Avoiding Distractions in a Shiny Object World
We can't completely avoid them. So what do we do?
Maybe it’s old age. Maybe I’m just more aware of it than I used to be. But I get distracted. Easily.
It’s not that I don’t have the motivation to what I want to do. It’s that I have the motivation to do a million other things too.
I’ve said for a long time that I want to write more, but inevitably as I start to write, I open up Blender and start working in that app, or I’ll start an article or blog post and simultaneously start working on another - not doing justice to either.
The struggle is real.
Maybe you can relate.
Whether you’re a business owner, solopreneur, freelancer or just someone who wants to get stuff done, what do you do?
Here’s what I’m doing to help myself.
Focus modes on my phone
In iOS and macOS, I have the ability to set what Apple calls focus modes. These modes let me decide what notifications come through at any given time. If I have the “work” focus mode set, for example, I allow notifications only from my wife.
Everything else is blocked, and I can look at it later.
Android offers something similar.
Without these modes, I find that all too often I’ll be working and then my phone will buzz. Instinctively, I’ll pick up my phone and see what the notification was, causing me to be distracted from what I was working on and to lose time that I could have spent getting something done.
Contrary to popular opinion, scrolling through Instagram reels does not pay the bills. At least not mine.
So, knowing myself, I need to limit the amount of outside notification noise. Otherwise I’ll be jumping at every ding and buzz, and that’s no way to get work done.
Closing social media tabs
I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been working on an article or project and found myself distracted for long hours by social media. It’s easy to get sucked into a rabbit hole or to get involved in a long argument… I mean “discussion” on Twitter. And before you know it, hours have gone by, and you’ve accomplished nothing.
At least that’s the case for me.
Social media isn’t bad, of course, but I find that more often than not it distracts me from getting stuff done.
So I’ve resolved to keep those tabs closed and notifications for social apps turned off until I’ve finished my work.
The world will not implode if I don’t look at a new notification on Instagram as soon as it appears. It won’t.
Short bursts of dedicated action
So often I have worked up the resolve to get something done and then found myself sitting at my computer bouncing between three or four different things, not locking myself out of everything but one thing I want to get done.
Even as I write this piece, I have a dozen other things I want to get done. But I know that if I don’t sit here and force myself to keep writing in spite of everything vying for my attention, it will take me an age to get this done.
I’ve found that it’s helpful, instead, to make myself focus on a task - whatever that may be - for at least ten to twenty minutes at a time.
If I’m writing, that means I’m writing. I’m not opening Blender. I’m not working in Illustrator. I’m not doing any of a number of other good things that aren’t what I’ve set myself out to accomplish at that exact moment in time.
This strategy, above all, has helped me to accomplish more in short periods than nearly any other distraction destroying method I’ve tried.
Yes, it’s difficult at times for me to stay focused on the single task. As I do, my brain constantly screams about all of the other things I want to accomplish.
If I’m writing, there are lots of things I’m not getting done. That’s true. But on the other hand, if I’m focusing on those things, then I’m not focusing on writing.
Background music shuts out the noise
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been very sensitive to noise. I hate it. It doesn’t matter if it’s fan noise from my computer or footsteps from the room above me. Noise breaks my concentration and makes it hard for me to stay motivated.
Maybe I’m weird.
For me, background music is a must. Using my AirPods Pro with active noise cancellation and a decent Spotify playlist, I can block out a large portion of the noise.
If you can relate, I highly recommend getting a good pair of headphones with active noise cancellation and cranking up that playlist of choice - especially if you’re working in an office environment or in a place that isn’t quiet.
Pairing background music with short bursts of dedicated action is a recipe for results in my opinion.
Staying focused and staying the course
Distractions are everywhere, and they’re productivity killers. Without a doubt, I would have accomplished so much more than I have up to this point in my life had I not allowed my focus to be stolen by things that simply don’t need my attention.
As business owners and side hustle pros, we know that nothing gets done if we keep putting it off. And nothing gets done well if we allow ourselves to be pulled in a thousand different directions.
If you focus on everything, you focus on nothing.
Social media is good, but it’s not always helpful.
Cut out the noise and focus on one thing at a time.
That’s what I’m doing to help myself. And I have to say, it makes a difference.
It really does.