in the mind) isn't it? I think as a player, you're not going to hide and pretend that it's not there.
"You've just got to accept it and make sure you're doing your job for the team and that's purely my focus."
Beale emphasised the Waratahs needed to use last weekend's impressive win over the previously unbeaten Hurricanes in Wellington as a springboard for a late season surge.
He described it as probably the Waratahs' best and most balanced performance of the season.
They are seventh on the overall ladder and second in the Australian conference, three points behind the Brumbies, having played a game less.
"If we really want to be contenders for the competition championship, then we really need to take a lot of confidence and a lot of belief from what we did on the weekend," Beale said.
The next two weeks loom as season defining for NSW, with an Anzac Day home game against Melbourne, who are third in the conference, four points behind the Tahs, followed by an away clash with the Brumbies.
"Obviously there's some big, challenging games ahead, it's all uphill from now on in," Beale said.
"We just need to knuckle down and try and deliver the same performance week in week out."
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