I recently read an article written by Larry Rosen from Psychology Today, his team observed almost 300 school students ranging from middle school to university studying something important for 15 minutes in their standard environments.
The results from this study showed that students were only able to focus and stay on task for an average of three minutes at a time; nearly all of their distractions came from technology.
Photo Credit: birgerking via Compfight cc
1. Organize yourself
I set a goal for myself every day when I write – 10 pages a day – and it’s much harder because I’m too dumb to turn off my Twitter and everything so it’s always on and it’s a real distraction. It’s a major distraction. – R. L. Stine
Basically set yourself up for a distraction-free work period, turn off your cellphone, put your laptop on flight mode, and eliminate any possible device that could distract you. This includes websites!
Plan what you’re going to do, and how long it’s going to take. Without planning, we’re far more prone to being distracted. This is because we spend more time wondering what to do next, that’s where procrastination comes into it.
The more we think about what we need to do, the voice in our head saying ‘Just go and watch that movie.’ Becomes stronger.
2. Do Your Chores
Most of us had chores when we were a kid; I know I hated doing them. It may be something that has just stuck with us, but it’s important to get the little things out of the way first, whether they be the dishes, washing, whatever.
If we don’t do this, it’ll probably keep popping up in our head. As soon as you hit a point in your study or work where it gets a little more difficult, you’ll probably resort to your chores. Do them first and stay focused.
3. Study in your environment
Studies have shown that productivity is increased when studying or working in an empowered environment, i.e. chosen by the worker.
Think of your dream workplace, or study area – if it’s possible, make it. If you like paintings on the wall, put paintings on the wall. It’s important that you feel comfortable in the environment and that there are no major distractions.
4. Be Constantly Aware
It’s easy to fall into distraction without realizing it; I find that trying to be constantly aware of what I’m doing helps a lot. Regular breaks also help combat the subtle distractions.
One of the most common ones for me is going on Facebook to share a link to say; a blog post for example, and then staying on a bit longer scrolling down my newsfeed. It’s EASY to be unaware of your distractions.
5. Relax
I believe that stress and distraction go hand in hand. If you’ve got a lot going on in your mind, just stop for a minute and breathe; let it all out. Spare 5 minutes of your time for a more productive day.
If you’re really stressed, then try work out where that stress is coming from. Is it lack of results? If so, are the lack of results impacted by distraction?
It helps to get down to the bottom of something.
The Final Word
Distraction is really only good for a couple of things, one being avoiding pain. There is a difference between procrastination and distraction; it’s important you know how to avoid both.
Now, close the Facebook tab, exit Twitter – and start working.
But leave a comment before anything else – that’d be cool.
Wonderful! No. 2 “doing your chore” is specially a good reminder for me.
Thanks!
Yeah I’ll admit, it’s one that I need to work on. I get too carried away with my work sometimes that I’ll just put housework and other things off for later, but they catch up – every time!
Hey! You’ve nailed pretty much all the pearls of wisdom that we need to know about productivity. # 3 and #5 resonate with me. With #2, what I find difficult is finding the balance between spending too much time on those small rocks and not enough on the big rocks. There’s a fine line there that I see many people have a difficult time with because at the end of the day they realize they haven’t spent time on the big, hard projects. A way to reconcile the two is to chunk down the big projects into small chores
Now we’re talking! Thanks for a great article.
Hey Laure! Thanks for the comment. I’m also with you on that, I think the process of breaking down a big project is something that should be essential! Glad I could help
By the way – good luck with your upcoming blog!
Ahh Facebook is a major distraction for me as well! I know I would be so much more productive if I could just learn to ignore face book, twitter and the rest of the internet out when I’m trying to study.
It’s pretty shocking right! Very addictive. You might wanna check out a chrome app (it’s free) called ‘StayFocusd’ – it basically doesn’t allow you to visit those kind of websites after your time limit is up. For example, I’d set the limit to an hour for the whole day. Once I’ve gone over an hour, that’s it.
Another tip might be to use the Pomodoro technique: work for 25 minutes and then have a 5 minute break. This allows you to check your social media sites often but still be productive.
Thanks for the comment anyway
Never thought of doing chores as a helper, but maybe that’s because I do them
I’ve also done what you said a while back: have a great clean on a Monday morning. I did exactly that today, and there’s nothing like working in that type of environment
Yeah I’m still sticking with that habit – it’s been great! I find it also helps a lot when you get in those really unmotivated moods. Just doing something simple and easy helps a lot to get the ball rolling!
Thanks for the comment Nick
Hello Sam,
What an interesting study! Social media can be a huge distraction for me. I have to discipline not to get pulled away when I’m writing or working on a project. You shared some great points. I have been setting specific times where I create and do nothing else and it seems to be working well.
I just found your site and look forward to reading more and connecting with you.
Oops, wrote a comment and it never went through.
Thanks for the comment Dan, I appreciate it. I’m on the same page as you there, social media is a huge distraction, in fact – I’m about to post my February Round-up article about how productive I was, what I achieved, etc. There’s a screenshot from RescueTime of time spent on different websites and applications – the category ‘social networking’ comes out at the top; it’s actually embarrassing!
I’ve had a read over your blog and love the content – subbed to your email list and look forward to reading some stuff
Cheers Dan
I try to schedule time for social media and turn have updates sent to my email. I’ll use Twitter for about ten minutes, then close the tab.
BTW Sam, what plugin do you use for comments, looks nice.
Hey Richard – cheers for the comment. I also used to schedule time for social media, I’m currently using the pomodoro technique which means I’ll probably quickly check social media every 25 minutes (I only allow myself a 5 minute break between slots). This works well as I don’t feel the constant need to check Facebook or Twitter. I should probably cut down on the email, though.
The comment function is just build into my theme. I use the genesis framework with the Focus child theme