If you can’t avoid distractions learn to smile and get back on track

I’ve just been distracted by Twitter again. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I wanted to send someone a quick direct message about something blog related about another post I’m going to be writing, but what I was planning on doing now was writing this post!

The danger of serial distractions

The danger isn’t really writing a quick direct message, it’s how easy it is to get distracted by something else on Twitter; someone asking me a question that I think I could just answer quickly, or a link to a juicy drawing that someone has sent me, which leads me off checking someone’s Flickr stream, that leads me off to discovering another new artist among their contacts, that leads me off… I’m sure you get the picture.

Then there are the real world distractions; a text message arriving on my phone asking me if I fancy lunch, a damp cat arriving in from the rain demanding breakfast, noticing the time and thinking there was something I REALLY want to listen to on the radio or watch on the TV, noticing the time and thinking it REALLY is about time for a cup of tea and a biscuit!

It’s all so easy to get momentarily distracted by one little thing, that then leads on to one more little thing and then another (and then another!). We have to be heroic to resist the temptation to giving into the first distraction, and of course most of us aren’t heroic, at least not all the time. The best I think we can aim for is staying awake and aware of what we’re doing.

Some tricks to help you (try) to stay on track

Yes, employ plenty of tricks to help yourself at least try to stay on track:

<ol>

Make a short todo list, even a digital one, of your Important Work for the day.

<li>Set a timer for twenty minutes and focus on one thing until it goes off.</li>

<li>Keep a notepad by your side and when you think of something you REALLY must do jot it down rather than doing it.</li>

<li>Turn off the Internet and your phone.</li></ol>

But also accept that you may well get steered off course!

It’s like learning to meditate

It’s a little like learning to meditate. We may well be able to sit still for five minutes (twenty minutes or half an hour might be a bit more of a challenge), but we probably can’t sit still and calm our thoughts too, not entirely.

Our meditation teacher may well tell us to just watch our thoughts as though they were a gently flowing stream, but more than likely we’ll get caught up with one thought and suddenly the stream has turned into flood swollen rapids and we’re careering along riding the thought like Meryl Streep’s out of control raft in The River Wild!

Distracted? Accept it with a smile and then get back on track

All we can hope for in that situation is to watch what we’re doing and then do our best to get back into calmer waters. Being gentle with ourselves, rather than admonishing ourselves for a “lack of willpower” is the quickest way to get back on track.

Yes, focusing on one thing at a time is definitely the most efficient way to get things done, but it takes practice, a lot of practice. Better to just do your best and not waste energy getting upset if you veer off course (a lot).

PS during the writing of this blog post I’ve checked my email once, replied to a couple of Twitter direct messages, made a pot of coffee, put on a load of laundry and fed an insistant damp cat. But I have written the post!

I’m currently reading Dan Goodwin’s new book, How to Get Focused and Create What Matters. I’m going to be interviewing Dan here on Sustainably Creative very soon, and hope to learn a little bit more about avoiding distractions and staying focused. If you don’t want to miss the interview then subscribe to the Sustainably Creative’s RSS feed in your favourite reader or have new posts emailed directly to your inbox.

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