Is this post a distraction or an inspiration?
So what?
Distractions are everywhere. As I write this, there are bustling noises of people’s clothes, clickety clacking of keyboards and mice, resonating of voices and humming of the heater in the background. It’s a constant struggle between trying to focus on writing and being distracted.
Sometimes I’m focused despite what’s going on around me but there are times that I struggle to produce anything.
Distraction is a productivity killer that robs you of precious time.
With less or even no distraction (almost impossible), you are:
- Able to get more done;
- Be more productive;
- Have more “me” time; and
- Enjoy life doing more of what you love.
What is distraction?
Distractions take away your attention from doing and finishing a task. They range from a tap on the shoulder to mental derangement. There are internal and external distractions take place hindering what you are trying to get done.
What can you do about it?
You are loaded with hacks, tutorials, how-to’s and instructions when you google how to deal with distractions. We, here at YourLifeEA, are all about simplicity. What can you do about distractions in the simplest way?
- Get noise cancelling headphones
- These are worth every cent. You won’t always be able to find a quiet place to sit down and work or avoid environments that cause distractions. These come in handy whether you enjoy silence or listen to something. You can’t go wrong with Apple AirPods Pro.
- Turn off notifications on your phone
- Notifications are one of the biggest culprits that cause distractions. Turn these off or have them be delivered quietly (i.e. silent mode or straight to the notification centre). I may do a quick tutorial post on how to do this if people have trouble with this.
- Find what distracts you and physically move them out of your workspace
- Is your phone distracting you? Put it behind you or your laptop. The photo of your pet on your desk starring at you? Turn it around until you are done with what you are trying to get done. You get the point.
Are there good distractions?
There are times when a healthy dose of distractions are good and/or useful for you, to a degree.
You can use these distractions to temporarily take your mind off of something that’s causing you strong emotions. The key word to note here is “temporarily”. You can use them to decrease the intensity of these emotions, not to avoid them, but to better manage them.
What are bad distractions?
Anything that takes your attention from doing things that are more important than the distraction itself. These are likely to be:
- Notifications on your phone;
- Checking emails;
- Facebooking, instagramming and browsing through other social media; and
- Environmental noise.
You are faced with constant internal distractions (i.e. your thoughts and emotions) which I will write about in the future as I struggle with these as much as anyone. These external distractions are much easier and simpler to address. Let’s start with these.
What now?
Do you have any distractions that hinders you from doing things? What are they? We would love if you could share them with us and let us know what you are doing to stay focused.