Distractions And How I Try To Avoid Them

Today I had no university. But that didn’t mean I had nothing to do. I had a lot to do. I had to learn so much for my exams next week!

But today I also noticed how hard it is to ignore distractions. Distractions are everywhere. A few examples:

I want to write a simple mail to someone at the company, but I find another mail…

I want to do some online exercises but while typing the URL into the address bar, my eye catches something in the auto completion list…

A notification appears on my phone and instead of turning it off, I keep using it and eventually end up watching YouTube videos instead of learning.

Distractions are everywhere and the less motivated you are to do the thing you have to do, the easier it is to steal your focus and concentration. Even the smallest thing can pull you away and let you waste time and energy for things with really low priority.

Here are the steps I take to reduce distraction:

Get a clear mind by doing physical exercise (I really like running and it definitely helps me)

Choose another location to focus (for example the library)

Let in fresh air (by opening the window - only if it’s colder outside than inside)

Plant trees on my phone

Sometimes printing out things (when I have the feeling my PC is distracting me too much)

Listen to music (no vocals!)

What do you do to focus? Tell me…

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