9 Ways to Overcoming Distractions
Are you not giving your full attention to your work? Are you taking frequent phone breaks? Do you find your brain wandering off topic?
Yes? That’s okay. I am guilty of all three of them, but I work to rid them from my life. I have found, with the help of those around me, techniques to solve distractions. I will be sharing them with you; from one procrastinator to another.
For a Wandering Mind
Tip #1 The Sticky Note
Invention ideas and creative ideas; chores and work; “what if’s” and world pondering; do these thoughts come to your mind while working?
Here is the trick to solve this distraction: have a sticky note or piece of paper by your side to write down any loose thoughts you want to elaborate on later. You will then be able to concentrate on the task at hand.
Tip #2 Be Here Now
If the types of thoughts that roam through your mind can't be recorded for later, remember this saying: “Be here now”.
Be in the moment; be focused on what you're doing while you're doing it. There will time for other stuff later.
Electronic Distractions Affect you?
Tip #3 Physically Move It
A common distraction for modern day learners are phones. Going onto your phone without an excuse, checking social media because you’re bored, responding back to your friends because you feel the need to--these are all distractions.
If you're not as easily distracted...
Turn your phone on “Do Not Disturb” or “Silent”
Place your phone in another room or hidden in your own room
If you're easily distracted...
Turn your phone off ALL the way
Give your phone to a trustworthy person (or place in separate room)
Optional- Ask the trustworthy person to hide it for you
Tip #4 Logout
If you are working online, you may be getting distracted by that same means--searching for the latest celebrity gossip, watching youtube or Netflix, or scrolling social media. There are three different tips for solving this:
Logout of unnecessary social media accounts
Change push notification settings off
Use no internet and work offline
Boredom Getting You Down?
Tip #5 Eat it Elsewhere
Do you tend to eat food while working? If you are truly hungry, leave your desk and go eat! Eating while working is just distraction--a yummy distraction.
Tip #6 Take Your Break!
Working for long periods of time without a break is strenuous and boring, to say the least. Create a goal for yourself: “After 30 minutes of working on this project, I will take a 10 minute break”.
An App for my smartphone is “30/30”; a time productivity app. It has helped me stay true to how much time I spend on break and how much time I spend working. By splitting the work, it creates a vibe where the workload is a lot lighter than what it seemed like before.
Tip #7 Split Large Tasks Into Smaller Ones
What gives you more satisfaction, checking off one box or checking off five boxes? Most of all people answer the second one true. Before you begin working, create a checklist of all the smaller tasks required to complete the larger task. While going through the task, you will feel a larger sense of accomplishment; you will be able to visually see all the work you’ve done already by crossed out boxes.
Sound-Based Distractions
Tip #8 Relocate
People lucky enough to concentrate with music are blessed. Besides the point, sounds tend to be a reoccurring distraction. Music playing, conversations going, tv playing--all of these playing a role in distraction. To solve this, relocate! Move your work without these sound based distractions.
Tip #9 White-noise On!
Working in a completely silent room may not help you work productively. The silence is the major non existent sound in the room, distracting you. Is there a fix to this? Yes there is; simply turn on white noise. White noise is sound with many equally-intense frequencies. Your brain tunes this sound out, yet keeps the room from being completely silent. Fans, rain, static, these are just a few examples of white noise.
I hope this gave you new ideas to overcome distractions in your life!
Is there a tip you’d like me to elaborate on?
Is there something you're being distracted by I didn't talk about?
Do you have any tactics of your own you’d like to share? (by the way I would love to know about them!)
Leave your answers to any of these questions below! Let me hear your voice.
Picture Credit:
Remember I post every other Sunday @2 pm EST if you’d like to read more of my blogs! :) You might forget--we’re all human--but you can stay on top of it all when you sign up for my newsletter. I will be sharing with you the posts over two months.