Still why are you distracted?
Why you still get distracted even after knowing your "WHY"?
Even after knowing your ‘WHY’, you can still get distracted. Why?
There are a few reasons behind it:
Habitual Patterns: Our brains tend to follow established patterns. If distraction has become a habit, breaking free from it can be challenging.
Lack of Focus: Even with a clear purpose, maintaining focus requires effort. External stimuli, notifications, and multitasking can divert attention.
Emotional State: Stress, anxiety, or other emotions can interfere with concentration. Sometimes, our minds wander due to underlying feelings.
Environment: An environment with constant interruptions (e.g., noisy surroundings, cluttered workspace) can hinder focus.
Technology: Devices and apps are designed to grab our attention, and we fall into the trap of it.
Today’s digest is about how you can tackle distractions even after knowing your WHY. (In case you haven’t read the previous digest, you can read it here.)
Let’s begin with a question and an answer:
What is a distraction? Let’s define it.
A distraction is anything that pulls our attention away from the primary purposeful task into some pleasure-giving task. It steals our attention for long and keeps on stealing it in loops.
In short, a distraction is anything that pulls you away from doing what you really want to do.
Do you recognise any of these distractions around you?
Looking at your popped-up notification even while having conversations with your loved ones.
Checking emails when you are into some focused and vital work.
Chatting with a colleague who came over to your table when you were doing some focused work
When you had planned to do something good like reading a book but you end up reading those chats and comments on social media.
Let me share with you something of my experience.
I was too focused earlier in my initial teenage phase on my studies; I was completing all the work before the deadline on time and completing my studies before the exams.
Honestly, it was so good for me, but then a friend came into my life and introduced me to some other friends, i.e., movies and web shows. Slowly movies and web shows started becoming my best friends. I started spending most of the time, or, you can say, all my time, with them. Sometimes I stayed up all night with them. Are you guys getting it? I have started getting distracted. I was delaying the work that I was doing before the deadline. My exams were near, and I was with my best friends only, binge-watching them without any worries.
I paid and paying a huge amount of loss for this sin; it is a sin for me. However, the scene repeated itself several times. I realized that if I wanted to live the life I wanted, I must have to change, and I think you should too.
Distractions aren’t necessarily your fault, but managing them is your responsibility.- Nir Eyel, author of the bestselling book “Indistractable”
Opposite of distraction
I get it or I am assuming that you are seeking the opposite of distraction. If I had written this before reading Nir, I would have told you the antonyms of distraction are assurance, certainty, confidence, conviction, and more, but these were only near antonyms, and if you directly search for the antonym of distraction, I bet you'll get peace, order, and calm as answers. So what the hell is the opposite of distraction?
No worries, it is hidden in it only, i.e., remove ‘dis’ from ‘distraction’ and consider ‘traction’ as the opposite or the perfect antonym of distraction. Traction was proposed and adopted by Nir himself as the opposite of distraction.
Ultimately, Traction is your WHY; your purpose, your passion, meaning, and your sense of self.
(for more on your WHY, you can read my previous post by clicking here.)
Classification of distraction
Distraction is classified into two categories: external distraction and internal distraction. Let’s dig into both in detail.
External distractions
External distractions are those distractions and disruptions that come from your environment. These can be noises, people, technology, or any external stimuli that interrupt your focus.
Nir Eyel called these distractions as some triggers and the ones we are digging into are External triggers.
Examples:
Noise: Loud conversations, construction sounds, traffic, or any ambient noise that disrupts concentration.
People: Colleagues, family members, or friends interrupting your work.
Technology: Notifications from your phone, social media alerts, emails, and other digital distractions.
Workspace Clutter: A disorganized workspace can visually and mentally distract you.
Internal Distractions
Internal distractions are those distractions and disruptions that come from within your own mind. These include thoughts, emotions, and physiological needs that divert your attention and focus from the task at hand.
Nir Eyel called these distractions as Internal triggers.
Examples:
Daydreaming: Getting lost in thoughts unrelated to your current task.
Stress and Anxiety: Worries and concerns that occupy your mind, making it hard to concentrate.
Physical Discomfort: Hunger, thirst, fatigue, or an uncomfortable sitting position.
Multitasking: Attempting to do multiple tasks at once, which can reduce overall effectiveness and focus.
All human behavior is cued by either external or internal triggers.- Nir Eyel
Strategies to get out of these distractions
To get out of these distractions, you first need to look inside, which means you need to master internal distractions or the triggers first.
Dealing with Internal distractions
Distraction is an unhealthy escape from bad feelings.- Nir Eyel
If you want to overcome distraction, you need to understand and realize what drives your behaviour—what drives you to open that chat or the app where you see your friends enjoying themselves or the email that you open to read.
The root cause of this human behaviour is the desire to escape discomfort. Even when you think you are seeking pleasure, you’re actually driven by the desire to free yourself from the pain of wanting.
That’s why distraction is an unhealthy escape from bad feelings. The truth is you overuse video games, social media, and cell phones not just for the pleasure they provide but because they free us from psychological discomfort.
Once you recognize what roles internal triggers like boredom, loneliness, insecurity, fatigue, and uncertainty play in your life, you can decide how to respond more healthily.
You can’t control how you feel, but you can learn to control how you react to the way you feel.- Nir Eyel
Dr. Jonathan Bricker from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has developed a set of practical steps to handle distracting temptations. These techniques are rooted in behavioural change and are designed to help patients reduce health risks and manage distractions effectively. Here are the steps:
Identify the Feeling or Thought Behind the Urge: When you feel the temptation to get distracted, take a moment to become aware of the internal trigger. This could be feelings of anxiety, restlessness, or inadequacy for the task at hand. Understanding what prompts your distraction is the first step in managing it.
Write It Down: Document the internal trigger, noting the time of day and what you were doing when you felt the urge. Keeping a log of these distractions helps you identify patterns and link behaviours to specific triggers. This awareness can improve your ability to manage these distractions over time.
Explore the Sensation: Instead of reacting to the distraction, explore the sensation with curiosity. Dr. Bricker suggests using the “leaves on a stream” method. Visualize each distracting thought or negative feeling as a leaf floating down a stream. Watch these thoughts float away without reacting to them.
After getting out of these internal distractions, you need to make time for traction, i.e., the opposite of distraction.
Making time for traction (your WHY)
If you don’t plan your day, someone else will!- Nir Eyel
If you don’t know where your time is going, then everything can be considered as distractions. Follow these steps to turn your WHY into time:
Turn your values into time
Whatever values you believe you should live with, your family, your close ones, your friends, your work and your health. When it comes to investing time in these areas of your life, you get distracted and don’t follow the values. You don’t live up to your values because you don’t make time for them in your day.
Values are the attributes of the person you want to become.- Nir Eyel
Timeboxing
Timeboxing means deciding what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it and scheduling them in your calendar. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you have set a limit on it. Go ahead and see the chats or scroll through social media, but only at the time you’ve planned for it. Don’t sacrifice your other schedules for scrolling and chatting.
Decide how much time you want to devote to things according to your values and your WHY. Then, create a template, or you can simply use Google calendar to timebox your schedules. Nir has created a free schedule maker for you; click here to get it.
Next, include some time for reflection and refinement of your calendar. It can be at least 15 minutes per week. Questions to ask yourself:
When did I do what I said I would do, and when did I get distracted?
If you became distracted, note the trigger and decide what strategy you will use the next time it arises.
Also ask:
Are there changes I can make to my calendar that will give me the time I need to better express my values?
This gives you the opportunity to change things that will make your calendar easier to follow in the next week.
(The questions are totally stolen from Nir only.)
Note: You need to discuss your schedule with your partner, your family, and your companions so there won’t be any unseen barriers in your schedules. And you need to be flexible with your schedules and adapt to the changes in it. Don’t let it control you; control it yourself. Take control.
Dealing with External distractions
Tech companies are the best at distracting us externally. They steal our attention from doing a purposeful task to use their products in seconds. The notifications on your smartphone distract you by pulling you away from what you really want to do. You may want or try to ignore those distractions, but research shows that ignoring a call or message can be just as distracting as responding to one.
Not all external triggers are distractions if used properly and for the wellbeing of oneself. The right way to deal with external distractions is to ask yourself: Is it serving me, or am I serving it?
If the answer leads you to traction, keep it. If it leads you to distraction, eliminate it.
Controlling your smartphone
The smartphone we put in our pockets is indispensable. It helps you to stay connected with people around you, navigating places or imitating some good things. It is also the major source of distraction. To make use of your smartphone for the betterment of yourself instead of getting distracted, follow this 4 steps:
Remove the apps that are just on your phone and are of no use anymore. Check and remove them in bulk.
Organize the apps into folders, like all social apps can be moved into one social apps folder.
Remove notifications from all the apps and realize you don't need them. Use time boxing for the important apps, if it's in your schedule, you won't need other reminders.
Remove the apps you like, but you can still use them on your laptop or tablet. It'll increase your screen time.
As screen time has been introduced here, let's dig it in.
Controlling your screentime
Back in 2021, my screen time was up to more than 12 hours. Just binging and scrolling, binging and scrolling—this was me in those days. I gave a lot of torture to my brain by raising my toxic and cheap dopamine level.
Now I've gone down to 4 to 6 hours of average screen time daily. Wondering how I did it? Even I do, so I started researching and found digital wellbeing by Google on my device, already installed. Digital wellbeing is so effective that you don’t need to search for anything else to reduce the screen time on your smartphone.
"Your device has both good side and bad side, you just need to eliminate bad ones and keep the good."Use these very useful tips to reduce your screen time and not torture your brain. It has worked for many; it'll work for you as well:
Explore Digital Wellbeing, head over to your device settings, and search digital wellbeing. Just see its features, interface, and all.
App timers, click "app timers" in digital wellbeing and set timers for the apps that are used by you more and more. Set a decent timer that will not let you indulge in the application a lot. I recommend setting timers for all.
Grayscale mode, research has shown that this mode is very effective in reducing screen time. It hacks your brain to not use your device anymore; it lets you become bored while using those fascinating apps. If you are looking for ‘How to Setup?’, you can head over to this page.
Go minimal, clear your home screen, and keep it as minimal as you can. Try making folders and adding apps with similar types in them, name the folders something harsh and motivational, like your game folders, which can be named "don't open, it's addictive."
Find and Eliminate, If you've played PUBG, you should know that it's the most distractive and addictive thing on your device. Use a simple rule, if it is distracting more, then it should be eliminated (uninstalled); there is no other way.
Landscape mode, If you find yourself binge-watching Netflix, videos, movies, and all that, then try binge-watching it in portrait mode instead of landscape mode. Portrait mode is not made for binge-watching long-form videos, you will not binge that for more than half an hour. You just need to let yourself not turn on landscape mode again.
Remember, you don't fall under your device; your device falls under you. Take control!
Prevent Distraction with Pacts by Nir Eyel
The best way to stop impulsive distractions is to plan ahead. This involves making "precommitments," which are decisions made in advance to avoid future distractions. These decisions are made to prevent us from being tempted by distractions. They should be used after you've learned to manage your internal triggers, scheduled your tasks, and reduced external distractions.
Types of Pacts:
Effort Pact:
This involves making it harder to do something you don’t want to do.
Adding extra steps makes you think twice about whether the distraction is worth it.
Apps like SelfControl, Forest, and Freedom can help with this.
Price Pact:
You put money on the line. If you stay focused, you keep the money. If you get distracted, you lose it.
This method has helped many people quit smoking.
For example, you promised your friend $10,000 if you didn’t finish the book draft on time. If you didn’t finish it before the deadline, you lost the money.
Identity Pact:
This involves changing how you see yourself.
Your self-image affects your behaviour. If you see yourself as someone who doesn’t get distracted, you are less likely to get distracted.
For example, vegetarians don’t need much willpower to avoid meat because they see themselves as vegetarians.
Conclusion
Becoming indistractable is simple. Just follow these four steps: understand your internal triggers, schedule your time, control your external triggers, and use pacts to prevent distractions. These methods can change your life for the better.
People are now either controlled by distractions or they control their focus and become indistractable.
When you learn to be indistractable, you can help others do the same. You can show your coworkers these techniques by setting an example. You can motivate your friends and family to stay focused on their goals. You can also teach your children the important skill of staying focused in a world full of distractions.
(Written by Nir Eyel himself and rephrased by me.)
Final thought: a powerful quote by me.
“Distraction cuts you into pieces.”
Read that again at least 3 times.
I hope you find this useful. If yes, then consider spreading it by clicking the above share button.
Thanks for reading.
Stay undistracted.
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What are your takes on distraction from this post?