Distractions
We know they are bad for us yet we often fall foul to them..Why?
Until a few days ago I was doing well with my daily routine – starting the day with a clean desk. Waking early, exercising and writing a blog post.
I was happy…it was working! So why did I get distracted ?
It started with tiredness caused by additional family commitments and step by step I became more and more distracted.
It is now 1:30 PM and I have decided to get back on track…
- On the negative side…my desk is a mess and I have spent the morning wasting time checking email, looking at the news website, checking my youtube channel stats, but in reality I am not expecting any earth shattering event in the news or a viral video to explode my channel – I am just distracting myself for the sake of it.
- On the positive side…I exercised this morning as committed. I have delivered some long overdue work packages AND I have acknowledged that I need to get back on track.
What is more important is that I accept the fact that I have been distracted. I don’t feel bad about myself. I am not beating myself up. I know that I can “get back on the horse” and keep going.
I spent many years of my life feeling guilty about falling by the wayside and I also let people make me feel guilty about my failings – but not any more!
After 60 years I now know that I am a good person and that a few distractions here and there do not fundamentally undermine me as a person.
I am proud to say that I have an active mind and a very active imagination…so maybe that’s why I get distracted 🙂
Is it better not to get distracted ? Generally yes. Is it completely bad to get distracted ? Definitely not!
My belief is that things happen for a reason and that it is often through distraction that we discover something new and exciting. So some distraction is good for the body, mind and soul.
I accept that I was more productive when I followed the routine I set out in one of my previous blog posts “Close to the Edge” and what’s more important is that I was generally happier when I stuck to the routine.
I want to retire sooner rather than later. For this to happen I need to minimise distractions and focus on building additional revenue streams.
Following distractions is linked to self discipline (FYI…I was going to write “a lack of self discipline” – but that is too negative!).
I am convinced that physical strength, mental strength and self discipline are attributes that need to be cherished and exercised to get more from them. “Practice makes Perfect” is the saying that comes to mind – I will keep on practising self discipline and over time I will get distracted less and less (or at least not get distracted until the work is done 😉
Best wishes,
Richard
5 things I am thankful for –
- My alarm clock
- A good night sleep
- Peace and tranquillity
- Communication with other people
- A good breakfast
