How To Tackle Distractions Effectively
Feeling a bit distracted? Get yourself outta there.
If you find yourself stuck in the evil loop of distractions, where all of your productivity is affected by one or many “distracting activities”, I’ve got something to say to you guys.
In this article, I aim to provide some essential tips and tricks to help you manage this massive barrier called distractions. It's true that they come in many forms and affect various aspects of our lives. I’ve struggled, suffered and have carried the loss of my own productivity due to the very addictiveness of this evil.
I have gone through numerous books and have researched various strategies just to get rid of my distractions. Right off the bat, I can confess that since we all have a different set of distractions, we need a combination of different strategies to tackle them. Just like I mentioned in my article “Three Ways to Tackle Fear”, a “one-size-fits-all” approach will not work for distractions as well.
This is probably the reason as to why I struggled a lot. After an immense research routine, I could only conclude that the answer lies somewhere totally different.
NO PERFECT STRATEGY
Now, it's true that there is no perfect strategy for distractions. But, believe me when I say that there is a way in which you can tackle them effectively.
Rather than spending our valuable time towards figuring out the best way to achieve discipline, we must take a hard look inside of ourselves and analyze this thing called “attitude”.
I believe that wherever we are in life, no matter how much motivated or demotivated we might be, all of that is a result of our attitude.
It is this attitude that plays a crucial role in forming as well as eliminating distractions. Therefore, the real key to battling them lies in the process of fixing our attitude. Below, I’ve shared my take on how to tailor your attitude in order to eliminate your distractions completely. It’s something that has worked for me perfectly and I would encourage you guys to give it a shot as well.
Let’s jump right in.
The “Aha” Moment
The very first step towards changing your attitude and removing distractions is “realizing that you really are distracted”. We all need our own “Aha” moment, which can either suddenly hit us or we might discover it by the process of self-reflection.
However that may be, all we have to do first is to come to terms with the fact that distractions have overtaken our lives. We need to accept that they really are limiting our journey to success.
The reason as to why this is important is because “realization or self-awareness of your current state is the first step towards growth.”
Therefore, you need to know exactly where you stand first and accept that you are distracted in order to develop a plan for your next steps.
Reduction
Once you have a good understanding in regards to where you stand, the next step involves changing a few of your daily habits by reducing them and then replacing them with something more productive.
I’d like to give a personal example and confess that a couple of years ago, I was highly addicted to Netflix. When I say “highly”, I’m probably underestimating my state as I was completely consumed by this on-demand entertainment website.
To tell you the truth, my day would start with an episode of something and would end with another episode of some other thing. I used to make many promises to myself like “OK! enough. This is going to be the last episode and then I’ll get back to my work”, but I never actually stopped.
It was as if I was stuck in this endless loop of never-ending distractions. TV series and films came one after another and as a result, my productivity went all the down to zero.
One day, after my “Aha” moment, I made this rash decision of completely quitting Netflix. I thought that it was an effective way to get rid of my distractions. I did make some progress, but it was very short-lived. Due to my high addiction, I couldn’t resist not watching TV and hence, fell right back in the habit of binge-watching again. I took 2 steps forward and then took ten steps back.
I repeated the same pattern for a while until I realized that
drastic changes don’t happen overnight.
In other words, you can’t just quit something all of a sudden as it will make only make you want it more. Before you know it, you’ll be back in the distraction loop again.
Instead, focus on reducing the amount of that specific distracting activity on a uniform basis. For example, I reduced the number of episodes I was watching per day. I went from 5 to 6 episodes to only 2 episodes every day. Now, it wasn’t a drastic change but it was enough to make an impact on my daily routine.
I further reduced my number and was watching only one episode per day. As a result, I was able to create many free pockets of time, where I could either read, write or do something productive. Now, I can proudly that I’ve disciplined myself to watch Netflix only once per week.
Jumping too high only to fall in the ditch is not the best strategy to manage your distractions. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, I’d recommend that you reduce the amount of that “distracting activity” and then keep reducing it gradually until you’re no longer enslaved by it.
I’ve seen people do this to successfully reduce the number of pints, Coca-Cola cans or cigarettes that they consume daily. Eventually, they discipline themselves by reducing their consumption levels to a bare minimum.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
IMPLEMENTATION
The third and the final step towards changing your attitude involves the act of implementation. This means that once you’ve reduced the number of times you perform that distracting activity, you either have to maintain it in that way or further reduce it.
This is the toughest position to be in. It's like holding a stretched spring with both your hands. If you loosen the grip in either of your hands, the entire spring would shrink back again and so will all your progress.
So, at this stage, it is crucial that you find ways to keep yourself motivated and to maintain your progress so far. I like to listen and watch a lot of motivational videos for this purpose. Also, I would recommend reading numerous uplifting articles such as:
- How to create when you don’t feel great enthusiasm- Christopher Boswell
- Why you should chase growth, not happiness- Lucy King
in order to keep yourself right on the track.
I also recommend keeping a record of all the days where you haven’t been distracted and writing them down in your journal. This will give you an opportunity to observe your success directly. As the number of “non-distracted days” will grow, your motivation will grow simultaneously.
CONCLUSION
In all, being distracted leads to nowhere. You might have all the fancy plans to change the world but,
“you can’t change the world until you change your world.”
So, figure out what it is exactly that’s stopping you, reduce the number of times you do it and maintain that amount in order to limit the impact of distractions on your productivity.
“Aha” → Reduce → Implement → No Distractions
I hope that I was able to add some amount of value in your lives. Feel free to share your thoughts below on the topic of distractions. You can follow me on Instagram here, to get some more insights into my daily life.
Thanks for reading!
