Three Daily Distractions That Can Take Your Productivity Down

 

Keith is a driven professional. Any given day he can be incredibly productive and will leave his office feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Then there are the other days. If there is one singe thing that derails Keith from being productive it’s distractions.

He claims to be a focused person but there are certain distractions that affect him and ultimately his productivity.

It’s easy with today’s technology to mean well in being productive. You’re focused on a project and begin doing some research and the next thing you know you’re checking your LinkedIn or Facebook profile and clicking on YouTube videos.

What just happen? You’ve lost 20 minutes of not only your life but your productivity.

Jermaine Riley once said, “Distractions destroy action. If it’s not moving you towards your purpose, leave it alone.”

I love that quote but it’s another thing to implement those wise words.

 

Here are Three Daily Distractions That Can Take Your Productivity Down:

 

1. Distracted By What You See

Many of us are visual. It’s almost too much for us to handle seeing certain temptations before our very eyes. It’s like putting a cookie out in front of a child and seeing what he’s going to do.

For example, I cannot have open tabs on the computer when I’m working on a major task. I just HAVE TO CLICK.

But if it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. There are concentration apps such as Anti-Social, Focus Booster, or StayFocused. To learn more about these options, check out this LINK for 10 concentration apps suggestions.

The goal is being present to the task or person at hand. If my phone or iPad is out when I’m with another person, I can be distracted and not give that person my full presence. This is dis-respectful to them and can be avoided.

 

2. Distracted By What You Hear

There are certain sounds that affect me depending upon what I’m doing.

For example, if I’m reading, I don’t do well hearing other people’s conversations. I need either quiet or instrumental music.

If I’m writing an email or brainstorming, I can have office noise or a crowd in Starbucks and I’m just fine.

What you hear will drastically affect your productivity especially if noise is a sensitive issue to you.

Some of us need noise, others it’s paralyzing. How are you distracted by what you hear around you when you’re trying to be productive?

 

3. Distracted By What You Think

I can control what I see and what I hear but what gets me more than any other distraction is what I think.

At any given moment, I can be focused on the task at hand and something pops into my mind. It could be very important or simply a random action item.

My problem is when I let the distraction take me off of the task at hand. I’m learning (still in process on this one) to instantly write it down on a Master List to get it out of my hand and IMMEDIATELY jump right back into what I was doing.

I tried to ignore it and only one of two things happened: it dominated my thoughts because my brain wanted to hold on to it or I would forget what the thought was later that I needed to remember.

Again, the goal is to become fully present to the task at hand and handle the distraction in an effective way.

 

Distraction Attack Plan:

Now that we understand the three daily distractions, we need an attack plan to loosen their grip.

Define – what is distracting you when you work? You probably already know. If not, you can start with social media. Call it out so you can do something about it. Now, I’m not saying you can’t look at it within your day. It’s a matter of if it’s distracting you from something else. We all know the difference.

Minimize – once you define the distraction, begin to minimize its effect on you. Some distractions you simply cannot get away from due to location, environment, etc. But seek to due whatever you can to minimize it now that you’re aware of its hold on you.

Remove – certain distractions can simply and easily be removed. We just need to let go of those guilty pleasures for the purpose of the greater good of productivity. This requires discipline and choosing delayed gratification to further the task at hand than instant gratification and sacrificing the task at hand.

The ultimate goal is FOCUS. Ruthlessly do whatever you can to minimize distractions so you can focus.

 

Additional Reading:

10 Critical Tips to Prevent Distraction and Sharpen Your Focus

How to Minimize Distraction to Get Things Done

Top 10 Ways to Defeat Distractions and Get Your Work Done

How Can I Steer Clear of Distractions and FocusWhile I Work?

Closing Challenge…

Productive professionals must learn to define, minimize, and remove distractions to increase productivity. Otherwise we’re just busy and un-productive.

It’s starts with our awareness. Observe what you see, hear, and think that becomes a distraction and affects your productivity. Then ruthlessly seek to minimize and even remove it during your task at hand.

Lastly, seek to remove distractions so you can truly be present with people. For me, I simply need to focus on the person and honor them with my attention.

This is a challenging area for many of us and may you take the challenge for the sake of your productivity.

We want to accomplish BIG things yet it’s the small things that can be the biggest distraction.

 

Closing Question…

What distractions on any given day affect you and how can you minimize or remove them for the greater productivity good?