Distractions

How many distractions do you encounter in a day? Heck, forget a day, how about per hour?? per minute?? Oh my, if your mind is like mine (bless your heart!) then there is a LOT going on in there. One time my husband and I took a marriage class called Men Are Like Waffles - Women Are Like Spaghetti. The premise of the analogy, is that women's minds are like spaghetti noodles all over the place. We can think of a ton of things all at the same time. While this can be a blessing, it can also be a cause of distractions.

For example, I went online to check my email for something specific. While going online waiting for my email to come up, my eye caught a blurb of an article. I pulled up the article that mentioned something that triggered another thought in my mind and task to be done. Which totally got me off course of why I went online in the first place. Twenty minutes later, I still had not gotten on my email to do what I intended to do initially!

Ugh...by the time I redirected myself from this twenty minute distraction and went on my email I was distracted by the myriad of emails in my inbox. A friend's Facebook post enticing me to open, a FREE offering (that word just melts my heart - "free"), an invitation, something from the kids' school, and on and on... Then I had to stop. I put my hands down, away from the mouse, on my lap. Next, I closed my eyes and took a breath. I thought for a second, "Why was I coming on to my email in the first place?" Aha! My original intent came to mind and I focused like a hungry dog on a hunt for the kill.

I have found to minimize those flashy, screaming distractions I have to have the focus of a hound dog. On my tool bar, I have my sign-in button to my email. It's the first thing I click after getting online. My eyes are only on the tool bar. That way I don't have to go to an internet portal and be lured away. When I use that, my chances of accomplishing my mission greatly increases!

Another thing I do is once on my email, I search for what or who I am looking for or need to address first. This helps me cross things off my list quicker. Then, if there's time, I can give myself 5 minutes to look at the  yadayada.

Distractions are everywhere. Just while writing this blog, I received text messages and a phone call begging me to answer. Nope. I am a hound dog. I am focused on getting this blog done. Those things can wait until after this gets accomplished.

What are some of your tricks you use to avoid or minimize distractions? Let us know!

Happy hunting and focus! 

#distractions #focus #angelblog