5 Ways to Reduce Distractions

Are you ready to reduce distractions in your life? Don’t worry you are not alone!

The main reason people sign-up to coaching or attend events with Habits for Wellbeing is to make a change or shift in their career and life. To shift from challenging, self-defeating or draining behaviours to empowering and self-fulfilling behaviours (i.e. habits for wellbeing). These shifts could be made in different areas of life including –

  • Career / Business,
  • Confidence / Emotional Awareness,
  • Health / Body / Movement,
  • Personal Growth / Learning, and
  • Self-Management.

 

When people are starting to think about change, they often start to realise how many distractions are happening in their life. Subsequently, in this post, we will –

  • Identify What a Distraction is,
  • Causes of Distractions,
  • Types of Distractions, and
  • Discover 5 Ways to Reduce Distractions.

Let’s get started…

 

What is a Distraction?

There are a few definitions of distractions, including –

  • “a thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else.” ~ Google and Cambridge Dictionary
  • “the act of distracting or the state of being distracted, especially: mental confusion” ~ Merriam-Webster
  • “A distraction is something that turns your attention away from something you want to concentrate on.”Collins Dictionary
  • “something that gets your attention and prevents you from concentrating on something else” ~ Macmillan Dictionary

Are there any others you would add? For me personally, I think of a distraction as something or someone, that is taking my attention away from something I want to concentrate or focus on.

 

Causes of Distractions

Distractions can be caused by a number of things, including, but not limited to –

  • fear,
  • lack of ability to pay attention,
  • being unclear of why you are doing a task,
  • lack of interest in the situation or subject,
  • your mind wandering or “stimulus-independent thought”

What other things cause distractions in you? Are they internal or external?

 

Types of Distractions

There are many types of distractions. They can essentially be broken down in to internal and external distractions. Internal interruptions come from within us and external interruptions come from outside of us. Examples of internal interruptions include –

  • Emotions,
  • Thoughts,
  • Worrying,
  • Fatigue,and
  • Hunger.

 

Some examples of external distractions include –

  • Digital notifications,
  • Phone calls,
  • Email,
  • Technology (i.e. computer, iPad etc.),
  • Clutter,
  • Mail, and
  • People.

What other types of distractions happen to you? Feel free to share in the comments section below.

 

5 Ways to Reduce Distractions

After reading the above, have you identified that you would like to reduce distractions in your life? If so, following are 5 ways that might be useful.

1. Keep a Disruption Log –

Identify a time frame (i.e. 1 week) and then write down the disruptions you had during the week (i.e. date/time, who, how, length of interruption). Then reflect on how you can manage better or better still maybe even delete them.

2. Identify What Is In Your Control and What Is Not –

Once you have identified your disruptions, then identify if these disruptions are in your control or not. If they are in your control, see what you can do to manage them and if they are not in your control, decide what your next step will be.

3. Identify Your Priorities –

What do you really want? Once you know this, you can then prioritise your responses. As the saying by Lewis Carroll goes “If you don’t know where you are going any road can take you there.”

4. Learn to Say “No” –

You don’t have to overcommit, take on more than you can handle or say “no” to other people’s demands on your time. Sometimes a “no” can be “no not now”, not “no” completely! This also links in to knowing our own priorities and commitments.

5. Switch Off Communication –

Yes I know this be challenging! However, why not turn off your mobile phone, social media and e-mail notifications? You can start with a small amount of time if this is challenging. You might be surprised how much easier it is to concentrate without these distractions.

 

Over to You…

I hope these ideas have helped you to start to reduce distractions in your life, so you can live your life whole-heartedly. What other ways do you use to reduce distractions in your world? Remember –

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson.

Feel free to share any questions below or on our Facebook page here.

 

If you are ready to take yourself on the adventure of getting to know yourself (your true self), why not join the Toolkit? A place where I share tools, inspiration and ideas to live a courageous and openhearted life.

2 Comments

  • Gail Addis

    Reply Reply July 4, 2021

    Thanks
    This was a good summary. I always appreciate your insights and the way you pull ideas together. Enjoy the holiday.

    Gail

    • Jane

      Reply Reply July 5, 2021

      Thanks Gail – appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. Take good care!

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