Avoiding Distractions (Social Media)

kill your distraction

Hey friends, welcome back to another blog. Hope ya’ll had an amazing week. This blog is gonna be on “distractions”. I assume, most of you are teenagers and as teenagers, we have distractions galore around us. I personally think that social media is the biggest source of distraction and it’s a killer to be very honest. Although there are different sources of distractions like friends, money-making, etc. I aim to cover social media through this blog. Again, I haven’t mastered these techniques and even I waste time a lot of time on Instagram but these techniques work, trust me! I usually follow them when I’m overloaded with work or when I have something important to do.

The following are effective ways through which you can avoid distractions:

·       Time-Blocks for social media – this one’s a tough one to follow and stick on to but it’s extremely effective. When we have access to something all the time, we tend to forget its value and utilize it even when there’s no need! For instance, if you have constant access to Instagram, it becomes a normal thing, and you no more consider it as a reward for the work you do. This leads to using it in your free time, between breaks, and basically, you haven’t set any limitations for yourself. Whereas, if you have set time blocks for it like “I will use all social media between 7-8”, it will allow you a window of time between unrestricted access and complete avoidance.

·       Not using the phone at all – Get rid of your mobile phone, stop using it! Allow yourself access to it only when you’re going out with your friends or when it is extremely important. I did this for the last 2 weeks and the benefits are incredible; I saved almost an hour daily which I would’ve wasted doing nothing on my phone or talking to my friends. My mind was free, messages and things constantly coming up on my phone took a lot of my attention, cluttering my thoughts. Lastly, even If I didn’t do anything productive, I still felt satisfied throughout the day because I knew that I hadn’t “wasted” time on my phone!

·       Site-Blocker your computer – download chrome extensions that block websites for you! This creates friction between you and your distraction. And because of this friction, you are less likely to get distracted and you are making ‘getting distracted easily’ difficult for yourself!! Habitica Pomodoro Site-Keeper is the blocker I use and it’s damn good because, with an option for blocking sites, you also get an option for a Pomodoro timer.

·       Disabling accounts and going ghost – fewer distractions, more control, and clarity of thoughts. When we use a lot of social media, we end up constantly thinking about it, most of the time. For instance, if the first thing you do after waking up is checking Instagram, then you might keep thinking about the person you were talking to or Ronaldo’s new record. Because of this, you squander your precious morning time on irrelevant which don’t even affect your life and to be honest stuff that you shouldn’t even care about (unless it’s your girlfriend/ close friend)!! When your brain thinks about this stuff, it’s tough to focus on things that matter (goals, school, etc.) You start giving your distractions, so things like your social status a higher priority which is obviously not right!! Therefore, disabling accounts, detaching yourself from social media, and taking a break for yourself is crucial.

·       Strongly resolve to avoid distractions: willpower! – you’re in control. Understanding the term willpower: the dictionary defines the term willpower as “control exerted to do something or restrain impulses”. Willpower is your control over your choices, a great example being the willpower to quit smoking, or make a certain change in your life. A way to strengthen your willpower is to take it one step at a time, change doesn’t happen all at once, make a logical plan to help you achieve your goal. Now comes up the topic, of how to avoid distractions using willpower? So say your distraction is playing video games, and you decide that you want to actively avoid games using willpower. No matter what happens you don’t touch the video game until your goal is achieved!! That’s it, you tell yourself to not do it maybe by reminding yourself about the purpose, why you’re doing what you’re doing!!

That's it for today's blog guys. I know this was a long one, but I appreciate you reading it till the end and I hope you'll find this helpful. See ya next week have a great one!!