How To Avoid Life’s Distractions Today (Plus A Poem)

Distractions keep us from reaching achieving our goals and objectives. They abound in our lives, whether personal or professional and waste our time. Thus, it is important that we learn how to avoid life’s distractions.

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What are life’s distractions?

Distractions can be anything that diverts our attention away from a particular subject.

Distractions, if left unchecked, will cause us to lose focus and waste time on trivial matters. And these trivial matters will not only cause us to lose sight of our objectives but will also add no value to our lives.

There are a number of factors that cause distraction. This includes losing interest in what you’re doing, being interrupted, or losing focus due to internal issues.

The following are some examples of distractions we face in our daily lives:

• Loud noise,
• Emails, messages, calls, or notifications from various devices,
• Social media,
• Television and other streaming services,
• General chatter from people around us,
• Other people, such as coworkers or business associates
• Clutter,
• Physical discomfort,
• Information overload,
• Stress,
• Fatigue,
• Personal problems or internal issues such as negative self-talk, and so on

Why we get distracted

There are a variety of reasons why we allow ourselves to be distracted. Just as there are a variety of factors that cause distraction. Here are some of the reasons why distractions are so effective at keeping us from being productive.

Lack of self-discipline

The most trivial matters distract us because of our lack of mental discipline or self-discipline. This is the character that distinguishes the most productive of people from the rest.

This is because having self-discipline gives us the capacity to control our behaviors, make good decisions, and build good habits.

Lack of focus

Another contributor to distraction is our lack of focus. Certainly, our environment also contributes to our inability to focus on tasks that need to be completed.

We are easily led by entertaining news stories, trending videos, or new movie arrivals on our streaming services. Since we are surrounded by a variety of distractions exacerbated by the internet.

These distractions reduce our ability to focus and think deeply. Because instead of concentrating on the task at hand, we find ourselves itching to check our social media accounts. Or browse the latest trending topic.

Lack of interest

Additionally, our lack of interest contributes to the success of distraction in our daily lives. Things that are tedious or boring cause our minds to wander and we seek out more interesting things to do.

Therefore, instead of getting ahead with the task, we seek things that hamper our productivity.

No clear goals

Having no clear goals also makes it easy to become distracted. We will become lost in the array of distractions available if we do not have a goal to serve as a guide.

Indeed, goals are important in both our professional and personal lives because they serve as our motivation for pursuing something. We will waste time flitting from one project to the next if we do not have a goal in mind.

No process in place

Aside from a lack of goals, another factor that allows for distraction is a lack of a clearly defined process. If our daily structure is not planned and set in place, we lose valuable time to distraction.

When your day lacks structure, you will be unable to prioritize the tasks that must be completed first. As a result, distractions creep into your day, wasting your time and effort while adding no value.

No good habits developed

Finally, failing to develop good habits leads to easy distractions. When you don’t have good habits in place, you’re more likely to be subject to distractions and become unproductive.

Good habits, such as getting enough sleep and exercising, help with focus and concentration. Developing a habit of preparation, such as making a to-do list. Or focusing on the most important task first thing in the morning also aids in avoiding distractions.

The Pomodoro method, or variations on it, is useful for developing a productivity habit. You can complete a critical task in 20 minutes and then take a 5-minute break using this method.

This way, you can minimize distractions, be productive, and have a few minutes to recharge before returning to your project.

A Poem: Distractions Abound

With good intentions
I attempted to write
Bound by illusions
I have something that might
Enlighten, help solve confusion.

I sit down and research
But from hobbies, I’ve gone to planets
And my draft says about a merch
Nothing else not even about comets
Certainly enjoyed searching, forgot about writing

Done with the headline, on to the outline
Pretty smug to get everything done
By day’s end before the deadline
Notification bell rings from someone
By sunset, there’s only the byline

Distractions abound and are ready to distract
Easy to get sucked, you won’t feel stuck
Hours go by before you even act
Hopefully, you get something done, and with luck
Learn that life distracts, and that’s a fact.

How to avoid distractions

As stated in the poem, distractions abound and it is easy to become sucked in by them.

So, here are some ideas to help you avoid distractions and become more productive in order to achieve success:

Limit your exposure to distraction

Turn your phone off or set it to silent mode. Place it in your pocket or a drawer where it will not be seen.

Also, turn off your laptop’s notifications and limit the number of tabs open to one or two so that you can focus on the task at hand.

Check your surroundings

Work in a place that is conducive to deep thinking and creativity.

That is, away from noise and chatter. Has a neat, tidy, and comfortable working environment, such as an ergonomic chair, right temperature, and properly functioning equipment.

Learn to say no

Sometimes, we get roped in by other people’s small favors or “got-a-minute” requests because we haven’t learned to say no.

Remember that giving in to favors takes time and effort away from your tasks. To avoid being distracted in this way, have a ready response for when people drop by unexpectedly and divide your attention.

That is, if you are unable to say no directly, you can respond with a noncommittal response. Such as, “let me check my calendar”, “I believe I already have something scheduled”, and so on.

Have a healthy lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle includes healthy eating, getting enough rest, and engaging in moderate physical activity.

Having a healthy lifestyle improves both your physical and mental health. It gives you energy, clarity, focus, creativity. And other benefits you need to concentrate on your task and stay productive.

Most importantly, a healthy lifestyle will assist you in developing the mental strength to resist distractions. Allowing you to achieve your goals and objectives in life.

Set up a good process

Make sure you have a good process in place. A good process allows you to run your day rather than distractions running it for you.

A good process would be to create a block schedule for your most important tasks.

For example, if you work in sales, you can divide your day into blocks dedicated to phone calls, client visits, and the preparation of sales quotes.

If you are a writer, you can plan your day so that you have time to write, create content, and do some marketing.

Another approach you could take is to plan ahead of time. You can make a to-do list, prioritize your tasks, prepare your physical items, and so on, the night before or early in the morning.

Having a good process in place allows you to have a structure in your day. And avoid being sucked in by distractions.

Build good habits

In addition to having a good process, it will also help to build good habits. This way, some of your processes will become subconscious and no longer require active decision-making.

With good habits in place, you can have a process that is simpler to implement. And therefore become more productive.

Reward yourself

Create a good reward system to serve as an incentive to attend to your boring tasks.

For example, if you create 5 pieces of content for sharing on your social media accounts, you can treat yourself to an extra hour on Netflix.

Summary

To summarize, there are numerous distractions that divert our attention away from critical tasks. Emails, mobile phones, social media, and streaming services have all made it easy to be enticed into doing things that are remotely related to our important tasks.

The reasons we become easily distracted are varied, but the most common are as follows:

• Lack of discipline, focus, and interest.
• No clear goals, processes, or good habits in place.

The poem illustrates how we become distracted in our daily lives.

As such, it is important that we learn how to avoid life’s distractions through the following suggestions:

• Limit your exposure to distraction,
• Check your surroundings,
• Learn to say no,
• Have a healthy lifestyle,
• Set up a good process,
• Build good habits, and
• Have a reward system.

Please share your thoughts or ideas about How To Avoid Life’s Distractions Today (Plus A Poem) in the comments below. And if you liked this article, you might be interested as well in these articles:

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Outside reference/s:

How to Increase Your Focus and Not Get Distracted