People, things, circumstances, work, relationships, technology, social media, television, other people’s problems, social life, and everything else are constantly vying for our attention.
The average person surrenders to these distractions because it’s easier than staying focused, implementing boundaries, and staying on track with your goals.
How Do You Stay Focused?
Keep your goals before you at all times. Write them down and keep them visible. It might be your phone, mirror, desk, bedroom, or kitchen. If you can have your goals visible everywhere you frequent, even better. Know your goals by heart.
Cut the cord. Sometimes we need to take breaks from things. Eventually, I will get a television, but I haven't had one for the past few months. Somehow I still find it a juggle to balance everything, but eliminating this might be a big win for you if you’re a television fanatic.
Put the phone on “Do Not Disturb”. There are days I do not check any messages, which tend to be my most productive days. Sometimes you got to shut communication off, so you can make more progress on your goals.
Prioritize specific social interactions. You can’t do everything. Choose what’s most valuable so you don’t waste your free time. Some people have more time on the weekends, but if you spend the entire weekend on social life, you can lose significant time that could’ve been invested in your goals.
Constantly observe where you spend your time. We tend to spend more time on invaluable things than we should. Responding to that slew of text messages can end up taking hours. Checking your email throughout the day takes up several minutes here and there. Checking social media and incessant scrolling will destroy your time. Social media is among the biggest time wasters for many; once a consistent user masters time management with these apps, their time will free up considerably. It’s one of the reasons I follow no one. I’m not trying to keep up with anybody. I can keep up with you in person or via messaging. Random internet searches and unintentional shopping can also take up considerable time.
Write it down and come back to it later. Many ideas or tasks on my to-do list are low priority, so I opt for writing them down, so I don’t forget about them and can return to them later when I have more time to spare.
My closest people know that I am not always available, and new people who come into my life that understand this will stay. Don’t be afraid to lose friends or upset people. If you’re always available, what are you getting done? How productive are you, really?
Keep social apps off your home screen, and force yourself to check notifications manually. I do not get alerted of the notifications on my phone; I have to check manually. This makes me more conscious of how much time I spend checking notifications. It also mitigates the number of distractions that come my way. On top of this, my phone is usually on silent 99% of the time.
Set boundaries with yourself. If you set boundaries with yourself, you can easily set boundaries with others—including work. Force yourself to stick to schedules and complete tasks. Learn to say “no,” to people, obligations, events, and invitations when you need to focus. Also, learn to say no to the priorities others might set for you. If it misaligns, stay aligned.
Commit once. When you commit once, you don’t have to keep starting over. Just stay on the path—no need to keep starting and stopping. Attack your goals as you attack your favorite shows. Binge that shit.