5 Daily Distractions That Cause Procrastination

By Tony Yeung, Originally published at Apartment Number 2, “5 Daily Distractions That Cause Procrastination”

Have you wondered why you procrastinate?

A lot of distractions, even one small disruption, can be enough to cause a procrastination.

To avoid these distractions, you need to be aware of them. Here are 5 things that can distract us every day.

Incoming Emails (Not Spam Mails)

*Ding* “I have a new email. I am going to check it now.”

We often check emails. We create a myth that we need to reply every email immediately. This is not true. If something were very important, we would get a phone call instead of an email.

Emails can wait. They can be very distracting when we do not want to focus on our work.

Check email less. Set a schedule to check your inbox. Don’t check them before that time.

Overheard Phone Conversations

“So, we are doing a project. We are planning..”

When you work in a quiet space and suddenly someone starts talking on the phone, you may think you can ignore them and continue to focus on your work. In fact, it is not true. Overhearing phone calls can distract over 80% of people.

This can be frustrating because you want to focus on your work and you found a nice quiet space. If someone is on the phone yet you don’t want to be distracted, you should find another area that makes it easier for you to focus.

Social Media

“Let me check my snapchat..”

“Let me check my twitter before work..”

Have you done these and then end up on social media for hours?

Social Media is the biggest distractor. The platform consistently has new contents, and it never ends. It does not matter when you log onto Facebook, Instagram or other platforms. There is always new contents that can grab your attention.

Social media is very addicting. It is hard to avoid. An effective way to avoid the distraction is to put your phone on “airplane mode” and try to turn it off completely. At the workplace, you can download software that can make it impossible for you to access your personal social media accounts.

Listening to music

“Play some music can improve my productivity.”

You are supposed to put on headphone, play some music and drown out the noisy office, but it turns out that music can be distracting! According to this study, music can be distracting when you are performing cognitively demanding tasks. When you are doing repetitive tasks, listening to music can make it less boring. However, when you are doing problem-solving tasks, music can be very distracting.

So, when you are trying to solve a problem or working on something that demands critical thinking, turn off the music and put your headphone off.

Always saying yes

Meetings, tasks, and favours from your work team can be distracting. They can keep you from concentrating on the work that is really important.

Learn to say no.

Think about the offer that comes your way. If it doesn’t help you achieve your goal and distract your work, it is the best to turn it down. Giving yourself more responsibilities can take you away from your primary work that matters the most.

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About the Author

Tony Yeung is a digital marketing specialist and the owner of Apartment Number 2, a consultancy focused on helping entrepreneurs and marketers see results with SEO, social media, and content marketing. Apartment Number 2 has worked with a range of clients from Publishing Company and Medical Company to a new startups.