Distraction-Proof® Advisor Ideas

AdvisorBlast – Quick Tips to Accelerate Your Practice 
In this issue: Keep those periphery attractions blurry so you don’t even have to deal with the temptation to “just take a quick look.”

Psychologists say a large part of gaining the focus we desire relies on keeping irrelevant things out of focus. How are you making sure you don’t get distracted and give away valuable time and energy to something that is not vital to your success? That’s a tough challenge for most of us.

There’s plenty to distract us! Advertisers and news aggregators know bright, shiny objects will catch our eye. Headlines are deliberately constructed to make us feel that we’ll miss something critical if we don’t read what’s behind them. Teasers like, “Avoid these four mistakes…,” or “Do these three things…” are deliberately designed to have us think paying attention will quickly give us helpful information.

But, the more we mindlessly give in, the more we ingrain the habit of spending our focus on distractions. The good news is no matter how attractive or interesting something may seem, we don’t have to respond by instinct: we take a split second to reason before taking the next step.

Keeping what’s on your screen, mind, or in box from derailing your present concentration can take as much effort as actually moving forward on the important task at hand. Don’t underestimate the power of distraction!

Imagine you’ve planned your day and know exactly what your main objectives are. Now, imagine you’re looking at the rest of your day through a pair of binoculars. While you already know what you need to focus on, it can be tempting to turn that dial just slightly to bring other things into focus.

Remember, though, you’re in control of that focus dial. You have the power decide to whether to turn it, so what you originally set in your sights fades, or to deliberately choose to keep it locked on to what you previously decided would be your focal point.

Keep those periphery attractions blurry so you don’t even have to deal with the temptation to “just take a quick look,” which so often ends in more time spent than intended and even in time wasted.

Instead of wondering where your time went or being frustrated with yourself because you know you wasted it, pay attention to your distractions this week:

1. Notice what distractions vie for your attention. Are there certain times of the day when you’re more susceptible their lure? Do you need to take extra measures to block specific distractions at particular times, such as turning off email or social media notifications?

2. Decide that what you’re doing now is more important than anything else. Value your time and focus as much as the advertisers do.

3. Allocate your prime time to complete the most important task at hand. Use what would previously been a distraction as a reward when you complete your current task. If an article or post looks interesting, spend time reading it when you don’t need your best energy to be creative or attention to detail isn’t vital.

Build momentum by keeping focused on your most important, highest value activities and enjoy the benefits of completing more.

Keep dialed-in on the important stuff,
Paul

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