Mickey and Snoopy to the rescue
You can choose distractions like you can choose technology
I recently installed several new faces on my Apple Watch:
Mickey Mouse
Snoopy
a silly ghost
a breath timer.
Mickey, Snoopy and the silly ghost were installed because they’re fun, to help me remember to approach life with a sense of play. The breath timer was installed, for when I’m winding down in the evening or need to regain my focus.
I also disabled many notifications. With exception to a few ‘acceptable’ apps, like the ‘time to stand’ reminder, I no longer get frequent buzzing sensations on my wrist. I hadn’t realised just how distracting this had become.
On Sunday morning, for example, I was enjoying a beautiful spring day outdoors at the park. While there, 72 messages were circulated in a WhatsApp group I’m part of. Previously I would have been notified of each and every one of them. This time, I didn’t know about any of them until hours later. I didn’t need to.
In our lives, we face disruptions and distractions. I find it helpful to think of disruptions as unavoidable interruptions we have to deal with, and distractions as avoidable interruptions we choose to allow.
A disruption could be minor such as a call from an important client or the need to tend to nature’s call, or something significant such as a major illness. You don’t get a choice, lest you face undesirable consequences.
A distraction is most activities involving your smartphone, and many other trivial matters your mind may be attracted to. So long as you notice it happening, you have a choice and there is little consequence of ignoring the distraction.
In the last sentence lies the key: Noticing. Some distractions can be avoided by physically preventing them, such as disabling notifications. However, it’s important to understand in many instances you can’t choose if a distraction occurs, your mind will just serve them up on its own, but you do get to choose your response.
Once you notice you’re (getting) distracted, you have a choice to allow it or not. It’s ok to consciously allow some distractions, especially if you’re due a break and need to stand up, but ultimately being aware of what’s going on in your mind makes all the difference.
That takes practice. One technique I find helpful in honing this skill is deliberately turning my attention to my breath for a minute, several times an hour, and observing what my mind does during that time. Whenever it wanders, I bring attention back to my breath.
With a technique like this, eventually you’ll start to quickly notice when your attention is moving to a distraction throughout the rest of the day. Then in those moments, you choose to consciously allow the distraction, or stay focussed on your task.
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