Often our own mind can be the biggest source of distractions when we sit down to work:
Chrome: There are a ton of apps to block distractions online, but most of them only do that one thing.The Chrome extension Focus goes one step beyond, giving you a to-do list and a schedule to get. CONQUER DISTRACTION & DIGITAL ADDICTIONThe Productivity App That FORCES You to Focus!No cheats or workarounds. FocusMe is a fully-customizable tool that “walls off” online temptation to instantly increase personal efficiency and take countless hours of your life back Block, limit, or ration use of time-sucking websites & apps. Build better habits for long-term willpower. But what can we do to keep our focus when distractions abound and we have work to do? Change your context. Brian Wansink is a professor at Cornell who studies eating behavior. Now, this may sound unrelated, but Wansink’s work has shown something that proves relevant in terms of distractions, as well.
The Distractions List is a simple but powerful technique for dealing with internal distractions like these. By immediately writing down our distracting thoughts, we signal to our minds that those distractions are acknowledged and will be taken care of if necessary.
I first came across this idea, by the way, in Chris Bailey’s book Hyperfocus.
Find Focus 1 0 24 – Block Distractions List WordsHow To Do It
Here’s how to implement the Distractions List:
Find Focus 1 0 24 – Block Distractions List 2019
That’s it!
![]() Why It WorksFind Focus 1 0 24 – Block Distractions Listen
While the experience of worry and the anxiety it produces is uncomfortable, it often serves the purpose of increasing our memory. In other words, when our mind is afraid that we’ll forget about important things, it often throws those things at us (in the form of worry) as a kind of primitive memory aid.
(Side Note: In his excellent book, Getting Things Done, David Allen talks a lot about this memory function of worry and how to eliminate it with well-designed organizational systems.)
Imagine driving in the car and seeing a phone number you want to remember on a billboard. Ideally, you’d write the number down as a way to remember it. But you’re driving, so you have to resort to a more primitive technique—repeating the number over and over again.
![]() Find Focus 1 0 24 – Block Distractions List Questions
Often this is what our mind is doing when it throws “distracting” things at us while we’re working. It’s afraid that we’ll forget something important, so it repeats it over and over again.
Find Focus 1 0 24 – Block Distractions List 2020
By keeping a Distractions List, you’re effectively reassuring your mind that you have a reliable system for remembering these important things.
And if you get in the habit of keeping a Distractions List, eventually your mind will really start to trust that you will remember important things. Consequently, it will feel less of a need to throw these distracting worries at you.
Good Places to Use a Distractions List
The Distractions List is useful whenever you’re doing any kind of sustained, meaningful work. I find it most useful in these three areas:
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