Reduce Distractions / Reduce Stress

How many times do you have a bunch of important projects to work on, but instead of actually working on them you go bum around on Facebook?

How many times have you promised yourself you'd go to bed early but you stay up, reading yet another mindless article, or an even more mindless comment thread?

How did that make you feel?

I'm guilty of falling into a distraction trap on the regular. I don't even know why I do it sometimes. It's a habit, a bad habit, where if I have a free moment, even if it's mere seconds, I pull out my phone... tap on that Instagram icon, or Facebook, or Twitter, or Messenger, or edit a few photos, or check my activity progress on Human, or look at the Weather report, or open Pages see how many views my Facebook sites are getting, or Weebly to see if anyone is actually reading this blog (they are!). The list goes on and on.

Some months back I turned off notifications for most of these apps. That helps, to a degree. Now I'm not getting beeped and buzzed at just because of a like or a message. But the apps are still there, taunting me. Knowing they exist, knowing there might be new information, creates a mental distraction in it's own right.

We have so many options to distract ourselves from all the regular tasks of life, but by wasting our time with distractions we make those tasks much more difficult. You'll still have to finish those projects and go through your to-do list, now you just have less time to do them. The temporary relief you get from the distraction is grossly offset by all the stress it creates in the future.

Was the distraction worth it? Did those 45 minutes on Facebook make you feel any better? Did hearting a few pictures on Instagram help you get your real work done?

The answer of course is always NO.

Remember that. Next time you move that mouse over to open Facebook, remember it. The next time you're tempted to start tapping at apps, remember it. 

The first step toward breaking any bad habit is to acknowledge that it is bad. Every time you remember it, you're a step closer to forgetting it.

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