Distraction.

I have a confession.

I think I’m addicted to distractions.

Emails, Instagram, reading books, writing, Netflix, talking with others… I often turn to these to distract me from what I am really trying to do.

It could be a university essay. It could be developing the narrative for a workshop I’m working on. It could be my breathing practice. Regardless of what it is, I sabotage myself and my practice by turning to distraction.

I convince myself that I will focus on the (more important) thing once I have ticked off this other (low priority) thing. Or I deserve a break because I have been working solidly for an hour.

Excuses really.

I offer myself these excuses to let myself off the hook for getting the work done.

Don’t get me wrong, I am committed to the work. I know it is important, for myself and for others. I have a responsibility to getting it done.

Yet, I still get distracted and compromise my productivity and effectiveness.

It’s something that I have become aware of, and thus working on eliminating.

To eliminate this destructive “habit” I am doing several things:

1. Committing to 60-90 blocks of deep work.
2. Removing the possibility of getting distracted by designing my working environment.
3. Staying accountable to doing the work by outsourcing this to others, i.e. I have committed to writing this blog on a daily basis, which the world/ audience now expects.
4. Allowing myself time in my day to read, write, chill out or check my emails.

Hopefully, this is something that I can improve on. I owe it to myself, to you and to the world. Because it is stopping me from fulfilling my potential.

What’s stopping you?