Last week I started doing something a little different. I started keeping track of all the times I got distracted during the day. At first it was just making little tally marks on my time tracking sheet, then I started writing a short sentence about what I was distracted by.
At first it was funny, then it was frustrating, and then I was disappointed. Disappointed in myself for not focusing on my work better, for not giving attention to my kids, or not helping around the house as much. I did this for two days.
On the third day though I noticed I wasn’t becoming as distracted. Thoughts and desire for distraction still floated into my head – but that it is almost unavoidable these days. But my twitch to respond and give into distractions had decreased noticeably.
By giving a name to each distraction and shining a light on them, I had decreased their power. It’s like we were meeting each other in person and I was able to say “not right now” or “hopefully not ever”.
This little practice made me think of Austin Kleon’s new book Keep Going. In it he shares a quote from Ingmar Bergman saying “demons hate fresh air”. He meant it for not staying cooped up wrestling with your creative demons, but it made me think of the same thing with distractions.
When I continually give in to distraction, bit by bit, minute but minute, I feel bad about it but don’t say or do much to stop it. Admitting so feels like defeat. But that’s just what the demons want.
By exposing and studying the distraction I’m able to dissect it, poke at it, and brush it aside much easier. At times I still decide I want to spend time on it, but the urge to immediately rush to distraction is much less.
Take a day or two this week to track your distractions. The important part is not to judge yourself, have some humor in it! Much of the world is positioned to grab our attention, so give yourself a little grace. The goal is not to change anything (yet), but simply to recognize where our attention is being pulled.
I’m thinking about making this a two week mini-series, so hit reply and let me know if this resonates with you. Especially if you decide to try the distraction journal for a couple days. I’d love to know if it helped you!
One last thing, I have a new video for quarterly review and planning. The topic is focused on OKRs, which I briefly mentioned in the last quarterly review video and received a lot of interest on!
I’m planning on hosting another time tracking challenge soon, so keep an eye on your email and on YouTube for more details. Can’t wait to share more of this with you.
Have a great week friends!
Matt