According to a study conducted by the University of California Irvine, office workers are only able to focus on any single task for an average 3 minutes before they’re distracted. And to my surprise, people interrupt themselves almost as much as they are interrupted by external sources. Internal distractions account for 44 percent of our interruptions! Since there are a number of costs to being distracted - cognitive costs (loss of flow), mental health costs (increased stress), and productivity costs (missed deadlines) - our overall well-being will improve by taking time to implement strategies to fight distraction! Try these three distraction-fighting-strategies…
The 20 Second Rule:
Positive psychologist Shawn Achor believes that 20 seconds can make all the difference when it comes to behavior change. Simply by making tasks slightly easier or slightly harder we will impact the likelihood of a behavior occurring. If something takes us 20 seconds longer to do, we’re less likely to do it, and less likely to be distracted by it! This approach means we do not have to rely on willpower when we increase the effort it takes to go to our favorite distractors!
Define That Single Target Focus:
Instead of seeing what our “inbox tells us to do today”, Brendon Burchard encourages us to value our time more by identifying criteria for what we plan to do and saying no in order to say yes to what truly matters. By doing this we narrow and strengthen our focus! Also, focus goes out the window when we don’t make progress, so by staying focused on that very small minimum-but-meaningful task we build momentum.
set deadlines (pomodoro Technique):
The Pomodoro Technique, by Francesco Cirillo, uses a timer to break down work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. This strategy is especially helpful for times we can’t get ourselves motivated to complete a task. Time pressure is motivating, so it is a great way to get the ball rolling. Keep in mind, there are no Pomodoro Police watching so if we find ourselves in a state of flow we can keep working as we wish!
In this post, most of the blue words are additional videos on the topic. for some more ideas check out this great video!
Wendy Dellis is a certified wellness coach. She joins years of training and work in the area of behavior change, experience as a fitness instructor and run club coordinator with a passion for adventure and people. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jay, and two sons.
Mocking or a coffee shop are great places to find my focus!
The information contained on this page is for general information purposes only. Nothing here should be construed as medical or healthcare advice, but only topics for discussion. No physician-patient relationship exists; please consult your physician before making changes in diet or lifestyle.