There are so many distractions in our lives. You don’t even have to go far, you open your eyes in the morning and your cellphone says ‘Hello’!, apps on the phone, whatsapp, email, sms, instagram. There’s the radio, tv, netflix, pinterest and lots of other little things that are helpful but hectic time wasters if you let them. Of course there will be people time wasters as well.
It is overwhelming at times.
I went home to Botswana with my kids in June/July and I did not roam or get a local simcard. Which meant I was only online when I was at home where there was wifi. And even then, the wifi was super crappy, which meant I was rarely on my phone. I absolutely loved it. Forgot to take pictures as I was busy living in the moment and I didn’t mind. My kids did not say it, but I suspect they also enjoyed having my undivided attention.
Anyhow, just how do you get rid of distraction?
GO COLD TURKEY
That’s all there is really. If you want to get rid of distractions, you just need to go cold turkey and cut them out.
I have tried to cut out one or two things and I find if it is there, I will still navigate to it eventually. A minute here and there which ultimately adds up to a lot of time during the day.
I forgot my charger once and my phone died as soon as I got to where I was going to be for the day. I sent a few messages letting people I knew would worry that I would only communicate in the evening and put the phone away. Throughout the day I did not even bother to take out my phone. It was interesting to observe other people and their phones though. People don’t have meaningful conversations anymore, they are too busy on their phones or gadgets.
It was only when I got home that I realised just how productive I had been during that day. I felt fresh at the end of the day. I had not checked news or emails during the entire day. When I finally had my phone charged, I spent less than 30 minutes on it and I was done.
There will be days when you need the some of the ‘distractions’, but truth be told, half the time you can do without them. We would do so much more if we just focused and spent less time on and with distracting things and habits.