{"id":4750,"date":"2011-02-18T08:58:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-18T16:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gtdtimes.com\/2011\/02\/18\/"},"modified":"2014-02-03T14:39:01","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T22:39:01","slug":"choosing-your-distractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2011\/02\/choosing-your-distractions\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing Your Distractions"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a Community Contribution from Mike Vardy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Some people need silence to be productive. Some people need music. Some people need an extreme amount of light. Some people don\u2019t need anything specific. Some people don\u2019t need anything at all.<\/p>\n

To anyone who falls into one \u201csome\u201d category, they are not likely to fall into another. There\u2019s a subjective nature to working environments. The same goes for distractions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For example, I can actually watch certain television shows in the background as I write. Now, it depends on what I\u2019m working on, but generally when I\u2019m creating content I can have the TV on and have it actually spur me on as opposed to distract me. I know well enough which shows these are (I\u2019m looking at you<\/em> professional wrestling), so I don\u2019t put on shows that demand my exclusive attention. I also don\u2019t try to work on stuff that demands the same kind of attention from me when I\u2019m watching wrestlers defend championships either.<\/p>\n

As I write this, I\u2019m listening to music \u2014 music that has lyrics. I know a lot of people listen to instrumental music if they are going to have any on at all, but I can work either way. I also work fine with silence\u2026but I generally save that for when everyone is asleep (before 8am and after 10pm), and that\u2019s when I can get the \u201cheavy lifting\u201d done.<\/p>\n

Distractions come in all shapes and sizes.\u00a0 They can vary, depending on where you are and what you\u2019re doing. Time of day has an impact on what you can not only do, but what you can take in. I find that the morning is my \u201cset up\u201d time for the day, so I like it mellow at first before I kick it into high gear. When I do kick it into that gear, I find that my musical selections tend to kick up a notch as well, both in terms of genre and volume. Depending on how my day goes, I find that the occasional distraction is warranted.<\/p>\n

What are the things that distract me no matter what time of day it is? Email and social media sites are the usual culprits. But I\u2019ve learned that the reward of getting stuff done is more valuable than reacting to stuff not done yet\u00a0 (email), or hearing about what others are doing (social media). That\u2019s not to say I don\u2019t check in every once in a while, I have just decided that it will be only \u201conce in a while\u201d as opposed to \u201cseveral times a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not able to be productive (a la GTD), one of the things you need to do is a Distraction Check. If you find that silence isn\u2019t helping you, try playing some music. If instrumental music doesn\u2019t work, try some with lyrics. Maybe put on the television in the background while you work on low impact action items to see if you slow down at all. Change up your atmosphere. Mix it up.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that the more you discover what distracts you and what you can work with or around, the better equipped you\u2019ll be to perform in different circumstances and environments.\u00a0 This knowledge can also serve to \u201cchildproof\u201d your working habits, as I\u2019ve learned from personal experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The more you discover what distracts you and what you can work with or around, the better equipped you\u2019ll be to perform in different circumstances and environments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[699,32],"tags":[22,745,29,69,80,46,100,83,122],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChoosing Your Distractions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The more you discover what distracts you and what you can work with or around, the better equipped you\u2019ll be to perform in different circumstances and environments.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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