Eliminate Distractions to Avoid Regretting Not Realizing Your Full Potential
Many people mistakenly believe that discipline is the key to focus and effective time management. This discipline, they believe, comes in the form of learning to effectively prioritize between pursuits and activities while having strong enough self-control to always maintain focus on the task at hand.
Thats sounds like such a strain of effort trying to constantly make the right choice. I know from experience.
The simpler strategy? Make the right choice the only choice.
I’ve found one of the best ways to focus on your work is by eliminating distractions, temptations that take you away from fulfilling the responsibilities required of you, from completing the work that matters, and pursing the work that leads to the greater version of yourself and all the achievements that stem from constantly applied focus.
The Mandatory Work and the Voluntary but Essential Work
For the work of my job, I tend to have so many tasks that I don’t have time during my work day to get distracted.
But for the work that’s optional, the work I value and important to lead to the version of myself beyond my day job, the life I aspire to lead and the impact I seek to make, I used to struggle with distraction as a form of avoiding the fear of failure and possibility of incompetence. I would come home, plant myself right on the couch, and then lose the entire evening of my day to scrolling through social media.
While I’ve found interesting media or entertainment, I can’t trace or connect tangible improvements in my life directly to content I consumed via social media or the internet. It’s only actually, directly working on my pursuits that has helped moved my life forward in the direction I seek to grow in.
Currently, facebook and instagram are on the list of blocked websites on my phone. I haven’t struggled with trying to avoid it ever since. Admittedly, I tried going to the websites at some points out of habit, which leads me to a page stating that access is restricted.
But you know what? I don’t miss it. In fact, I’ve largely forgotten that these social media platforms exist until I think of trying to look up something on it, but even then I don’t go out of my way to restore access (if you do constantly, you might want to consider the possibility that you have a problem. I would).
Distraction and Its Costs
The distraction is different for everyone. For some, social media seduces your attention and ensnares it. For others, it’s the time blackhole of TV or Netflix. Then there are the dreamlike worlds you never want to wake up from in video games.
For those who feel like they’re capable of more in life and want to explore exactly how much they’re capable of, it’s worthwhile to eliminate distractions. You can block them completely or just limit them so they don’t end up costing too much of your time and attention.
For me, my motivation is I don’t want to face my future death and realize all I can really say about my potential is that I had it at some point. Preventing future regret is what drives me.
Since blocking my distractions, my only options are to work on my two most important goals at the moment: writing and learning Vietnamese.
For students who want to maximize their academic achievement while minimizing the effort needed to do so, or who want to create the space and time necessary to learn a new and difficult skill, or maybe just accomplish more in their extracurricular projects, try the following.
Recommendations for Eliminating and Limiting Distractions
1. Apply a website blocker to your computer or laptop.
There are numerous options out there. Some are free, but the best ones are usually worth paying for. It’s an investment in yourself since you are helping facilitate the ability to focus, which is the foundation for building your achievements and thus the life of your dreams.
Here are some worth checking out:
- Self-Control (Mac OSX)
- Freedom
- LeechBlock (Firefox)
- Cold Turkey
Just search up website blockers. The best will also help you block software such as video games or maybe video media players if you watch downloaded videos.
2. Set screen time limits on your phone.
You can look up how to limit app usage on your phone. Whether you have an iPhone or Android, both offer settings or apps to help you set limits on websites and apps and even track how much time you normally spend if you haven’t set limits yet.
It’s eye opening when you see that you spend 3 hours per day on YouTube alone, mostly because you aren’t aware that you’re spending that much time. It’s like getting the bill for groceries that you thought you only paid $50 for but the total is actually $500.
Your time ends up being your money. So while there’s nothing wrong with having some fun with your spending — you can and should enjoy your life — are you sure you want to be spending that much on pursuits that have no real benefit, return, or reward for you?
For those who struggle with adhering to the limits and end up bypassing it, you can set limits to require a password and entrust someone else set the password and only give you access or enter it in for you in case of emergency. This person who would help hold you accountable to your goals and make sure you’re working on what you really want to work on.
3. Turn off notifications.
On my own phone, I have turned off notifications for messenger apps where I get the most notifications. I do leave it on for those where I rarely get any though because I don’t check them out of habit so I need notice that I’m being contacted.
Otherwise, when I need to focus and work, I put blinders on by closing any apps where I might receive notifications and can switch on the focus on needed to work at top speed.
If you’re worried about someone needing you, there’s rarely any emergency so urgent or critical that they need you in the next 2–3 more hours. For those who never worked for 2–3 hours completely focused, you can accomplish as much as 5 hours of work while distracted. If someone really needs you, they’ll find a way to reach you beyond notifications.
4. Work in environments meant for working.
The couch in front of your TV in your living room is meant for socializing, leisure, and shutting off your brain as you lose yourself in a movie or TV show.
Your bedroom is where you sleep, chill, and get away from the majority of responsibilities of the outside world.
Even studying with friends only works if you all agree to work silently so you can focus or if you are dependent on each other to get work done or practice studying by teaching the material to other.
None of the above are the most ideal environments conducive to focused and maximally productive work though.
The ideal environment is somewhere quiet where you’re alone and cut off from internet, have blocked off all tempting distractions, and literally the only options are your work and nothing.
The Reality and the Possibilities of Distraction and Living Distraction Free
For some, this all sounds miserable.
It’s not for everyone, but it helps those who are trying to work on something they truly care about. Because for those who have goals, who want to do more with their life, to see what they’re really made of and capable of doing, it can be liberating to finally work unrestrained and held back by distraction. It can be a godsend. It can feel like you’ve been saved from yourself.
I have students who note how much more productive and focused they are now that they aren’t constantly checking messages or have unlimited time to spend on social media, YouTube, or Netflix.
And for those who don’t experience how helpful it is, it does bring to light if they have genuine issues with focus, with properly prioritizing their responsibilities and tasks, of revealing if they are addicted in some way to distraction. It forces you to confront do you really even truly want anything at all. Because if you did, wouldn’t you do everything possible to achieve your dreams and aspirations?
For those who are still undecided on limiting or eliminating distractions, who want to prove they don’t need help and have enough discipline (an unnecessary difficult burden to voluntarily place on yourself), and who think they don’t to do this at all while having goals and aspirations that they’ve failed time and time again to take consistent action towards, I have only one question:
What will you regret years from now?
You only have all that you could have been to lose.
