Put Urgency In Your Distractions
Read More: Distractions? Let me count the ways.
- Telephone
- Google Feed Reader
- 3 great blogs about the Cleveland Indians baseball team
- News sites
- All those great articles & blogs on Better Networker
- A constant stream of email
- Googling to see who the actress was that starred with John Wayne in Stagecoach in 1939
- TV
- and on and on and on
If it's easy for you to shut this stuff out, congratulations. It's not easy for me. I can focus on anything I'm writing for 2 or 3 minutes at a time, with bursts up to 45 minutes. Then some other thought pops in, and, if I'm not careful, I'm looking at a Google page that tells me it was Claire Trevor who starred in Stagecoach with John Wayne.
So for me, the trick becomes putting a sense of urgency in my distractions.
I'll be talking about other solutions in coming days, but this one works pretty well: a kitchen timer. I set it for 2 minutes. (Or maybe 3 or 4, depending ...) I give myself that much time to waste time, then get back. So I focus on really hurrying through my distraction. Sometimes I even beat the timer. But I find that when that timer dings, I've conditioned myself to quit being distracted and get back to work.
Which works until next time. But it's way better than spending an hour or two surfing around aimlessly, wasting way more time than you can afford.
You've got nothing but your time - you've got to protect it.
Richard
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Comments: 5 
About the Author: Richard Dennis
Member Since: 10/25/2008
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Primary Web Site: http://NetTrafficMachine.com
Another awesome lesson!
I can so, so relate to this post. Thanks Dennis for the advice on using an egg timer! I also agree with you that all we have is time and it must be protected.
I leave this class once again with more than I came with.
Thank you
Your freind for life
David Atkinson
Great Advice
Hi Richard, great advice, I fall pray to getting distracted, trying to multi-task and then find I haven't achieved anything. Will be trying the egg timer out see if it works for me...
Many Thanks
Bethune
Great Advice Richard
It would probably be amazing to really add up the minutes that are wasted by frivolous activities every day. And I know we are all guilty of this.....
I don't even check a couple of my email boxes every day....the only thing that is going in there is a bunch of junk. Once you get on a list....well, we all know what happens.
Thanks for the tip.
Dianne
"Life Is Not About How Many Breathes You Take...It Is About How Many Times Life Takes Your Breathe Away"
Thank You Richard!
Great Idea. I will definitely use it! OOps there goes my timer. I have to get back to work. LOL
Thank you for all you do.
Timothy C Burns
Great Tip
I will have to remember this one Richard. I get distracted very easily when I am trying to work, especially when I am not in the mood to do so. I can definitely see this method working for others as long as they have the self discipline to follow the rule.
The psychology behind this method is wonderful.
Your friend,
Alfonzo Gasaway II