Handling Distractions!

We live in the modern age where Phones are getting smarter, while the people are getting dumber…we are pounded with information every millisecond..through News websites, social media, Television, Instant messaging and what not!  Our attention span is getting down to rather dangerous levels…and this becomes the major source of mental stress in the modern life.

 In my experiments to handle distraction (which I am figuring out still!) the peaceful days were the one in which I was able to concentrate on a task to a specified time limit …even if it is 5 minutes. Here are few elements to handle distractions..

First, know your distraction:

We all have created habit of distractions…Reading news from Websites,Checking emails, Checking social network sites ,watching TV ,surfing the internet without purpose are common examples of the distractions. The first step to eliminate the distraction is to know what they are…to be self-aware of your distractions.

So watch yourself… the next time you are involved in an important activity and your mind tells you instead to wander about & read news or check email….you found your distraction . This is an absolute important step!

Second, Find one activity to focus on:

If you have one most important thing for the day(that you absolutely loathe doing!) pick that activity to focus on…I know this is easier said than done. This is a productivity habit that any Leader in any profession possesses…

Third, set an upper bound of time for focusing:

Set a timer on for say even 5 minutes , as an upper-bound  for focus…what this means is , you should not continue the activity beyond the 5 minutes …absolutely !!!  you may wonder why this is so ? In the distracted world, we got to sustain the habit of focus, and it is best we do it in small increments…This is also called the Pomodoro technique

Fourth,give yourself a break after the Focus

After all , you deserve credit for the hard focus that you just indulged in !…walk to the water cooler or grab a coffee…

Handling distraction is an habit…start small with attention span of as less than 5 minutes and slowly increase it day by day…I am sure you will relish it...It is an amazing feeling that I would exhort you to be part-of!