Ways to be productive in a distracted world

Indeed we all feel the urge to do better but if we are not cautious the above routine would keep repeating itself making our dreams unachievable. The attempt to stay updated on social media can get us scrolling from account to account getting lost in time.

I am not disputing the benefits of social media but there is more to life. We are all credited with 24 hours a day and we become what we use our time for. I am also a victim but yes we can do better.

Ways to stay productive

• • Write down your goals

What goals do you want to accomplish? Personal, career, relationship or parental goals? A study by Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at Dominican University of California, has it that writing down your goals is powerful. The research found that, if you write down your dreams and goals on a daily basis you are 42% more likely to achieve them. Following an order, write what is more important to you, be specific and realistic.

It does not take much time doing this but most people prefer to visualize their goals. I do not know anyone who has achieved anything by fantasizing them. I stand to be corrected but our fantasies are stuck in the land of fantasy.

• • Quit multitasking

Multitasking is a scam! The idea of doing so many at the same time is a way of feeling fulfilled but clearly you cannot show a complete result for a task.  Our smartphones has the tendencies of slowing down when we have so much apps performing at the same time. In some cases our phone batteries can run low. Bringing this same concept to us as humans, there is a high possibility to be confused when we have so much happening at the same time. There can be conflict between the different activities. Imagine you are scrolling on your Instagram timeline at the same time getting work done, perhaps typing or reading a book on the other hand, you can succeed in doing that but you are likely to not understand what you read. I guarantee Instagram will have the best of you.

• • Be accountable

It’s a good thing if you have an accountable “tribe”. Trusted friends or relatives who are willing to help you with your set goals, being a constant reminder of what you need to do at every phase of your goals but no one can help you better than yourself. Practically staying responsible for your own actions is effective in getting your life together.

Using the employer and employee scenario, every employee is taken through an orientation process to make sure they know the vision and mission of the company and their role to play to achieve organizational goals. Save yourself the time to orient your family and friends on how they come in your vision and work on your goals by yourself.

• • Try the Pomodoro technique

This is a time management method created in the late 1980s  by Francesco Cirillo. He created this method while he was struggling to keep his mind focused in preparation for exams.   He set a timer to read in 2 minutes without any distractions. He succeeded and gradually increased the amount of time. In this practice he concluded that the ideal unit of work was 25 minutes followed by a 2-5 minute break. It is based on a series of principles built on self-observation and awareness. Research has it that, developing these skills makes it possible to change the relationship with time and reach our goals with less effort and anxiety.

• • Initiate a break time

As the pomodoro technique advises, have a 2-5 minutes break within your deep work periods. Watch a funny video on YouTube or TikTok to buy away some time. Take a walk if possible or have an activity you enjoy.

The trick is to discipline yourself and stick to the time you have as a break time.

Photo: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

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