Close your doors to distraction

I’m easily distracted. I sit down every morning with my to do list, start on the first task, and… three hours later, I realize I’ve dealt with 20 other things that weren’t on my to do list at all. Some of them needed to be handled – sometimes they’re even emergencies. But a lot of them are always just distractions.

I don’t think it’s that I have ADD or that I’m unconsciously wanting to be distracted or anything like that. I think it’s just that I believe in handling issues as quickly as possible. That’s a good way to live life – better than letting things slide until they bury you – but it’s like always catching baseballs and never pitching. I’m always responding to other people’s needs rather than taking care of the things I want to accomplish for myself. As with most things, balance is what’s missing.

For the past week, I’ve had some success with a system I came up with. Please be aware I have no expertise in this sort of thing, and this advice might be worth what you’re paying for it. But it’s working for me and I figure it couldn’t hurt to share. I call it “closing the doors to distraction.” (Well, you’ve gotta have a clever, easily marketed title, right?)

• I identified several “doors” that let in a lot of distractions. Checking email, visiting certain websites, etc. I’m forcing myself not to check the email or visit those sites as often as I want.
• I’ve also paid close attention to the moments that make me want to open those doors. What am I thinking during them? Why do I have the urge to check email when I should be working on a task? I found several answers:
  • Sometimes I get stuck in a task for a short time. For example, I sometimes have to wait 30-60 seconds for an internet page to load or submit a form. That drives me crazy, so I go check email or a website or something… and get distracted.
  • Sometimes I check email because I’m waiting for a response from somebody about something I’m excited about.
  • The solution: when I get the urge to open one of my doors to distraction, I force myself to look at my to do list and cross off things, add things, or think up clever ways to consolidate steps. That way I’m being productive instead of potentially distracted.

It’s helping so far!

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Posted in Organization on September 18, 2008