Distractions : Will be back after sometime !
I do not wonder, that I was distracted at least 20+ times while writing this (or even thinking about writing this). This is a post about my thoughts on this ambiguous phenomenon of distraction. This post doesn’t give you any how to’s or solutions to avoid it (not directly of course, because i don’t know about workable solutions yet), so if your’e looking for that, you better ask uncle Google.
Distractions are, IMHO something that turns your attention away from what your’e (supposed to be) focusing on. Its either we are evolutionary trained to have a look out for distractions (in case a tiger or a lion sneaks from behind, for eg) or we have untrained minds that cannot shield us from distractions or any other ridiculous reason. Whatever it is, it sure has succeeded in interfering with my work, gaming, blogging, driving and my everything (including the thought process). So decided to write about some thoughts about it and hopefully would led me to find some solutions for me (& maybe you too).
Moments of distraction
I’ll look into some common distraction situations
– I’ll working on some game or program, meanwhile switching between programs, i might see a game icon on desktop. So after sometime i will play that game, thinking i will play that for only some minutes & will resume my work, but after half hour or more, postponing the work at hand.
Distraction : The Game Icon. So i moved all my game icons from desktop to a folder in desktop 🙂
– I’ll be working on something (again!). Then i might think, there’s this video i need to download from youtube. I can work while it gets downloaded right. Multitasking. Youtube is a great source of distraction. In worst case, I might see a new movie trailer icon, or a new game video and watch it, then a related video, then another one etc etc. If i could override my mind and continue on to downloading videos, I will most likely to continue downloading more and more videos (although pretty sure i might not have any time to see all of them).
Solution: None yet found practical other than avoiding youtube while working.
– I’ll be waiting for something or someone, and usually thoughts fill my head. And when the thought process starts i might think about checkign if there is any notifications on Facebook or Whatsapp and there goes my thoughts. Endless facebook timeline feeds and whatsapp rants take its place.
Solution : Keep a fixed time period dedicated to checking facebook and whatsapp notifications at particular periods of time.
– Sometimes i deliberately look out for distractions so that i could take a rest (run away from) the problem at hand. I might delude myself into thinking that i might be tired or a time away might refresh me or some other lies.
Conclusion
Distractions can be pretty tempting (especially when the work you’re doing is pretty boring or pretty difficult), difficult to avoid, which however could be achieved with tremendous amount of willpower and mind training, saying no to the right things at the right time. Routines & planning the day or tasks beforehand can also avoid mind wandering to other stuffs, when it’s idle. Having a friend besides to keep us in track would be also powerful (that’s why a office or team work tends to be more focused than individual work). I was working for a while at home (freelancing), when most of time i’ll be following some distractions (or distractions following me). After that i moved to an office space which reduced the distractions considerably. So keep out for distractions, they might be around to pounce upon you when it has a chance. Beware !!