Distraction by Any Name is Still Distraction

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This is a guest post written by my fellow author and speaker, Michael George Price.

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What is a distraction?

Nearly anything can be a distraction if it is not germane or pertinent to the moment.

Distractions can be people/events/thoughts. Distractions can come from others or from us.

When distracted by others, we seem to deal with it better than when we distract ourselves. Perhaps we recognize it as such, and are able to deal with it in a more timely and efficient manner.

However, I want to chat about us distracting ourselves when we are working on a task or solution etc. Most of the time we don’t recognize it as distraction. We call it something else.

• A call to a friend
• Warming up a cup of coffee
• Washing the dishes
• Getting a snack before continuing with the project
• A quick research on the Internet of something that just popped into our thoughts.

Why do we distract ourselves?

We are not focused on the task/situation at hand!

Why are we not focused on the task/situation?

We don’t want to do it! Or, think about it! Or, deal with it!

So, rather than handle or take care of it, we fool ourselves by distracting ourselves. We convince ourselves that the distraction is more important at this moment. We masquerade the distraction as being important.

When we are not focused, nearly anything can distract us. When we are focused, very few things can distract us.

Why is it important to recognize when and how we distract ourselves?

• We learn how we deal with tasks/projects/people that we find uncomfortable.
• We become keenly aware of what we do to distract ourselves.
• We learn how much longer the problem/situation/project remains in our life or on our “to-do” list, causing us that much more anxiety.

The key is awareness. Awareness is the first step to solving any problem or challenge.

Be aware of what circumstances, situations, projects, or people cause you to distract yourself.

And use the Fearless Thinking skills taught in the “Focus” part of the program to take charge of, and control the distractions in your life.

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Michael George Price is the creator of The Courage of Fearless Thinking System. He is an author, teacher, consultant, coach, and motivational speaker. Michael teaches The Courage of Fearless Thinking System to Businesses, Associations, Schools, Sports Teams, Churches and Individuals. Visit www.FearlessThinking.com for additional information or contact Michael directly at [email protected].