Distraction Vertigo

 

You’ve got too many options. Too many distractions and too many decisions. Which way to go? Which person to talk to? Which event to attend?

There is a vast and almost needless amount of information in this technocratic run society. All at the press of a button or swipe of the finger. We can access the wild wonderings of a social media or simply scroll with our hearts desire through the online stores of stuff we think that we need, but really just strongly desire. The question is not whether this is a good thing, it very well good provide benefits, but with every benefit there is plenty of equal or even worse costs hanging overhead. 

If we put our phone down, what else can we distract ourselves with? That book that has been collecting dust? That little piece of dry wall that needs to get repainted? Yet we procrastinate and it turns us into procrastinating practicers! A habit of putting things off that are directly in front of us. Think about doing the dishes, the more we let them pile up, the harder we need to scrub and the more anxiety inducing and dreadful it becomes. When we could just wash a few plates, dry them and put them away, we choose to walk away and answer a group text or like a post on some social media platform. 

When we let these little tasks pile up and don’t execute them we are doing ourselves a disservice. We are depriving ourselves of the reward of completing something no matter how small. Those little dopamine boosts that give us a little sense of satisfaction and motivation even if it’s temporary. One can list tasks all day as well, but prioritizing is what is important. If you have all these little things you want to do and they are of equal importance then your mind can get jumbled, overwhelmed and bewildered. Let’s see.

There are many ways to assemble a hierarchy if you will of tasks. But there’s more to this as well. You want to establish a practice. Like laundry, you want to schedule it on roughly the same day every day to get in the swing and groove and have your mind get used to the “laundry time” of the week so you don’t have to worry about it and you can plan around it. After all, having clean clothes is an important and floats up towards the top of the prioritization pyramid. It makes sense. Get the laundry done and then maybe you can reward yourself with some video game or tv time. It tastes much sweeter when you get things done you know are necessary and important. It’s like having that cold beer or sparkling water at the end of a king mowing session in the heat. It tastes much better and different when you feel that you earned it. Plus you see the fruits of your labor right before your eyes. A clean cut lawn that YOU took the time to do and execute.

Set a timer. Write it down. 

It’s these simple tasks that can turn your chaotic and attention seeking mind into a somewhat well oiled machine. It’s giving a task and a time. “Hello, mind. We are practicing piano for 30 minutes then cleaning our room for 10.” It’s those baby steps. Hell take it in 5 minute increments if you have to. Then you can work on building it up. You can do something for 5? Well you can certainly do 10 and hell soon you can do 20. Start where you are. Committing to something that feels overwhelming doesn’t mean you have to white knuckle it. In fact, if you are in a constant state of dread trying to complete a task, are you really doing your best? Doing your best for 10 minutes seems to be way better than a grueling 30. 

Say it out loud! ( or at least in your head ) 

Let’s say you’re feeling distracted, anxious and overwhelmed. Stop where you are and don’t force yourself to think of a motivational quote. Just say what you are doing or what you need to do. For example, you are cleaning out your fridge. Simply say that you are cleaning your fridge to yourself or even out loud if people aren’t around. Hell say it with people around as a declarative statement. Be bold! Maybe it will even inspire others to do the same behavior. 

Realistically you are your own unique individual.

You can bend the rules towards what works best for you. A series of personal experiments. 

Attempt a plan. Play with it as if you had the curiosity of a child. Bring about that spontaneous playfulness into your life of the mundane. 

See what happens.