You Can't Do Big Things If You Are Distracted By Small Things

Does this sound familiar?  You’ve got a couple of hours to get some work done on your business.  You sit down with a fresh cup of coffee, check your email quickly before you begin and then…. you glance at the clock and an hour has passed.  You realize you just fell down the rabbit hole of distraction!

How does this happen?

Well for me it used to start with skimming emails in my inbox, opening one and starting to read. Somewhere along the way, I would find something interesting, click on a link and now I’m on a website or social media platform. I used to kid myself and say I was “doing research” or “learning something new” but truthfully it was just an excuse.

I found this so frustrating, I don’t want to waste my time scrolling through a social media feed. So I made some changes, and I have figured out how to keep it to a minimum.

How do I do it?

I made two small changes.

First, I realized when I sat down at my computer I had what felt like a million ideas jumping around in my head and I wasn’t focussed on what I need to do. Now before I turn on my computer I make sure I know exactly what I’m going to do. I’m clear on my objective and what I want to accomplish. 

Second, I realized my “rabbit hole” is triggered when I open my email inbox or if I jump quickly on to Facebook.  To fix this, I created a new habit. Instead of clicking on that icon I go directly to the task I want to work on. For example, today my mini goal is to write 2-3 of these short emails and schedule them so they are ready to send to you.

In other words now, I:

1. Decide what I’m going to do before I turn my computer on
2. Go straight to that task

This may seem simple, but many times the smallest shifts are the most effective to change your habits.