Avoid Distractions Like A Boss
DISTRACTION REALITY
In the last 100 years, the average pace of living has increased substantially. Everything now is happening much faster and is speeding up even as we speak. Each year the world is becoming more connected, easing the distribution of information, money, jobs, products and resources. Not only that, but we are now also well part of the digital age, where the things mentioned above are promoted and encouraged even more, purely because technology makes life easier and more convenient for everyone who has it.
However, with this interconnectedness and an increase in the activity of our surroundings, we are exposed to more and more distractions each day. The frequency and amount of these distracts will continue growing, which is why one of the most treasured skills nowadays is the ability to stay focused on a task for a set period of time.
BENEFITS OF STAYING FOCUSED
BETTER WORK OUTPUT
The primary benefit of being able to avoid distractions is the ability to have a greater work output, where we are able to get more done in a shorter amount of time. Not only that, but the work which we do produce will end up being of higher quality, as we have poured in more concentrated work that has fewer errors and mistakes in it. Another benefit is that if we are in a focused state then other people who are around us will notice that and will be more inclined to stay focused as well. This is because our environment plays such as a key role in our work, influencing everything from our productivity, focus and our thinking. In order to see and make a change around you, you have to first adopt that change in yourself, since the external world is a reflection of your internal state.
IMPROVES US AS A PERSON
Apart from improving the work we produce, the ability to stay focused also benefits us as a person, improving our personal qualities. Fore mostly, it gives you more mental clarity in the moment as we are more likely to enter a flow state with our work, in which we have enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills.
In order to achieve a state of focus, we have to first make a couple of decisions which allows us to reach this state of focus. Due to this decision making, process, we are able to improve our decision-making skills, as we learn to make the right decisions based on the moment, and we strengthen our will power muscle as we are able to resist the tempting distractions of the outside world, to choose to instead focus on doing something valuable.
Not only that, but when we are fully concentrated on something, we direct our full attention to it, meaning that we are more present in the moment with it, and as a result remember more useful things connected with what we are doing, which overall helps improve our memory recall of an event or task.
Lastly, due to the fact that when we are in a flow state, we experience higher levels of happiness, since we are living and working in the present moment and not focusing on ten things at once, which really only diverts our focus.
COMMON DISTRACTIONS
ELECTRONICS
In terms of electronics, we mostly get distracted by notification rings, whether that is from our phone, computers, tablets or pretty much any other device that notifies us about something. By hearing a sound or a ring, we are tempted to see what it is, which diverts our attention and focus away from the task at hand.
When talking about notifications, it is integral to mention the process of instant gratification, which works on the bass of our brain releasing the pleasure chemical dopamine every-time is anticipates success. This anticipation of "success" can come in the form of a notification or simply viewing photos or videos, like those found on many social media networks. When our brain does come across this content that we associate with "success", we get a short term hit of dopamine, which further enforces our brain to continue scrolling through our Instagram or any other social media feed, even though a fair chunk of time has already gone by. What initially only starts out as "Just 5 minutes of scrolling" can easily end up being half-hour or even more. This is one major "pulling in" factor of social media and the reason why it has so many consistent users.
This year alone, in 2020, there is an estimated number of 3.6 billion social media users globally, where that number is only expected to rise even higher in the future. In terms of how much time we spend on average per day scrolling through our curated feeds, heavily depends on the country, with the average in the US being around one whole hour.
Apart from notifications and the alluring magic of social media, we also have to consider the popularity of email checking and just how much of a distraction this can be. Although email can be useful and is certainly a major communication force today, it can also quickly turn out to be a very big waste of your time, simply because of how its built and the sheer amount of information that is sent to our inbox on a daily basis.
Many studies continue to prove that the average person during a workday can spend up to several hours on email, where they check it several times per hour and most of the time keep the email tab open in the background, further acting as a distraction.
BACKGROUND NOISE
Being surrounded by a noisy and distracting environment, whether in a school, work or home environment can be detrimental to getting anything done.
Disturbing noises can include anything from people around you that are loud talkers or laugh and argue frequently. Furthermore, noises of traffic, people passing by, catchy music or other sounds that are in your environment such as construction work or someone cleaning, can also directly distract you.
It is crucial to try and minimize these noises, as if they are constantly persistent in the background, they can disrupt us and make us lose our focus and attention.
MESSY ENVIRONMENT
Often when having cleaned our room or workspace, we often immediately feel more organized, clear-minded and easier to focus on whatever we are doing in that space. That is simply because the space we are in is less crowded and cluttered with objects and materials that simply cloud and distract our mind whenever we lay our eyes on them.
The reason a messy environment distracts our attention is because whenever we see something in a space, we acknowledge it which makes us think about the object, thus making us lose focus on what we were originally working on.
I always recommend that you try and keep your living and working space cleaned as it really does heavily impact your mindset and mood throughout the whole day.
NOT TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF
While staying focused during your work is heavily dependent on external factors such as your environment, we often also like to neglect that is it heavily determined by our internal environment, in terms of how we are taking care of ourselves and our health.
A lack of sleep, for example, has been shown to seriously impact our thinking abilities and creativity the following day while eating a diet high in processed foods has been shown to make us more tired and experience more blood sugar spikes that makes-our levels of concentration waver throughout the day.
Taking care of your health involves:
Sleeping enough each night
Drinking enough water
Eating a balanced and varied diet that suffices your daily needs
Including exercise and movement in your day
Taking regular/ scheduled breaks from work
Managing your stress and taking time to relax
Having a social circle in which you feel welcome and happy
MULTI-TASKING
While at first glance, getting more things done at once by multitasking may seem to be the way to go, research from the last decade is emerging saying that multitasking has serious long term drawbacks on our work output and focus abilities.
Our brain finds it hard to focus fully on two or more things at once, as our attention is constantly located form one thing to the next, never really giving us time to get int he zone and enter a fully focused state.
Multitasking has been shown to
Result in more mistakes because we are less focused
Produce lower quality work
Hinder our memory of the task at hand
Inhibit creativity while we work
Waste our time in the long run
Make us not live in the present moment, as our attention is constantly on other things
HOW TO GET INTO A FOCUSED STATE
Make one space only serve one function
Try to keep a clean environment around you
Before starting a task, determine what is the purpose of doing it and what do you want to get out by achieving it
Write out a to-do list, instead of keeping everything in your head. Your brain is meant for thinking not storing
Prioritize your work
Split large tasks into smaller more manageable chunks
To get more mental clarity, try out meditation; Even just five minutes could get you into a different headspace
HOW TO SAY FOCUSED
Mute electronic distractions
Try playing calming background music while you work
Keep caffeine during the day moderate
Avoid the distraction of a noisy environment by closing your doors (if possible), relocating to a different work environment or buying a pair of noise-cancelling headphones
Take care of your wellbeing and health in terms of your sleep, diet, social well being, drinking enough water, exercise and taking breaks
Avoid multitasking
Take regular breaks from working
Time yourself while you work, to know when to stop and take a break
Install special apps or internet blockers on your devices that temporarily make sites or apps unavailable (Such as social media)
Schedule time only for checking emails (If you have a lot of them)
