Do Nothing vs Getting Distracted

Have you ever told yourself you were going to do something just to get distracted and not do that thing? You could have just been starting the thing or getting ready to do the thing, just for another thought or idea to cross your mind, and now you are doing the other thing.

I don't imagine that many of us realize how many things we don't actually get done because we get distracted or how much longer something takes to get done because we get distracted. More so, we don't realize how often we don't follow through on the promises to ourselves because we get distracted. In trying to write this short essay, I myself found myself on LinkedIn, picking up my phone, wanting to log into an investment account and check my banking account right after I opened my laptop. I had to stop myself each time and remember why I opened my laptop and what I committed to doing.

What I am finding to be helpful is to do nothing but the task I have committed to do. Before I had any idea I was going to write this essay, I opened my laptop, minus the potential distractions, and just looked at the blank screen and tried to not think of anything else and, most importantly, not do anything else.

It's like going to the gym and committing to working out even if you don't know what to work out, and to do it without looking at your phone or chitchatting to a friend. If you are like me, what I have found to be helpful as well is to commit to small, bite-sized tasks. For me, I have committed to writing 250 words at a minimum a day for 30 days, and the writing can be anything, but it has to go public somewhere.

Since I have this website and 250 is way less than a novel or 1,000-word essay, I open my laptop and just start writing. The smaller the task, the easier it is to remove distraction and to eliminate excuses. As you build the muscle and increase your self-trust, you naturally start increasing your load, which helps to make the bigger dreams and visions seem more attainable.