Distractions—There's A Slot In The Calendar For That

For me, the more distracted I am, the easier I am distracted.

There is something about being distracted once that just makes it more likely to happen again. Perhaps, it is that I leave my mental guard down and relax "too much".

I think our mind also works like that. It tends to do more of what it was already doing. If I am writing, I write more. If I am reading, I read more. If I am thinking, I think more.

When I distract myself, I distract myself more.

The most critical time is always the beginning.

Both for the desirable habits and the less desirable ones. Whatever we start, we continue for a while.

In a sense, it is like momentum in physics. Once something moves in one direction, it will do so for a while. Course correction takes energy and is wobbly. Stopping takes more energy than continuing.

This, for me, is especially true for distractions that are low-energy to begin with. Playing on my phone, browsing Youtube, things like that. My brain gets used to the lull of content and just settles in for a nice, long timesuck courtesy of the autopilot.

I think that in part, this is normal and nothing to worry about. It is ok to be tired after a week at work. It is ok to "waste" a Sunday afternoon. The world is not going to end because you were a bit zony for a while.

No, you are not going to fail at ALL OF LIFE because of one of these afternoons.

You can let go of your hustle-culture guilt. There is no perfect person. Everyone has off days.

Distraction is only a problem when it stands in the way of what you want to accomplish. If it holds you back or prevents you from resting.

Yes, you heard that right. Distraction can prevent you from resting.

It's a tricky business because you're most likely to get distracted when you are tired. At the same time, being distracted will not help with the tiredness.

Anyway, my approach, for now, is to make time for distractions and schedule them in. This is very GErman of me, I know. I make a schedule for “not having a schedule”.

Nevertheless, it is better to have distractions at a convenient time when I am not meant to do anything else than being derailed from something I really want to do.