Some days, I sit at my desk, laptop on, fingers on my keyboard and ready to tackle my first task of the day.
Then I see my phone light up. I pick it up, scroll Instagram for a while, and then I return my fingers to the keyboard.
All good.
Then I remember Mum saying I’ve got to hydrate. It’s important for my survival. So I go get some water.
Okay, I’m ready now.
But another task pops up in my head…
It’s hard to get things done this way. So I’ve been taking notes on these special days and trying out different ways to keep myself focused. I wanted to find the culprits that are taking my focus away.
Through this, I noticed the same few themes why this happens.
1. I didn’t have a clear plan for what to do that day
Even if I had a list of things to do, I was subconsciously unconvinced that those were the most important. And through this second-guessing and internal debate, I was constantly switching gears.
2. I was anxious about not achieving enough for the day
This is linked to my first point. Because I wanted to accomplish as much as I could, I was worried that the things I was working on wouldn’t bring the most impact.
I get distracted by my anxious thoughts.
3. I got bored
Even the most exciting projects can get boring sometimes. But without pushing through these monotonous times, we can’t enjoy the good parts of it.
Few distraction killers that worked for me.
1. Set 1 big goal each day
Work never gets done. And we can always push ourselves to finish just one more task. One more rep. One more Netflix episode. Although the last one is usually easy.
I now understand it’s important to know when it’s time to call it a day and be satisfied with yourself.
And setting a big goal each day helps.
A fictitious example – today, I have to complete my end-of-month report.
Once I’m done with it, I can then continue with other smaller tasks. That way, I know exactly what to do for the day, I stop feeling like I’ve not done enough, and with that feel-good factor, I’m more motivated to finish other items on my list.
2. Plan my to-dos the day before
Not having a to-do list is the best way to waste time and have nothing well done.
It’s like what I mentioned earlier about constantly switching between tasks. There’ll always be a nagging feeling of having a “better thing to do”.
Now, I’m setting my to-do’s and letting my to-do’s take the lead. Unless the boss asks for something of higher priority. Or if there’s an emergency.
3. Time block
In the book Indistractable, Nir Eyal says “You can’t call something a distraction unless you know what it’s distracting you from.”
That’s a brilliant statement. If we don’t set an activity or task in a time slot, and we scroll Instagram during that time, Instagram wouldn’t be considered a distraction since we didn’t have anything to do anyway.
For every task on my to-do list, I’d block time for it.
Now, my calendar looks like that of a productive person.
4. Play binaural beats in the background
Recommended by Andrew Huberman, this is what I sometimes use to get in the zone. It blocks out irrelevant thoughts threatening to take my focus away.
There are many binaural beats playlists on Spotify, I’m using this.
5. Toss the phone
I tried putting my phone on DND. I tried putting it face down. I even deactivated my Instagram account. The phone still wins 1:0.
Therefore, I decided to throw it somewhere out of sight, where I literally forget I have a phone.
This has been working so far. At this moment, I’m journalling on my laptop and wondering where my phone is.
6. Change locations
I love my work desk. When I was in Barcelona and my team asked what I missed the most about Singapore, I told them – my work desk. My team laughed at me. They probably think I don’t like my family or have no friends.
But it’s true.
My work desk has all the features of a productive workstation. Ergonomic chair, adjustable Everdesk, monitor with an arm, etc. And my resilient Peace Lily that can never die.
But even so, I find it beneficial to change my work environment to not just the office, but also cafes and tea bars.
Oh, moving cabs are also my top favourite places to work 🙂