I am trying to be more and better distracted. I’ve been thinking a lot about this and the truth is that I get distracted extremely easily. My mind can wander off into a news story, researching some useless information on google, or just general goofing off. I get to end of my day and wonder where all the time went! I’m not proud of this, but it’s time to own up to it and do something about it.
I’ve tried many things to avoid distractions. I make plans, lists, set reminders and tasks to keep me on track, but then I get overwhelmed and frustrated and then I get distracted so I don’t have to deal with my feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated. It’s a vicious cycle.
So here’s my new answer… I’m going to be more distracted! Not just more – BETTER. Maybe I just need to embrace distractions as part of the cycle of my work and use them to creatively (and deceptively!) make me more productive. So I’m making distraction options – things to do when I don’t feel like doing the things I should be doing. One of my options is writing a blog post… so I guess that’s working. Others include things like calling someone to see how they’re doing, walking around the building, reading for 20 minutes (I always have a ton of reading to catch up on!).
I figure if I’m going to get distracted anyway, why not be distracted by things that I enjoy, that help me do things I should be doing anyway, and that actually pull me back into doing the things that I’m trying to be distracted from in the first place.
Yes, it’s sort of a mental kung-fu that will probably only work if I can trick my brain into thinking it’s getting what it wants when it’s really getting what it needs. I suppose this will only work on someone who is a bit clueless and easily duped… so I’m the perfect candidate!
So this is day one of my more and better distractions and so far it’s been an awesome day and I’ve gotten a ton of stuff done… including (but not limited to) writing one blog post. Thanks for the distraction.
4 Comments
I know exactly what you mean. I do the same thing. Doing all the things i want and not what i should on my day off! I do make a list of things i need to do, I do those first thing so when i get more distracted at least i feel like i accomplished something. I don’t get everything done but at least its a start!
Yep – in fact I meant to reply to this sooner and…well… you know.
Don’t you get tired of “thinking” so much?!! You tire me out just watching you….:-) But I was thinking (it is early and this is my one thought for the day so I can be done – unlike you) anyhow – I was thinking that to make your new distraction concept more concise, and to recognize the influence of your children on your distracted life – you should simply call it “more better” distractions and be done with it. Have a distractedly blessed day!
I thought about calling it “more better”, but this seemed like ungood grammar. You’re right though – a big part of this is recognizing the value of some of those things that might seem like distractions and being intentional about them.