So many distractions
How can time be your best friend? In this day in age, we have so many responsibilities that in most cases can be pretty overwhelming to handle. One problem I am seeing is that most of us react to situations that arise and get distracted by them. For example, an email notification pops up on the mobile phone, then you stop what you are doing to tend to whatever the email is. This distraction takes time away from what you were originally trying to accomplish. While you are reading said email another notification pops up and this time it’s from social media. Poof, on to that social media and now the snowball effect starts.
I discovered that I was like a Squirrel that was on crack, bouncing back and forth! This is getting out of hand! Stop. Let’s look at our priorities and see how these distractions actually rank in our lives.
Understanding how you get sidetracked
Take a look at your business world and your personal world and see what notifications you need immediately. If you truly need these notifications then proceed with caution. You need to pay attention to how much time you are giving to each of these distractions and understand that they are taking time away from you. Label them as distractions. If you are in a traditional job and these notifications are a part of your daily routine then this is a must. But learn to minimize your distractions the best way you can.
In your personal world, you need to realize that each time your phone pings you with a notification you are donating time to whoever is communicating with you. I never realized how much of a circus act I was with the jumping through the hoops thing. Emails, social media, weather, news and so on became a complete nuisance. I would respond as they came in and it constantly interrupted my day with family and friends. Then add to it that I was previously in the telecommunications business world and my clients communicated all the time for so many different reasons. As you can see, it got way out of control.
Keeping distractions to a minimum
I have now learned how to handle these types of distractions and I try to keep it to a minimum so that I am able to stay on track better. First, I realized I had several different email addresses that I had for a different reason so I went into each of them and turned off notifications. I check them a couple of times a day and handle them quickly. It is so much better this way so I am not constantly reacting and I am handling them when I decide. Almost life-changing. For real.
Next, I looked at all the other time suckers and have reduced them by a large percentage. No longer do I scroll and scroll and scroll. I will check social media a couple of times per day and I will scroll to about the tenth post and either interact with them quickly or just click off at that point. This most amazing time I freed up has refined me and I now make it as productive as I can for the life that I want. Researching, learning, growing, and getting back to nature makes my soul happy. I soak in all the goodness that I can.
Time management
You have to find ways to stop the madness. Stop giving other people your time that doesn’t merit it. Give it to yourself and/or a cause of your choice. If you look at all the time that we lose on the daily you will probably cry. The traffic, the waiting in lines, the distractions all add up to so much time that’s just gone. I am now becoming King of time management! Many years ago I was fired from a job that I absolutely loved. I was let go for lack of time management.
Interestingly enough, I gave this company 110% and this one stung me very much. Being fired was an actual scandal not originated by time management, but all good because I learned a lot. For years I thought they were crazy for saying that, but several years ago I reflected on it and came to the conclusion that the time management part was somewhat accurate despite me giving my all and then some. I used this as a motivator for me to take a good look at how I managed my day to day tasks and have learned from it.
positivity:
the practice of being or tendency to be positive or optimistic in attitude.
Conclusion
So many people will ask or demand your time and it’s up to you to recognize the impact it will have on your world. It is ok to say no. If you are the people pleaser type like I am then this will be a big one for you.
Can’t get back lost time so don’t dwell in it, but recondition your mind to be mindful of it and treasure it.
Have you come to the conclusion that time is valuable to you before this point? If so, what was the defining moment? Do you have suggestions for others?
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