My Top 5 Distractions and How I Deal with Them

Never in the entire course of history have we ever discussed more distractions than today. We are living in an era of distractions, and it just keeps getting worse by the day. In this blog post, I’ll write about my top 5 distractions and how I deal with them. I hope that they can help you.

Most of the time, we blame it on every new application–a game, social media, or video-sharing platform, or perhaps we blame it on the new cutie next door. They get on our way to living the best life there is. How can any of these things be around when everything that we should yearn for in life is to FOCUS?

So why do we get distracted? That’s because distractions get our attention. They’re easy on our eyes, our brains, our time. Whether they’re something wrong or detrimental to our goals and our future, they speak of something deeper in our lives, like a repressed longing—freedom.

Freedom, yes, we like that, but what does it entail? Do we get it if we succumb to our distractions? Many say yes, we do, but many people also say it will be temporary.

Now, the issue we must tackle here is deciphering which things are essential. How do we recognize whether what we are doing is of priority when we think about it in hindsight? All these questions lie within the walls of society and how it shaped our thinking.

The core idea of an issue as minor as “distractions” boils down to the way we live and our claim of societal ideals–of how our family brought us up, our peers, the media, and advertising. We all have different neural connections in the brain. While some people can easily listen to themselves and know what they want, many people yield to society’s usual standards.

I am kind of devious (at least in my current situation and the worldly events surrounding us). I almost cannot think of any distractions that could be adverse to my goal or future. And believe me, I have a plan, albeit unwritten. Or else, I wouldn’t be posting consistently on my blogs. But somehow, I go with the flow. And I am not saying I’m right.

As a blogger of one pop culture and entertainment blog, one personal and lifestyle blog, and an organizational blog, I ought to be open to a lot of things and be distracted by whatever something that would do, especially during this quarantine. Nevertheless, I have a count of distractions that might also be detrimental to my productivity and overall life.

Here are My Top 5 Distractions and How I Deal with Them (if I Do):

1. Entertainment

I told myself that entertainment won’t be a distraction to me since I could always write about what I watched most of the time. However, not everything I watch can make me think deeper and beyond the technicalities. More than a mere entertainment blogger writing about practical reviews, I am a theoretical blogger most of the time. If I cannot see worldly issues related to a series or a film, I won’t be able to blog about it. Hence, I would consider that show and movie a distraction (like most feel-good films), especially if I’m already binging on it.

How I deal with it: I rarely binge-watch series these days, but if there’s one that could interest me, I will do so. I try to set my priorities during the day and do what I need to do. As one of my mentors, Ria Jose, suggested, making it a reward for doing what is more important could be a way to trick your brain into not succumbing to distractions.

2. Notifications

It’s easy to say that notifications are one of the constants in this world. What’s baffling is that I don’t get distracted by unimportant notifications but by the opposite. I don’t easily mind notifications from my banks or telecom, but the more important ones (like emails) always get the best of me.

How I deal with it: Thank God for the smartphone and the option to stop notifications. They’re not only there to save your work but your battery as well.

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3. Covid-19 and other Political Commentaries

Covid-19 reiterates that we are one with the world. Although we have different perspectives that depend on our respective cultures, it is by no mistake that we are created in the same image, likeness, and, more or less, the same body functions as one another. Hence, a member of the Indigenous People (Badjao) in the most eluding region in the Philippines (Mindanao) has contracted COVID-19, like the well-regarded Prime Minister of the UK.

I believe that COVID-19 commentaries are valuable, and that’s my problem. I am exposed to a very divisive set of friends, relatives, acquaintances, and other connections. After considering their take on the situation, I see myself pondering again about being an idealist or a pragmatist. And to be honest, it’s my kryptonite. I keep shifting through both ideologies, and it keeps me wild.

How I deal with it: I have not entirely coped with them. However, I indexed my social media to get rid of commentaries. I mean, come on, screw all governments. They are on top because they’re all psychotic sh*tholes, okay? I just focus on how to keep the virus from getting a new host.

4. Food Cravings

Need I say more? Haha

How I deal with it: I’m lucky enough to satisfy almost every food craving I have, especially during these times when we can avail of a delivery service or order from a food-delivery app. Hence, I have not coped with this distraction. 🙁

5. Reality

As an idealist, I get distracted by reality. For creatives, it is a distraction to the imagination. For non-creatives, who make reality a usual hustle and routine, the reality might be a distraction when they are currently in the midst of a vacation or any leisure activity. The world puts us in a vague stigma of reality.

As a person in a somewhat creative field, my idealism pushes me to do what I want and continually deviate from the so-called reality, but sometimes reality bites. I consider it a distraction because I believe anyone can win if they fight for it.

How I deal with it: I cope with this through sacrifice, and yes, I learned it the hard way. To grow my microbusinesses, I sacrifice not having to spend on unimportant stuff. To put my “unreal” dreams into reality, I am sacrificing a lot. I’m a privileged one, so I’m grateful for that as well.

The copyright-free images used in this blog post are from Unsplash. Cover photo by Austin Distel.