How To Beat Distractions To Improve Your Productivity

Learn how to beat distractions to avoid procrastination and improve your productivity. Check my easy, practical tips today.

It isn’t always easy to beat distractions, is it?

There’s always so much going on. It’s impossible not to feel tempted to give everything a try.

But this tendency of adding more and more distractions to our routine is ruining our concentration.

Social media is a great example of that.

How many platforms do you use on a regular basis?

And even worse: how many more would you like to use if you had the time?

But, while we talk a lot about social media as a primary source of distraction we know it isn’t the only one.

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Common distractions

What is a diversion for one person may not necessarily disturb another.

Yet, too much of a good thing is still too much.

To understand how distractions work for you, do this simple exercise.

Start to pay attention to your environment. Spot things and people that might be stealing your concentration.

Some examples are:

• Notifications
• Emails
• Gossip
• Noise
• Clutter
• The Internet

That in addition to our “friend” social media mentioned above, of course.

Even though we need every single item from this list, unless we plan how we approach them, they kill our productivity without mercy.

1. Social media

Whether you use it to stay in touch with your friends and family; or if it’s part of work, learn how to manage your social media time to get the most out of it.

You can block time to check your profiles or even delegate it to someone else.

The worst part of social media is that 5 minutes checking it generally turns into an hour or so.

What about you? What’s your productivity nemesis on social media?

2. Notifications

Those beeps may seem helpful in the beginning, but if you aren’t careful, they become dangerous diversions.

And it has nothing to do with checking your phone every time it vibrates.

The mere fact that your concentration is broken for a couple of seconds is already enough time waste.

Now multiply it by each time you hear a ringtone throughout the day.

Do you use notifications? Why (not)?

3. Emails

In the beginning, emails were a great solution.

We didn’t need to send letters for every single communication we need to document.

But what used to be an excellent idea became a major source of distraction.

Let’s not even start about messages you’re in “cc.”

If you don’t create some mailbox filters, you may end up getting “FYI” messages on topics that have nothing to do with you.

How many emails do you receive and reply to on a daily basis?

Discover how to get rid of distractions with baby steps. #MindfulPlanning #coaching Click To Tweet

4. Gossip

It might sound cool to be “up to date” on the “latest” about whoever. Unfortunately, gossip will never be something productive.

First of all, it’s malicious. Who knows what the real intentions are behind such conversations…

Besides, it doesn’t make you a better person. Why wasting your precious time and energy with it?

I understand that sometimes we have to “listen” empathically, but don’t become the one who spreads it.

What’s your strategy to stay away from gossip?

5. Noise

I don’t mind working with instrumental music in the background or even some white and pink noise.

But I save my love for the 80’s to my chilling hours.

People speaking too loud can be very inconvenient too, but not always there’s something they can do.

If the levels of distraction are high, maybe a headphone could help.

Does your workplace have a noise-cancelling environment?

6. Clutter

Whether you spend time playing with it or looking at it, desk clutter is a distraction.

That picture of your last vacation may bring you good memories, but you need to focus on the job at hand if you want to afford it again next year.

If you have to deal with lots of paper work, place the ones you aren’t using at the moment in a drawer.

Staring at everything at the same won’t make you any more efficient.

Do you keep a lot of things at your desk?

7. The Internet

It works a lot like Social Media. You say you’re going to check an article on the Internet, but suddenly, you read 5.

In the meantime, your responsibilities are waiting for you.

Even if your work requires research, you don’t need to stay online all the time, do you?

Have you ever tried a website blocker?

Beating distractions

There are various easy solutions to beat distractions.

Some of them are:

• Block specific time to check your social media
• Turn off notifications on your phone, tablet, and computer
• Read and reply your emails at assigned hours
• Don’t spread gossip and avoid it at all times
• Use noise-cancelling phones
• Don’t collect clutter on your desk
• Manage Internet time during the day

What is your favorite way to beat distractions?

Staying away from distractions

Has it ever happened to you that once you beat one distraction, another one came up?

I have to keep myself in check regularly, or I also fall for it.

Time tracking is an excellent way to stay aware of impairing distractions.

But if you need support and accountability, make sure you join our challenge today.

How to create a simple routine without distractions. #MindfulPlanning #coaching Click To Tweet

52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You

I’m hosting a 52-week productivity challenge on my closed Facebook Group.

You can read everything about the challenge here.

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How the 52-week productivity challenge works

First of all, grab a copy of the list [ninja-popup ID=11356]52 Things That Are Killing Your Productivity[/ninja-popup].

After signing up, you’ll be invited to join my closed Facebook group.

On the group, I’ll share daily prompts during the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You.

I’ll guide you through a brand-new topic each week. 

From Monday through Friday, you’ll learn how you can use Mindful Planning™ to:

• Become more efficient
• Save time
• Manage stress
• Achieve your goals

You can start the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You at any moment of the year.

And you choose whether to follow every single week or to focus on your personal pain points.

If you miss anything, you can always refer to older posts for catch-up or review.

All that FOR FREE!

See you at the challenge

The method I apply to the challenge is exactly the same one I use with my clients: Mindful Planning™.

It’s a 5-step method you can use to all aspects of your life become more productive one day at a time without added stress.

Come and join the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You today.

I’m looking forward guiding you towards a successful year and beyond!