TIPS TO LIMIT DISTRACTIONS IN YOUR DAY

WHAT IS A DISTRACTION?

I recently started reading the book Indistractable by Nir Eyal. In the book, he defined a distraction as taking away from something else you wanted to be doing. You can choose to sit down and scroll on your phone if that is what you want to do. In that case, it is not a distraction. But, if you want to be getting your house cleaned and you find yourself scrolling on your phone, that is when it is a distraction. It becomes a distraction when it is taking us away from something else. That something else is usually a priority that we would really rather devote our time to. Today I wanted to share some things that we can do to try to help minimize distractions in our day. Then we can focus on the things we want to get done.

WHY CARE ABOUT DISTRACTIONS?

We sometimes might think that we have way too many things to do. It seems we don’t have time to relax and do the things we enjoy. But often this happens because we are too distracted to take care of our priorities with our full attention. This causes the amount of time to get things done to extend much longer than it might really need to.

This morning I was trying to get ahead on dinner. I was getting ready to pre-cook some chicken in the instant pot. I took out the instant pot and put the chicken in it. Then went to grab my phone to get the cooking instructions. On my phone, I have the instructions to cook the chicken in the instant pot. I picked up the phone and checked for responses to a question that I had asked on a Facebook group that I am in. Then I scrolled a little bit, and put down my phone. I turned around to see the chicken sitting in the instant pot. Then I remembered that was the reason I had picked up my phone. How did I end up on Facebook?

TAKE NOTE OF WHAT DISTRACTS YOU

Just being more aware of those things that distract you can help you limit distractions. You will be more likely to catch yourself when you are doing that thing by being more mindful of it. I definitely get distracted by my phone.  I’ll check email, Facebook, Instagram, banking, etc. Sometimes I’ll find myself in this loop going through everything. I’ll catch myself doing it and instantly put the phone down and walk away. It’s not what I want to be doing, I just get caught up in it somehow. But, by knowing that it happens, I’m more likely to recognize when it’s happening and stop it.

TAKE NOTE OF TASKS THAT YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY STAYING FOCUSED ON

There are certain things that we focus on so intently that we can’t believe how much time has flown by. Some things, like cleaning a bathroom, are not enjoyable but are less likely something you will be distracted from. You may get distracted from starting, but once you are in the middle of cleaning a bathroom, you are likely going to keep going until you are done. I could be wrong, but that’s what I’m thinking. Other tasks are much easier to get distracted while doing them. Often we don’t particularly like doing a task or it’s just not that interesting. When that is the case we tend to allow ourselves to get distracted much more easily. By identifying these things we can try to catch ourselves before we go start to do something else off task.

BLOCK YOUR TIME

One way to keep yourself focused on a task is to block out times to work on something in particular. It can be more difficult to stay focused if you wander from task to task. It’s distracting to go throughout the day without any real boundaries on what you want to make progress on. Blocking out time for getting something in particular done can help you really devote your energy to that one task. This can also help you stay focused on a particular task. It feels easier when you know that you only have a certain period of time to do it.

I have been using an app called Structured to block out my time on certain days. For example, I have certain chores that I do on Saturday mornings.  By time blocking those chores into half-hour slots, I stay focused on what I have to get done because I want to stay on track. Sticking to the time blocks and getting the things done allows me to have the rest of the day free.

DEFINE BREAK TIMES

Things like social media or watching TV are things that can distract us from what we want to get done. But they are not bad things, they are just not our priority at certain times. By scheduling breaks into your day, you can have some time to do those things. This might help you with feeling the need to check while you are doing something else. By having a designated time for these things, you will be more likely to put it off until that time.

SET A TIMER

You might be surprised at how much you can get done in a short amount of time. When you use a timer to get a task done it helps keep you focused because you know that you only have so much time to accomplish something. Knowing that you are going to be out of time soon can really help you stick to the task at hand. It’s also very motivating when you look at what you were able to get done by staying focused for such a small amount of time. This works well with things that you might not necessarily feel motivated to work on. It’s also great for large projects that feel overwhelming.

If you tell yourself you will just do the thing for half an hour it makes it feel much more manageable. When you see how much you were able to get done you will likely want to do the same thing again. You don’t have to do a half an hour timer, you can do 5 minutes, 45 minutes, or whatever makes sense for you. Just make sure that you allow enough time to make some progress.

TRY FOCUS MODE ON YOUR PHONE

Although I have not yet used this feature, I think that it is worth mentioning in case it’s something that you want to look into. I’m not totally sure if this is on Android phones.  iPhones have a feature called focus that you can set your phone to so that you will not be distracted by certain apps, texts, or phone calls. I believe that it is customizable so that you can allow certain things to come through. For example, you would be able to have a spouse or a child call or text come through if you chose to.

USE A CHECKLIST

There are several steps I go through when I sit down to reconcile our checking, record credit card charges, update the budget, etc. Many times I found that I would get distracted in-between steps. It really doesn’t take too long to do, but I would find myself doing one piece and then thinking about what I should do next.  Did I miss a step? Often when I would go to the internet browser to do the next step I might forget what site I was going to and then take a pause by clicking on Pinterest or Facebook.

So, using Microsoft One Note I created a quick checklist that I could use to keep me on task. The order in that I did the steps wasn’t really important, but by having a list I just follow it and go from step to step. I have noticed a major improvement in how quickly I now get this task done and it has definitely minimized distractions.

HAVE A PLACE TO JOT DOWN NOTES

It can be so distracting to think of something that you need to do in the future while you are trying to get something else done. Also, when you forget what that thing was as your mind wanders it becomes even more distracting because now you are just focused on trying to remember what that important thing was. By keeping a notebook, note pad or planner nearby, or just using the notes app on your phone you can jot down a quick note. By getting the thing out of your head and written down somewhere you will not be worried that you will forget it. You can then keep your focus on whatever task you were trying to complete. The only place this does not work is in the shower, which is where I often think of those things that need to get done!