Our ability to manage our time is closely related to our ability to resist distractions.
Distraction is not defined by the activity (checking IG vs. drafting a document) but by INTENT - did we intend to do what we are currently doing?
You may have planned to check the news for 10 minutes, in which case that is not a distraction.
But if you are checking your email notifications when you plan to work on an outline, the email is a distraction, even if it's work related.
We get distracted by EXTERNAL and INTERNAL triggers.
We blame external triggers but studies have found that 90% of distraction is due to internal triggers - an uncomfortable emotional state we seek to avoid.
Whether it's too much news, podcasts, Facebook, food, alcohol - if you are avoiding an action you intended to take - you are distracting from an undesirable feeling ((boredom, uncertainty, fear, anxiety...).
A key step in increasing productivity is learning how to avoid the internal triggers.
The obstacle to getting the result we want is not a problem of not knowing the HOW, i.e. knowing what to do.
It's a problem of not following through with what we know we need to do.
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