Overcoming Distractions

 

With technology making our daily tasks easier every day, I always wonder if it was simplifying our lives or making them more complex. Our parents who lived in their prime in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, in the age of no computers, phones, or other conveniences that we cannot imagine living without today, mostly held on to one job the whole of their lives, spent a lot of time socially and had comparatively simpler lives. The children spent most of their time playing outside and did not have truckloads of homework to finish and were less tethered to their parents.

Sadly things have changed now. Education does not guarantee a job, competition is fierce, everyone is trying to outgrow the other, job stability is an issue among many others. Anxiety and depression are two main problems that have been the result of such a culture. Constantly beating oneself up for doing something one ought to do and not one wanted to, creates negativity in the body which could lead to many mental and physical illnesses in the long run.

With the free flow of information, our attention spans are constantly reducing with time. There is a growth in the number of people seeking spiritual practices, meditation, and reading self-help books. Plenty of businesses have flourished because of this demand and are only growing bigger and bigger clientele. Unfortunately, none of them have been able to create a permanent fix to the problem at hand and have been successful in creating short-lived satisfaction.

Though everyone understands that to achieve something, having a sharp focus is important, but it doesn't come easy for many. It is easy to lose your mind to several mundane tasks while working on your main job. A few years ago, I suffered getting distracted very often and was feeling very disappointed with myself. My task list was always incomplete at the end of the day, the progress I made at work was slow, important tasks were getting sidelined and piled up forever, not to mention the accompanying feeling of dissatisfaction I carried around.

Once I identified this pattern, I put a lot of thought into it on how I could overcome it and read books and articles on the topic. Doing what I learned helped me in a big way to get closer to my ideal routine. Here I will share my journey through this struggle of mine. I still have days where I am not at it but I at least have a go-to process that I could fall back on when needed.

The first thing I did was to keep a pen and paper beside me and keep a journal of my work on an hourly basis. This I did for about a week. I would very honestly note down how much time I was spending reading news, browsing social media, working, and so on, and record as much detail as I could put in.

Once I had this on paper, I could measure how much time I was spending on the unplanned items. I marked each item as needed and otherwise. Then I followed it up by creating a timetable for my daily routine.

The next day I tried to follow the ideal plan but I fell flat within the next two days. The schedule was too tight and did not give me any chance to breathe. So I tweaked it to include those activities that in the first place I had noted as unnecessary. This worked well. By scheduling the unnecessary activities for an hour a day or two in the latter part of the day, I could both relax and my work improved as well.

Another thing that helped me was to keep writing on a piece of paper any distraction that came to my mind while I worked. Instead of acting on it then and there, I was making a physical record of the same so that I didn't have to remember it but still knew where to look later if I had time. This worked really well for me.

However, one should know that distractions are not always bad and they are signs of something deeper that needed being addressed. If you find yourself constantly reaching for something else at work, it probably means that your brain needs more stimulation than what your work provides. Do you get distracted while watching a good movie or doing something that you love, maybe dancing or singing, the answer to this most certainly would be no. So trying hard to keep focus and not being able to, clearly states that you don't enjoy what you are doing and would rather not do it.

However, for some reason, if you cannot change the nature of your work, you can be free of distractions in two more ways ( in addition to the process I shared above). One, find a personal meaning to the work that you do. For example, think about what impact your work would make on the world or someone's life and let that act as your motivation. Having a big picture and a higher purpose for what you do always gives a certain level of inspiration to the current task.

The second thing you can do is having the willpower to change yourself for the better. For a person with strong willpower, just saying one sentence to oneself, "I will work with focus and without distraction until I am done." could do what any other process stated earlier couldn't. Train this muscle and reap the benefit of reaching where you wanted to .

If you wanted to learn more about how to develop a deep focus at work once you are able to successfully remove distractions, do read my earlier blog on 'Focus.