Does your mind easily wander? Are you driven to distraction? Do you find it difficult to remain focused and in the moment? Would you like to be more mindful?
Emails, social media, internet surfing, fun activities, phone calls, talkers, gossipers, doomsayers, worrying…. the list of possible distractions goes on. How do you handle these? Do you manage them well or are you easily distracted by them?
What is the real distraction?
While emails, social media, internet surfing and fun activities all have a purpose and can help you to stay connected with people, to switch off and recharge, they can become distractions when they prevent you from concentrating on the task or priority at hand, or from meeting a goal or deadline.
Similarly, while it is important to make and take phone calls, listen to and hear people and their concerns, appreciate alternative perspectives, interact with well-meaning people who approach you with opportunities, these can all be distractors when they interfere with the priorities, goals and outcomes we set.
Professionals and business owners who have clarity of direction and purpose, with clear goals and priorities are less easily distracted than those without that clarity. People without this clarity are the real distraction. They will unconsciously distract themselves because they don’t know what they really want. They will easily be distracted by:
- opportunities, new gadgets and shiny objects
- gossip, negativity and other people’s dramas
- spending too much time reading emails, internet surfing, social media
- their negative self talk, insecurities, worries and fears, all of which can prevent them from knowing what they really want in their career/business/relationships/life.
They will be looking for something, yet will find it difficult to find what they really need or want because they do not know what they want. This is similar to people who go shopping and have no idea what they are looking for – they will spend hours looking and browsing and leave empty handed, buy things they do not need, be unhappy with their purchase or may even return what they buy.
How to take control of your brain and stop the distractions!
The best way to stop the distractions is to get clear about what you really want. Have a clear purpose in life/business, with clear goals and priorities to help you to achieve these. Once this clarity is in place then it is much easier to focus your brain on helping you to achieve what you do want.
Your brain will focus on what you ask it to – either scatter focused (hence the term scatter brained) or highly focused on your purpose/goals/priorities. Your brain is waiting for that clarity so that it knows what to do with the mass of information we are presented with each day. Does it take in a piece of information, delete it, ignore it, process it, store it, action it, make a choice and which one, etc.? Until then, indecision, confusion, procrastination and overwhelm can kick in and lead to distraction.
The great news is that you can learn how to control your thoughts, your focus, your emotions and your actions, and eliminate those distractions. Once you program your focus, this puts you totally in charge of you, helps you to be in the moment, more mindful, more productive and successful.
Dr. Vesna Grubacevic is an author (of the Amazon best-selling book, Stop Sabotaging Your Confidence), speaker, media commentator, and the founder and Performance Transformation Expert® with multi award-winning company, Qt. She holds a PhD, a BEc and is passionate about helping professionals and individuals to improve their confidence, emotional and mental wellbeing and success. For more free resources please visit www.qttransformation.com
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