Distractions are everywhere, vying for our attention and time. Mastering the art of focus in this chaotic world can seem like an uphill battle. Let's delve into strategies and techniques to dodge distractions and enhance productivity.
Distraction is a curse of modern life
Technology is becoming more pervasive and persuasive. It can become difficult to focus on any one task-or any one person-for very long.
- If distraction becomes a habit, we are unable to sustain the focus required for creativity in our professional and personal lives, and we miss out on cultivating the relationships we need for our psychological well-being.
There are three types of pacts:
Eff effort pact: increasing the amount of effort required to do something you don’t want to do
- Price pact: puts money on the line if you stick to your intended behavior, you keep the cash
- Identity pact: changes your response to distractions
- Your self-image has a profound impact on your behavior
- If you believe that you are indistractable, you empower yourself to respond more healthily to whatever distractions get in your way
The opposite of distraction
Traction is any action that moves us towards what we really want.
- For example, working on a big project, getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, meditating, taking time to pray, or spending time with loved ones is traction.
Sit down with your family and make sure you’re aligned on how you intend to spend your time
Discuss who will handle which household responsibilities and when you’ll have some time for fun together
- Clear expectations with your colleagues at work so there are no surprises
- Ask whether the external trigger is serving you or are you serving it
- If it leads you to distraction, eliminate it
Four steps to become indistractable
Master internal triggers
- Make time for traction, hack back external triggers, prevent distraction with pacts
- Change how you think about those bad feelings that can lead to distraction
- Explore the sensation
- Identify the feeling or thought behind your urge
- Write down that feeling, along with the time of day and what you were doing when you felt that internal trigger
Hack back your smartphone
Remove the apps you no longer need
- Delete apps that you like, but that you can use on your computer instead
- Adjust your notification settings for each app
- Hack Back Your Feeds
- Several new tools are available that either eliminate the news feed or unlock it only after you’ve done other, more important tasks.
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Timebox your schedule
Create a template for how to spend your time each day, eliminating all white space in your calendar
- Decide how much time you want to devote to each domain of your life, according to your values, and make sure that you schedule enough time for yourself and for your relationships
Synch with Stakeholders
Make sure important people in your life are in synch
- Are there changes you can make to your calendar that will give me the time I need to better express my values
- Change things that will make your calendar easier to follow in the next week
