Life Repurposed

Life Repurposed


How to Identify Your Distraction Triggers and Get Your Productivity Back

January 30, 2020

In this episode:

Did you know that distraction is motivated by the desire to avoid discomfort? Reward isn't necessarily the motivation that will help you get stuff done. But if you can figure out your distraction triggers and remove the temptation, watch out world!

Inspired Life
How distractible are you? Ironically, I can tune out the noise at a coffee shop to write, but I get distracted at home by the noise my husband makes when he clunks his feet on the stools in the kitchen. I can be laser focused on getting a project done, or I can fritter away time until I have to rush.

Our attention is a commodity! If you can focus long enough, you can reach your goals. That translates to income.

Author Nir Eyal would propose that it is our motive that determines how easily we are distracted. It might surprise you. It’s our desire to avoid discomfort that most typically steals our attention.

Let’s look at this in real life:

Let’s say I always wanted to go back to college and finish a degree. Let’s look at what might distract us from applying, specifically with the idea of avoiding discomfort:

It takes time to apply.
You might have to dig up some documents and transcripts.
Fear is uncomfortable. (Fear of failure, fear of leaving current job, etc.)
You know it will be hard work to complete homework.

So, to avoid the discomfort of those things you:

Find other activities that make you “too busy” to apply.
You turn to procrastination techniques.
You play games online instead of filling out the application.
You research more instead of applying.

So what moves us past the distraction to get something done? It is when the discomfort associated with not getting it done becomes greater than the reasons for not doing it.

The discomfort of running out of time makes us get it done when we have procrastinated. The shame of talking about it and not doing it might motivate us to get it done.

See this article by Nir Eyal: Distractions and Causes

The problem with distraction is that it moves us away from what we want to do. So while it is an escape, it’s an unhealthy one.

Nir Eyal is the author of Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life (affilate link). He says, “The truth is, we overuse video games, social media, and our cell phones not just for the pleasure they provide, but because they free us from psychological discomfort.”

Boredom, loneliness, insecurity, fatigue, and uncertainty are examples of some of the feelings we try to avoid. The problem is that each time we try to numb those emotions with distraction (check social media, watch TV, etc.) it provides a temporary solution. Eventually, it actually increases the problem.

I’ve noticed that I often want to blame the external source for distracting me. But really, we are only as distracted as we allow ourselves to be. Opportunities to pull our attention will come from outside of ourselves until infinity. But it’s my own attention that I have control over. It really comes down to changing our habits. (Check out James Clear’s book  Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones (affiliate link) for more on habits.)

Let’s consider how life could change when we change how we respond to opportunities for distraction.

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