There are many reasons for stress and distractions these days. Everything is fast-paced. This makes it seem like it’s impossible to slow down. You have people pulling at you from every direction, wanting something from you. That is stressful; however, you can learn the common reasons for your stress and distractions so you can reduce or eliminate them from your life.
Not Setting Boundaries
If people interrupt you frequently, taking your focus away from your tasks, it may be because you have avoided setting firm boundaries. Tell coworkers, or your family if you work from home, not to disturb you during specific focusing times. You can always take a break and be with them and help them later.
Not Turning Off Notifications
Our society is on the go 24/7 due to the advent of smartphones and internet technology. Right now, while you’re reading this, you have your smartphone dinging and giving you notifications of discussions that you don’t even really need to take part in. So, turn them off while focusing on any task, whether it’s eating your dinner or doing your bookkeeping.
Not Getting Organised
It doesn’t matter what people say about being messy. The truth is if you don’t get your spaces orderly and the processes you use organised, it’s hard to get things done within the period you want without a lot of setbacks and stress. Organise your environment to make each task you need to do simple instead of confusing.
Not Goal Setting
There is more to setting a goal than stating you want to be rich or author a book or lose weight or whatever it is you want to accomplish. To properly set a goal, you must follow a process that leaves you with a step-by-step task list that will ensure small daily steps end up where you want. Goal-setting works for housework, personal goals, and business.
Not Giving Yourself Enough Time
Most people forget about the time before and after tasks, they want to do. They might say to themselves, “Jonny’s game takes two hours,” but the truth is, it takes time to get ready for the game, time to get to the game, time to be at the game, and then time to get home and ending game night. Johnny’s two-hour match is more like four hours during which you can’t do much else.
Not Having a Supportive Environment
Whether it’s how the physical environment is set up or how the folks around you behave, having a supportive environment is essential to reduce stress and distractions successfully. Setting boundaries, cleaning up the clutter, and getting organized will help.
Not Having the Right Tools and Resources
It’s hard to do anything if you don’t have the right tools and resources. This is true whether you’re attempting to do your dishes or attempting to create the next million-dollar product launch. Access to the right tools and resources is essential to success.
Not Working with Your Personality
Knowing who you are and how you work best is essential in designing your days to be most productive. Remember being productive means you get things done, not that you’re busy. If you’re not a morning person trying to do everything in the morning isn’t going to work for you.
Stress and distractions don’t have to be normal things. You can set up your days to be as stress-free as possible simply by finding ways to reduce distractions that are lowering your productivity. But you need to understand what’s expected, how to do it, what you need to do, and how long it takes to make it all work.
