How to defeat distractions and win your focus back
Two years ago, I was struggling to focus my attention on for 15min straight to watch a lecture or even meditate! It was all unexplainable; I wasn’t doing anything different from anyone I know; why this is happening to me?! I am glad that time for Medium and the writers in it.
I discovered a few articles here in Medium for some writers. Who tried to live Social-Media free for different periods, I started reading what they have experienced, and it was all I wanted! So I decided to start that journey.
And two years later, here I am sharing with you what I learned and some points that might help you to gain your attention in a world full of platforms and UX designers working hard to get you hooked fast and for long.
When I decided to take that step I had one goal in mind: “My time is precious, My time is irreplaceable” and that was my motto, of course beside Hakuna Matata :D
I started tracking my usage for all the platforms, or applications I am using, I installed rescue time on my computer, Gladly on my phone, it’s now a built-in feature to monitor screen usage.
After I learned how much time I spent doing useless things with my little time, I had a bigger picture of how much I am losing every day, And that gave me the push I needed to make a change.
1. Start with baby steps
Like any other addiction, if you cut the source directly you will fight with your mind to get what it’s used to have daily, so instead of that I started limiting the usage of any app or site that distracts me to 15min per day, and the challenge was to stick to it.
Of course, the first few days were tough, but after a week, I was able to manage my self and decide when this is a free time that I deserve to do nothing in it and open the app/site. During the second week, it was easier and fewer time extensions.
2. Define your alternatives & make it easy to reach
After you have a grasp on your mind and a good understanding of your time, now its time to inject some of the good stuff, that will hook your brain into getting some knowledge in short time and replace the distractions with good ones, I still remember having Medium as a short cut everywhere in my devices to reach easily, also I started using Blinkist to read summaries of books in a short time, I have even begun watching Ted talks in multiple fields I never thought of learning about them (Using Ted App), I cannot explain how much these things were helpful to me, Having various sources of good knowledge pouring in your mind was so fulfilling! My mind started getting hooked, and I started noticing that my days were going by without finishing the time limit on the distraction apps!
3. Get rid of the enemies
After replacing the lousy distraction sources with good ones, there is no need to keep them on your phone; I deleted what I was able to delete and cleared any suggestions in the browser. If you think that you cannot live without it, you can start removing it one by one, and you will discover that you can! Also, you can start making it harder to reach for, like instead of the app start using the browser version in your phone or your tablet, Most of the apps are designed to have addictive actions which in some cases were hard to have in a browser!
4. Stretch your mind for broader knowledge
I can call the knowledge I was seeking the Appetizers, it was just for stretching my mind to be able to get more and digest more significant knowledge, I have started taking long courses in multiple fields and different topics, when you have a lot of free time, It’s better to utilize it in doing useful stuff.
Downloading Audible was one of the best things I ever did to my self; there are sometimes that you cannot read like while driving, Audible gave me the gift of knowledge at all times. I have one trick that might be helpful for some of you, try to speed up the narrator to 1.5x; in this way, you can get the ideas and finish faster.
5. Maintain your state of mind and start sharing your experience
What I have noticed after doing all of that, My horizon and mind capacity increased, I started thinking of an interesting point of views I would never think of! Especially when I started reading and watching videos out of my mental comfort zone! I began to have more conversion openers topics, and I started looking up more of the things I was curious about and learn more about them.
Conclusion
I still have free time, and I still watch Netflix, But for a limited time and as a reward for my mind, BTW Netflix has great content that you can enjoy and learn something! It’s not all drama or comedy :D
Most recently, I discovered a great resource of top niche ideas, well presented and engineered; I subscribed to multiple courses in Mindvalley, A creative platform for self-development, which I enjoy every aspect of the experience with them.
