How to Stay Focused In a World Filled With Distractions

With all that is going on around us, now more than ever it’s become more challenging to remain focused. The world is filled with distractions that when not mindful of them, are designed to sidetrack us from our goals. Between Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, work, friends, kids, hobbies, and the many other activities that fill our day, it’s easy to lose focus. This is as true for me as it is for anybody. It is really easy to get distracted if you are not mindful of your time and how you’re spending it.

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For the last couple of weeks or so I’ve really been stagnant when it comes to the goals I’ve set for myself this year. We are already in the second month of the New Year and I haven’t made any real headway with any of my goals. My writing has suffered, my podcast is at a standstill, and that online presence I said I wanted to build has been halted. I know the main reason for this is partly due to the recent political climate, this new administration, and all they're doing lately has become too overwhelming for me. It's giving me anxiety, it's making me angry, it's making me feel depressed, and making me feel all sorts of emotions simultaneously. It's just too much to process at one time and as a result it's affected my drive, my creativity and I've allowed myself to give in to the excuses of “I’ll just do it later” or “I really don’t have time right now”. They're the same excuses that I usually tell my followers to eliminate from their own thought process. But what can I say? I’m human and sometimes despite my greatest efforts I succumb to them as well.

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With that said though, I realized that I’m just about over this slump I’ve been in. I realized that I can fight against and resist the state of this country while simultaneously still going after my dreams and accomplishing my goals. I realized that I had to make the choice to move past what I’ve been feeling lately and move. The time for excuses is over. It’s time to get back to work. If you’re like me and allowed these external distractions to divert your attention here are a few tips to help get you refocused and back on track.

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Identify your distractions. You can't change what you aren't aware of. That's why identifying what is stealing your focus is the first step to getting back on track. When you know what's distracting you then you can take appropriate action and either cut back or eliminate the time you're spending on those activities and reinvest it in more productive activities aligned with your vision and goals.

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Remember your WHY. Take time to re-evaluate your WHY. When you take a second to revisit why you decided to do something in the first place it reenergizes you. It helps you to remember your purpose and why that goal is important to you. When you are crystal clear on what you want and why you want it, it’s knowing this WHY that will pull you through those distractions. It’s knowing this WHY that will get you going again. Like the great philosopher Nietzsche said, “When you know your why, you can endure any how.”

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Take Action. The only way to move forward is by moving. Even if you start by simply doing one goal oriented task a day the only way to get past the slump is to DO. Saying you’re going to do something is not enough. You MUST take action. Therefore, if you are addicted to social media and social media is what’s distracting you from pursuing your goals either temporarily deactivate your social media accounts or delete the apps completely from your mobile device. When you reduce the probability of being distracted you can then refocus that time and energy spent on Facebook and IG to working on goal related activities.

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Reward Yourself. Give yourself an incentive for completing goal related activities or tasks. As a child whenever I brought home a good report card I’d get rewarded by my parents. It was an incentive to help keep me focused on school. Studies have shown that when goals are tied to an incentive one tends to work harder. So, set a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly goal and if you accomplish it reward yourself with something nice. These goals don’t complete themselves and your hard work should be rewarded.

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Remember, no matter how much we plan, life happens. And although we may get distracted at times the important thing is how we bounce back from those distractions. If you can recognize that you’ve veered off the path and make a conscious decision to get back on it that’s what matters. Don’t beat yourself over it. Just recalibrate the way your GPS does when it makes a wrong turn and create a plan to get yourself back on track. When you go in with a plan and a mind determined to execute all you have set out to do, success is inevitable.