Distracting the distractions

A few days ago, I wrote about distraction and focus. I asked whether we can avoid tumbling down the rabbit hole of distraction without missing out on all those opportunities and all that information that beckons and calls like a Siren.

For me it’s a combination of cutting back, dealing more effectively with what’s left, then making the most of the physical and psychological space I gain. So here’s the first of three posts on the topic, starting with the cutting back part.

Pull up the drawbridge, Don’t let all those distractions come marching in!

Head off e-clutter at the pass

For example if, like me, you’re an internet junkie, you might have loads of electronic newsletters dropping into your in-box. It doesn’t matter if you delete without reading, their very existence has threaded like fiery worms into your brain, dragging you down with mental clutter. One of the best things I did recently was unsubscribe to all the newsletters I felt guilty about never reading. Now I’m free to focus on the ones that really matter to me.

Reconsider old habits

Sometimes the distractions are real-world ones. Think about how you spend your time and who you spend it with. Consider carefully what might have become just a habit. Maybe you’ve been meeting your monthly supper-club group for six years. Doesn’t mean you have to continue doing so for the next six years if your life has evolved in different ways. Listen to your gut. Choose. Don’t continue blindly. Practice saying no.

Making space by letting go

There’s something very important here about other activities too, and not worrying how much you’ve invested in them so far. (Barbara Sher has useful things to say on the topic in this book.) Maybe you’ve spent months and a lot of money learning carpentry. You loved it, you lived and breathed carpentry. You bought top-of-the-line tools (maybe at this store ). You’ve made a beautiful inlaid coffee table. And now there’s a little voice in your head pointing out that your desire to make things in wood has mysteriously vanished. Listen to it. Realise that the experience of learning and of creating beauty was enough by itself. It fulfilled something in you. It isn’t a “waste of time and money” if you don’t continue. Just stop, sell your tools and enjoy your coffee table. Make room for something else to come into your life.

Trust that you’ll find what you need

We need to trust the web of information swirling around us to tell us what’s important without letting it suck in hours of our time. There’s that famous Buddhist saying that when the student is ready the teacher will appear. We mustn’t worry we’ll miss out if we don’t read every newsletter or follow every link or go to every gathering.

My next post in a few days will be about focusing on the important stuff.

Meanwhile what are the distractions you need to let go of?

Image (of the spectacular Beaumaris Castle) by lyng883

Elsewhere:

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits has been a blogging hero of mine forever and his writing on focus and simplicity has taught me a lot. (You might enjoy his book The Power of Less.) Not long ago he started a second blog, mnmlist, in which his writing seems to be taking on an even more special flavour. So here are links two recent posts: the only thing you can change, and society reimagined. Full of wisdom, both of them.