Distractions

 “An addiction to distraction is the end of creative production.” ~ Robin Sharma

We are already 4 weeks into the new year and in a few days, the first month will be gone. Just like in previous years, time waits for no man (and has no sympathy for women either). This week I’m pondering why some weeks win the ‘’week of the year” award and others whoosh past like they did not even stop by to consume 168 hours.

I love doing to-do lists weekly, daily, and sometimes task-wise. I am most productive when I can see on paper what needs to be done and cross off what has been done and see what is pending. But still, some weeks I’m ahead of the list and some I don’t even crack a measly 20% of the list.

It boils down to what distractions happen or which ones I allow into my life.

A distraction is defined as something that makes it difficult to pay attention or that draws attention away from familiar concerns. Also, distraction is the process of diverting an individual’s attention from a desired area of focus. Based on these definitions, I can think of a thousand different things and situations that are a distraction in my life. Daily chores, emergencies, other people’s urgent requests, fatigue and exhaustion, social media, ‘fun activities’, and on and on I could go.

Unfortunately, the 168-hour countdown does not slow down because I was distracted. If anything, it speeds up because the time allocated to complete a set of tasks is now being used up by totally unrelated tasks.

I found 3 causes of distractions: one, it is caused by a lack of ability to pay attention; two, lack of interest in the object of attention; or three, the great intensity, novelty, or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention. This could easily be a list of reasons why people procrastinate. Granted, in some cases, the distraction is caused by legitimate emergencies or urgent tasks that just had to be attended to but in the grand scheme of things, do not form your core purpose.

Robin Sharma explains that there is a huge difference between peak work and useless toil. Some days I go to bed bone tired but in my analysis of what I have achieved, I find that it was all useless toil and what I had set out to do did not get done!

We need to guard against distractions if we are to ever achieve what we set out to do in the time we allocate, considering that time is a scarce and finite resource.

How do you organize your to-do list? Hardest first or easiest? Blocks of time to do specific tasks or open-ended time slots for tasks? Do you have a daily routine? Does your phone ever go silent for a block of time to allow you to work without interruption? When do you plan how you will spend your week? Do you allow free time during which you allow distractions and entertainment?

Every time I have a project I’m working on, I’m reminded that I have to be ruthless in my execution of what is necessary and heartless in my dealings with the thieves of time. I am curious to hear what systems you have come up with to ensure that distractions do not run away with your time. Are you winning the war or losing the battle?

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” ~ Winston S. Churchill