Your results are the product of either personal focus or personal distractions. The choice is yours. -John Di Lemme
It’s a happy
day and pure bliss for me. Friends, my elder Brother and Bhabhi jee are blessed with a baby boy. Yes, I have become Uncle once
again. The new born, innocent noble soul who graced my extended family inspired
me to complete this blog which I had been longing to finish for past two weeks.
Well, prior to
yesterday, and for past few days I had been feeling anxious and quite
restless. The reason is – I didn’t fulfill on my commitment of publishing a blog
at least once in every two week. Further, in order to fulfill my self-promise of
publishing a blog every alternate Sunday, I had made another self-promise of
writing a minimum of five sentences every single day there by realizing the power
of compound effect. However, I didn’t fulfill on this simple exercise which
eventually caused me to feel so restless. Friends, we often ignore the power of simple
or easy things. We must remember the
things that are easy to do, are also the things that are easy not to do. Had
I written five sentences every single day which is so simple to do, my weekly
task would have become much easier. What
we do everyday matters way more than what we do once in a while and importantly
our daily action steps will determine our success and help realize our dreams.
Upon some
further self-talk I realized whenever I was sitting to ponder on ideas, gather
thoughts and write, I was constantly distracted and overwhelmed by the
continuous in-flow of message alerts on whatsapp, facebook, email
notifications and phone calls. These seemingly small distractions on a daily
basis steal a mountain of our productivity and inhibit us from realizing our
greatest potential. We live in a world of dramatic distractions where there is
a multitude of choice. It’s never been so easy to get distracted by 100s of TV
channel, 1000s of mobile apps, tens of thousands of email notification,
uncountable websites and blogs and many other challenges of our day-to-day
life. As such it is becoming alarmingly difficult to focus on one thing at a
time and we end up busy being busy eventually getting either little or nothing
done out of the day.
The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is
Acceptance. – Nathaneil Branden
Awareness is the
first step to self-improvement. Friends, realizing the fact that our physical
form is mortal and we have very limited time on earth, the sooner we become aware about things that matter, the better it is. Days pass into weeks, weeks pass into months, month slip
into years and years will pass into decades and if we don’t realize the
importance of time now, we will end up living a very ordinary, unfulfilled and
regretful life. My most sincere effort through my blogs is to be of maximum
value for your time. Today, I share with you some of the greatest human
distractions which are keeping you from realizing your wildest dreams in this
modern era of highly advanced technologies. I hope it helps you in staying focused and
getting more results done in less time.
Narendra, what is Distraction?
Distraction is
a lot like water: first refreshing, then exhausting, and, finally fatal. - Unknown
Wikipedia
defines Distraction as the divided
attention of an individual or a group from the chosen object of attention onto
the source of distraction. Distraction is caused by the lack of ability to pay
attention, lack of interest in the object of attention; or the great intensity,
novelty or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention.
Distractions come from both external sources, and internal sources. In simple
words we can say that Distractions are things that attract our attention and
take our mind away from whatever we are trying to do.
We can divide
distraction into two major categories:
External Distraction – The Distractions coming
from external sources.
Internal Distraction – The Distractions coming
from internal sources.
External Distractions:
External
distractions are unexpected, unpredictable and fairly out of our control. They arise
from our environment in the form of a person or situation demanding our
attention. But how we respond to most of these distractions is in our hand. We
can manage them in a way that causes least disruption and get more done in less
time. In this era when
technology is ruling everyone’s mind, distractions coming from external sources
play a critical role in killing our productivity. We never realize how it drains out our energy
and serve as the greatest barrier between what we are and what we could
be.
Friends, advancing technology also equals lesser concentration. Famous Norwegian Historian and Nobel Prize Winner, Christian Lous Lange once said “technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” He may have said it in the context of nuclear weapon and world war in the early 20th century, however it completely holds true even today. For me the most important human resource is ‘TIME’ and most of us don’t even realize how the inappropriate usage of technology is stealing it away from us. You may read my blog on the importance of time by clicking here.
1. Phone Calls, Texts, and Whatsapp:
You
will agree that many a times you are doing something important and then your
phone rings and your attention is totally taken away. The flow of idea and
thoughts get a sudden break which sometime cost us dearly. While writing this blog I was interrupted
several times with phone calls, texts and whatsapp messages from people ranging
from family members, friends and even sometimes unknown.
In
no way I am saying all technology is bad and we should not use it, in fact
that is the last thing I would say in the given context. It is good to be in touch with family and
friends without whom life has no meaning. I guess what I wish to say is, it should not
be an obligation for us to receive every phone call and reply to every text the
moment we receive it.
Remedy:
The best remedy to deal with this distraction is to either shut down your
phone or put it on silent mode and away from you when you are doing something
important. You can reply to all the calls and messages in your comfortable
time. Your loved ones and close friends would understand it well.
2. Facebook and Twitter:
Believe it or not, social networking sites like
facebook and twitter make us highly unproductive. Our insatiable need for likes, follows and alerts
keep us hooked to our systems. Facebook and Twitter feed are highly addictive. The
short-term satisfaction which the number of likes for our post provide ends
when the likes end.
Media Gratification Syndrome:
In today’s time most human beings suffer from a disease called media
gratification syndrome. Whenever we receive a phone call, text or facebook
notification, we run to see who liked me this time. Not only me, not only you,
but every human being has this innate
desire to be liked. We often feel good by the number of likes and responses
we receive for our posts. We tend to
think, it gives us instant mental gratification. However without harping much
on the topic, I would say getting addicted to facebook or twitter has a far reaching effect and that in the most negative way. Sometimes it takes away your mental peace, sleep and
even HAPPINESS. Would you trade you happiness for any meaningless
stuff?
Remedy: Friends, how about checking your Facebook or Twitter feed once or at max
twice every week. Why not schedule dedicated half an hour to facebook per week
just like we had ‘General Knowledge’ period in our primary school once every
week.
3. Television:
Viktor Frankl in his book ‘Man’s search for meaning’ said “when a person
can’t find a deep sense of meaning they distract themselves with too much
pleasure. We often spend most valuable and productive hours of our day watching
mindless, meaningless, and rubbish reality shows, news, movies and serials. I
have just one word for such TV shows ‘TRASH’.
We never realize, in the name of entertainment, we are giving away our
happiness and peace of mind. It is taking away our most valuable and quality time that we
could spend with family which would further breed happiness. TV also influences our world view. Most often
the negative news broadcast portrays the darker side of the world when there
are so many good things happening. It
robs us of our most precious but limited resource ‘time’ and ‘mental energy’. I
am not even considering the un-necessary electricity bill the countless hours
of Television produces. I can cite 100 more reasons why too much TV is not good
for you in any possible way.
Remedy: I am not saying we should not watch TV at
all. In fact some programs on TV are really good and useful for our personal,
professional and spiritual growth. I
myself love watching comedy, informative programs on all round growth and
development, and sometime innocent kid’s shows. It makes me feel happy, inspires
and rejuvenates me with lots of positive energy, freshness, and feel good
factor. Friends how about watching some feel good and inspiring program along with
family for no more than 2 hours per week. Please think about it.
4. Email and IMs:
Checking
Emails every few minutes and responding to every Instant Message (IM) is one of
the many distractions that keep us away from being productive at work. In some
cases I have seen people checking email even at home every 5 minutes. My holy
Goodness!
These
distractions keep us from focusing on the real work at hand and eventually in
the long run leads to an unsatisfied professional life. Further, personal email services like Gmail,
Yahoo and Rediff also take a lot of our time. Most of the time inbox in our
personal emails are filled with relatively least significant stuff which can be
checked once in a week with exception when you are really expecting something
important.
Remedy: I will
tell you what I do to remain productive at work. I go to office with the
focused mindset of completing my entire day’s work in the 9-5 schedule. I do
not check any email in the first 30 minutes of reaching to office. In this
period I settle down and write my top 5 priority goals / action items for the
day in my work diary. In most cases I know the things I need to work which may
differ in your case. Once I am done with this I check my emails and make a note
of any additional priority work which requires my attention. Thereafter I close
my outlook for the next 90 minutes and focus solely on my work. I most often complete my entire day’s work in
2-3 hours which others complete in 8 hours or extended period at home. I do my
best not to take any office work to home unless it is very important and requires
my attention. This works for me, your situation may differ however you can take
this idea and apply what works best for you.
5. Newspaper and Magazines:
Turning
through the pages of newspaper and magazines takes away our attention. The much
hyped and negative news fills our mind with lots of negative assumptions and wrong
beliefs about the people and world outside.
Remedy: I would
strongly recommend you not to start your day with reading newspaper or
magazines. If you are in the habit of reading newspaper or magazines, the best
time would be the afternoon period and please try to limit it between 10 to 15
minutes at max. Moreover I would request you to focus only on quality
stuffs and avoid any meaningless, mindless junk.
6. Surfing the internet:
Internet
is a boon for us and it put the world in front of us. I am so thankful to the inventor of World
Wide Web, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee and Google founder Larry Page and Sergey Brin
for accessing information had never been so easier. However mindlessly surfing the internet browsing
through random websites do no good but takes away our focus from things that
are important. For instance as an Indian, I observe my fellow friends browsing
the Times of India website very often which I would say is the biggest trash
site I have ever come across. What’s the point in knowing which celebrity has
an affair with whom and what does Shah Rukh khan eat? Friends remember these
so called people whom we call celebrity are just common people who do their job
before Camera and are broadcast across the world. They are in no way
different from the common crowd. For me Celebrity are people and noble souls
like Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, and
the likes.
Remedy: Friends, make a list of the websites that you often visit and are mere time-wasters. Few
people suggest blocking these websites. I personally feel that would be a
temporary solution. I would rather suggest keeping a track in your notepad
whenever you feel the urge to browse through these websites. Slowly and
gradually with better awareness you will be able to get rid of this habit.
7. Electronic Gadgets and Video Games:
I
have observed many people while talking are in the habit of checking their
mobile phones, either looking for messages, whatsapp and other app inputs, facebook
feeds, or playing angry bird, candy crush and similar mindless games. Sometimes they spend hours trying to get
better scores as if it is the biggest reward of their life.
Remedy: In order to focus and remain present in a
given situation, make a list of stuffs that distract you and also write down your
strategy to minimize its usage. Playing mindless games serves least good rather focus on doing something that makes the best use of time.
8. Gossips and Rumors:
Friends,
in his book ‘The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius’, the Famous Roman Emperor says
“How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does
or thinks but only at what he does himself” Indulging in gossips and rumor is a big time
no-no. It serves no good and distracts your from your real job. American Novelist, Anna Godbersen in her book
Splendor defines “Gossip as just a tool to distract people who have nothing
better to do than feeling jealous with those few of us still remaining with
noble hearts.”
Remedy: One of my favorite quotes that comes
from eminent American Politician, Eleanor Roosevelt “Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events. Weak minds discuss people. Steve Maraboli, author
of Life, the Truth, being free writes “How would your life be different if…You
walked away from gossip and verbal defamation? Let today be the day…You speak
only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same.” Friends,
if possible stop any gossip or rumor before it starts. We should always engage
in meaningful conversations about the people around you.
9. Critics and Criticism:
Friends,
one of my favorite Speaker and Mentor, Zig Ziglar once said “Don’t be
distracted by criticism. Remember the only taste of success some people get is
by taking a bite of you.” I had written in my previous
blog, critics are nothing but big time distractions and dwelling on the thought
of critics, spending even 5 second of your mental energy is a big no-no. You
may read my blog 3
Powerful things for more in this regard. Just refuse to let the people with
small and petty thoughts distract you from your big purpose.
10. Co-worker, Friends, and Family Members:
Sometimes even our
co-worker, friends or family member can be distraction at workplace and home when
we are doing something important. The best thing we can do is request them to
leave you alone for given period so that you can focus and complete your
work. In most cases they will understand and help you in your endeavor by
giving you your space.
11. Personal Issues:
Sometimes
personal issues like disagreement with your Wife, friends or loved ones over
certain issue, or worry about housing loan, car loan, property issues can
distract you from your focus zone. Friends, I have observed we often worry
about things which we don’t have control over in the given period and which has
no relation with the current day or work. Please, please stop doing so for it does no good, steals productive hours and even sometimes lead to health issues.
Internal Distractions:
Distractions which are coming from within are called internal distractions i.e. no one but we ourselves are responsible for these kind of distractions. Friends, our outer life is no bigger than our inner life and if our inner life is strong, we can get better of any kind of distraction in this world and take our focus level to world class. So what forms our inner life? Our inner life is a portrait of who we are, what is our true selves? This is a topic of paramount interest and I can write tens of pages on this topic alone, rather I would keep it brief and try to bring forth this topic for your awareness.
12. Ego:
Ego is the greatest
of all human poisons. It is nothing but
a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance. So ego is just our
self-image and not our true self. It is
often characterized by labels, masks, images and judgments, as the famous
Indian author and Physician Dr. Deepak Chopra say. The overtly feeling of arrogance that I can
do it all at any given time takes away your focus on several other un-important
tasks.
13. Fear:
Eminent behavioral gerontologist, Eleanor Brownn
shares “Don’t let worry, doubt and fear distract you from what’s really important
in your life.” Friends, Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the
belief that someone or something is wrong and is most likely to cause pain,
threat or failure. The fear that if I
don’t get the desired outcome in the given time causes you to distract on
several other things but the real job itself. The simple and profound solution
to fear that I can share is the ACTION part. Just do what you fear about and
fear will run away.
14. Self-doubt:
Honore
de Blazac has said it so well ‘When you doubt your power, you give power to
your doubts. Self-doubt is nothing but
the lack of confidence in oneself and one’s abilities. The best quote I recall in this regard comes
from Henry Ford who said “If you think you can, you can. And if you think you
can’t, you can’t.” Friends here, self-belief is the key. You can drive away
your self-doubt with positive affirmations. Statements like “Yes, it is a difficult
job but I know I can do it with my super-determined effort” can do the miracle.
This technique to become your own enthusiast works wonders and helps a great deal
to stay focused.
15. Anxiety:
Anxiety
is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain
outcome. Anxiety causes stress which in turn causes distraction from the real
work. Meditation, deep and slow breathing or even soothing and relaxing music can
help come out of your anxiety. One of my favorites is the Braveheart theme
music available on youtube.
16. Anger:
Anger
is nothing but a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility. It’s an
emotion with a wide range of intensity, from mild irritation to frustration and
rage. Friends, although we all experience anger from time to time, if you are
experiencing constant anger, you are shortening your attention span into
pieces. Friends, if you fall in one such
category I would strongly recommend you writing all those things, situations,
and people that triggers anger in you? Do some self-talk and ask yourself is it
really worth giving away my power to such a small thing. Why did I lose my
temper here and how can I get the better of it.
17. Physical Body needs:
Things
like feeling hungry, sleepiness, physical discomforts, bathroom breaks etc. can
contribute in taking away our focus. The best thing we can do in this regard is
we anticipate our physical needs before we start to work on something
important.
My Final Words:
One
of the best antidote or panacea to all your distractions in life, I can share is please, please, please START
MEDITATING today. Meditation has unbelievable power. It helps you stay focused
and at complete peace of mind.
So
Friends, points to take away from today’s blog 1. Please realize the power of
consistency. Small daily acts of improvements can compound to giant results. 2.
Find you focus zone, what is it that you really love to do in your life? We
have limited physical and mental energy and spending them on a multitude of
mindless things will lead to a highly unsatisfactory and unfulfilled life. 3. The
things that are easy to do are also the things not easy to do. Please do not
ignore or postpone doing easy things. 4. Awareness is the first step to your
self-development. Be aware of all your distractions. 5. Work very sincerely on
ways to minimize and even root out your distractions.
I
did my best to put forth my ideas in the few hours of my writing since
yesterday. And I sincerely hope this humble effort of mine was value for your
time. Most of all, after publishing this blog, I am feeling much happier and at
complete peace of mind. Thank you and all of you take great care of yourselves and
yes……Stay Focused!
Stay Great Friends.
Narendra
Gupta
