Unlearning The Distractions Dilemma: Strategies For Staying On Task
We’ve all been there: sitting at your desk, thinking about your to-do list, but choosing to pick up your phone instead, watch an episode of your favorite show, or, in my case, clean the entire house.
You know what you need to do; you’re motivated to do it, but you can’t concentrate. Let’s talk about what is causing this struggle to stay on task.
What is the distraction dilemma?
It’s the constant struggle we all face between what we want to focus on and the many distractions fighting for our attention.
According to recent studies, the average person loses nearly 2. 5 hours a day to distractions, which is a pretty significant chunk of our waking and working time.
Strategies to combat the distraction dilemma
1. Time management prioritization
If you can start by managing your time effectively and prioritizing the tasks on your to-do list, it will help you reduce the number of choices you have to make every day and then get distracted by that process.
So keep your to-do list and systems streamlined so you're not distracted or easily pulled by shiny objects.
“It's so easy for us to get distracted by some new idea. We see another business owner doing something cool on Instagram, or we are inspired by an email, and we have to write the email right away.
Sometimes that's not bad. Sometimes we can lean into those moments of clarity or inspiration, but quite often we're just using it as a tool to distract us from the things that we have to do.”
2. Create a distraction-free workplace
Your environment plays a vital role in how you are able to focus at your desk or wherever you're working. Create a spot that is relaxing, that is distraction-free, and that is clean and streamlined.
3. Digital distractions management
Online business owners spend the majority of their time online, so it’s easy to have digital distractions everywhere! But here are a few key steps to manage digital distractions and ensure you stay on task.
Close your inbox when you're not working there.
Use a website blocker tool to block out certain websites that you may find yourself pulled to throughout the day.
If you can't access it, then the decision is out of your hands, which is not only liberating but also reduces your decision fatigue throughout the day and reduces the distraction and your ability to stay focused on what you have to do.
Close your tabs
Tabs are not a to-do list. Close them out. I promise that that information will return to you when you need it. If it is truly important, then you can actually save all of the tabs into a folder and bookmark them all at once. So you can trust that you won't lose anything important, but if you are cringing right now, when I say to close those tabs, you know who you are. Go close all those tabs.
4. Use power hours
A power hour is anywhere from 50 to 60 minutes of time where you are working through a super actionable task list. It's a designated time of clear focus with a break on the back end of it. It could be 15 minutes of work, 10 minutes of recovery, 30 minutes of work, 20 minutes of recovery, whatever structure works best for you.
Set them in your day once or twice a day or a couple of times a week, and you will be amazed by how much you can accomplish when we close out everything else. This works because of Pareto's principle, which is that “work expands to fill the time it's given”
If you give yourself 30 minutes to complete a task, you're much more likely to complete it in that 30 minutes versus if you give yourself 3 hours. Giving yourself 3 hours means you're going to take 3 hours to fill that task and be distracted throughout that time. So, experiment with shortening up the amount of time you're giving for any particular task.
5. Mindfulness and meditation
You can use these techniques to calm the mind and focus, boosting focus throughout the day.
If meditation is not for you, then try planting your feet on the ground, close your eyes, and take 3 deep breaths. That is an absolutely amazing way to calm our bodies. Reset our minds a little bit and able to get back to work.
6. Goal setting
We have to know what our goals are so we can stay focused on the right tasks to help us reach our goals.
Final Thoughts
I'm in my mid-thirties, and the world has changed so much in that time, so we're still learning how to interact with so much of this technology; even though it feels very day-to-day, it feels very natural, but we weren't born with so many opportunities to be distracted in the work environment we currently live in.
So give yourself some grace and remember that every challenge is an opportunity to grow and refine your focus skills.
Free Resources For You
Grab Chelsey’s free guide on Understanding Procrastination.
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation call with Chelsey so that you can create a booked-out business without burnout.
Connect with Chelsey Newmyer
Website: https://chelseynewmyer.com/
Instagram: @chelseyncoaching
