25/01/2022
"I wanted to live my life, but I got distracted"
A quote from .hari new book Stolen Focus.
We live in an age where are so easily distracted, the time of the day ticking on, to-do lists getting longer, and anxiety building as we find ourselves losing focus on what we want to be doing and doing things that are unnecessary at the time.
We have so many distractions around us, this could be our phones, Netflix, or simply unconsciously choosing to do something easier rather than focusing on the task at hand which may feel a little more difficult.
Our brain seeks pleasure, and will always try to find the easiest route, procrastination is our brain's way of avoiding pain. Pain can be anything that we deem difficult. I.e. cleaning the house, working out, writing that essay, sending that email etc.
When we try to focus on the task and then there's a 'bing, bing!' - notification coming in to our phone, of course were going to grab the phone and jump at the opportunity to do something easier (read the notification), rather than writing the essay.
In a world where we are easily distracted it is so easy to blame social media, technology, others. But it is in our power to choose whether to be distracted at that moment or not. We have the choice to pick up our phones, to watch one more episode.
Things that help me be a little less distracted-
1) Turn off all unnecessary notifications
2) Use the app .co (on this app you can set an amount of time for your phone to lock apps. Don't worry you can still receive calls, and use Spotify 💃🕺)
3) Set a timer on my phone and tell myself I'm going to spend a set amount of time on the task at hand
4) listen to podcasts/ books on distraction / will power. Education is key, once we educate ourselves on certain topics it brings our attention to the topic. Once we are more aware of it, it makes it a lot easier to snap out of the distraction.
