CLB 031: How to Find Focus Amidst Distraction

Are you having trouble finding focus amidst distraction?

Is it just me or does it seem like we are becoming more and more bombarded by distractions?

Email notifications, Twitter and Facebook messages, ringing phones, beeps from mobile devices. As I’m writing this I probably have a dozen tabs open in my internet browser. All these gadgets, all this information battling for our attention. Not to mention other possible distractions like noises in the environment, the chatter of co-workers, crying children, someone calling a meeting, all the papers scattered all over our desk, advertisements, the television blaring, and on and on.

In a sense, it’s an addiction.

There’s instant positive feedback – right away you’re rewarded with something pleasurable – saying laughing at a friend’s post on Facebook – and you don’t feel the negative consequences until much later. The negative feedback – time lost, more important tasks being put off – all that is delayed.

In addition to preventing us from getting done what we want to get done, distractions and lack of focus can affect our peace of mind, our stress levels and our happiness.

The fact is we need some quiet, we need time to reflect and contemplate, some time where our minds can rest. Those distractions are stresses our minds were not meant to handle. We’re not adapted to dealing effectively with all these distractions.

So what can we do about all this?

Listen on…

Key Points Re: Find Focus Amidst Distraction

* Break the addiction by breaking the cycle of positive feedback

* Identify your triggers

* Identify what you’re getting out of the addiction

* Is the addiction meeting some emotional need?

* Find a new, positive habit to break the old habit

* Change each trigger one at a time

* Create negative instant feedback for the old habit

* Improve your focus by creating rituals

* Schedule out “blocks of focus”

* Modify your environment to support focus

Episode Transcript

You can download the transcript of this episode by clicking here.

Home Play

Find something awesome to focus on.

Clear everything else away.

Focus on that awesome something.

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