It’s pretty obvious that we live in a distracting world—now more than ever thanks to the technology we have today. And yet none of us are ever really taught much about how to stay focused on the important stuff. It’s like we’re just expected to know how to do it.
If you regularly find yourself wondering where all the time went and why you never get nearly as much done as you'd hope to, then you might find some of the following tips to be of help.
1. Start Paying More Attention to Your Attention.
The simple act of just noticing that you’re distracted is helpful. And you don’t even have to pull yourself out of the distraction to benefit from it. As long as you make a regular habit of heightening your awareness and looking inward on yourself, you'll start to notice more when you’re distracted. That alone can eventually be powerful enough to make you change your actions.
2. Remove Temptation.
Removing yourself from a distracting environment or getting rid of distracting objects is one of the easiest and most helpful things you can do when you need to stay focused on completing a specific task. You might have to take something you’re working on out of the TV room and into the home office where it’s quiet. You might need to turn your phone off. You might even need to say “no” to people and their requests more often. Whatever it takes to help you get what you need to get done.
Visualization involves consciously imagining the process (a.k.a. the work) and the result (a.k.a. the reward) of whatever it is you want to achieve. Set aside a few minutes where you can put yourself in a quiet environment so you can close your eyes and picture yourself carrying out the work. Be as detailed as you can in your visualization, and remember that without imagining the process along with the result, it won’t be nearly as effective.
