Less & More #6: Less Distraction & More Focus
TL;DR
"An effective alternative to suppressing distractions is to purposely remain aware of them, so that you can spot them on time to keep them from disrupting your focus."
-Silvia Bastos
Distraction is a tricky topic to get into this week.
For Week 6 of our Less & More Challenge — Less Distraction & More Focus — I had an entire post written about social media and all the tech distractions in our faces, but I threw it out.
With the election next week (agh!!) and the reality of what’s at stake, distractions can be quite deceiving.
I’m not here to call you out on your distractions: Doom scrolling? News binging? Stress Eating? Whatever it is — I’m here to call you in.
Are the distractions you are choosing this week just that — distractions from your priorities? Or are they really serving you and contributing to the ways in which you are working to ground yourself?
So how does awareness play into this? In order to stay proactive in the areas that truly matter to us, we need to be aware of the best and most focused way to spend our energy and attention.
For some of us, maybe staying in the know IS what is going to help our stability. The point is to home in and figure out what YOU need, and to not beat yourself up when you find yourself halfway down the rabbit hole. I’m certainly not telling you how to behave on election night, or even the next morning — or who knows, it could be weeks...
But your job is to keep your purpose at an equal vantage point (if not MORE in focus) than the distractions.
It won't affect what's going to happen on November 5th and beyond, but it WILL give you a sense of control over where you choose to focus your attention. Which, stay with me here, can almost guarantee that you will be far less distracted from your purpose.
In the Medium article “Stop Obsessing About Focus…," Silvia Bastos says, “…an effective alternative to suppressing distractions is to purposefully remain aware of them, so that you can spot them on time and keep them from disrupting your focus. To do this, choose a task that you want to focus on for a specific amount of time…”
ACTION OF THE WEEK: Commit to one tiny (but mighty!) intentional action.
Write your action down in your calendar and ACTUALLY block time for it.
What counts? Anything!
It could be as simple as feeding yourself 3 meals on Election Day. Or, it might be canvassing this coming weekend to get out the vote, or going on a walk with a podcast you enjoy. Or, it could be scheduling the dentist appointment you’ve been putting off.
Commit now BEFORE you’re distracted and — MOST importantly — don’t beat yourself up when you take two steps back.