Do this ever happen with you, when your colleague is asking something from you in office but you are thinking about something else in your mind and not listening to him? Or if you are a student and your teacher is teaching in class but you are seeing outside from the window beside you, hence, This is distraction and it’s important to avoid distraction.
So, In this world, distraction has become a common thing and no one is fully focused and concentrated in their life, and everyone wanted to avoid distractions.
But what causes distraction, what is a distraction, and how to avoid distraction? So, Distraction is a process of not focusing on the right thing at the right time. Let’s understand this in detail, what it is, and ways to avoid it.
WHAT’S IN IT
What is a Distraction?
So, according to Wikipedia, distraction is a process of diverting the attention of an individual or group of people from a desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information.
So, Let’s understand this in simple words with an example. For instance, you are reading a book, focusing on words, understanding the meaning. Now, you heard that some people are shouting on the road at each other. And here you got distracted because neither they are shouting your name nor they are shouting which is related to you.
So, I suppose you understood now how anyone is distracted. One can be distracted anytime while doing any work. For instance, while studying, reading, doing some kind of work, driving, while in office or maybe in the classroom, Hence, Anyone can be distracted which doing anything at any time and its important to avoid that distraction.
Types of Distraction
Meanwhile, there is no such structured charts and diversification of distraction. But this is just for better
understanding that in what ways one can be get distracted. Let’s see how distraction is classified:
Hijacked Distraction
So, Hijacked distraction means, transferring of attention from one to another work or thing.
So, As we saw in the above-discussed example, you were reading and your attention got distracted from reading and transferred to the noise coming from the road. Here are some key-point to be noticed:
1. Your attention is transferred to another work or thing.
2. You are focused on the wrong thing.
3. Your attention is not under your control.
How to avoid this type of distraction?
To avoid hijacked distraction one must focus on the work he is doing. One must control himself and focus on the work he is doing.
Aimless Distraction
Aimless Distraction is a condition when one cannot focus on anything. Let’s recreate the above example, you were reading a book, you heard a noise from outside of some people shouting. This time, you were not able to focus neither on reading the book nor on the noise coming from the road and nor on anything else.
This can happen when you have too many things to do and your mind can’t decide what should you do first.
There are some points regarding this:
1. You are not focusing on anything.
2. Your attention is not under your control.
To avoid Aimless Distraction, one should simplify the work and focus on only one thing which is the priority for them. This will help them in aiming and focusing and avoiding distraction.
Wandering Distraction
Wandering distraction means you allow your mind to think on its own and you are not focusing on anything. For instance, you are walking in the park without thinking anything so your mind starts thinking on its own.
This can happen when you don’t have anything to focus on, and you let your mind think anything on its own. There are some points to remember:
1. You are not focusing on anything.
2. You don’t have anything to focus on.
3. Your attention is not under your control.
To avoid wandering distraction, one should find something to do and concentrate its attention on the work which will hence help in avoiding the distraction.
Referred from: https://www.psychologytoday.com
Above all, distractions can come from both external and internal sources. Factors for external distractions are visual triggers, social interactions, text messages, phone calls, etc. Whereas factors for internal distractions include hunger, illness, worry, daydreaming, etc.
What causes Distraction?
Distraction is caused when you see something which is attractive, or when you are having a lack of interest in what you are doing. When you are not fully focused and concentrated on what you are doing, you will get distracted by everything around you.
So to not get distracted, you have full concentration in what you are doing. Now, this will arise a question, how to be fully focused and concentrated and avoid distraction?
How To Avoid Distraction While Working?
This is a common question which everyone at least needs to know. How one should avoid distraction? And we have an answer for you. Go through the following steps:
1. Firstly, find what is distracting you. Try to either eliminate that thing from you or you try to get away from it.
2. Get yourself comfortable while working otherwise any problem will make you distracted.
3. Have a good sleep and work when you are fresh otherwise, you will not able to concentrate on your work.
4. Have proper food and water, which will not make you hungry and help you in increasing your concentration. Here are some more tips which will help you in not getting distracted from external things:
One Thing At A Time
Do one thing at a time, else it will become confusing and may go wrong.
Follow KISS
It means Keep It Super Simple(KISS). Don’t think that it will be hard. Just do it, if you encounter any problem try solving it. Have a positive attitude.
Take A Short Nap
The most important thing, Take a break when needed. Don’t work continuously. Like our body, the mind also needs some rest. So to give rest to your mind, either take a short 15 minutes nap or go out and have physical exercise or play outdoor games.
Watch Something Funny
According to the research, if you work after reading a joke or watching something funny which relaxes your mind, you can comparatively concentrate more than before. This helps your mind to get focused on the particular work.
Skip What You Don’t Know
Instead of wasting your time on what you don’t know, work on what you know. You can either postpone the work that you don’t know or appoint someone to do it for you as it will help you in not getting busy with what you can’t do.
How To Not Get Distracted While Studying?
Distraction is very common among students as they easily get distracted, especially while studying. And they always question why can’t they concentrate while they are studying. To have focused and concentrated while studying and avoid distraction, follow the below tips:
Turn Off Smartphone
This is the most commonly said thing, but it’s most effective. The mind always gets triggered whenever it hears the notification tone and just think to take and check the notification.
Complete The Toughest Subject First
It is seen that if you have something hard left in your to-do list, it always makes you worry which eventually distracts you from your work. So, it is advised to complete the toughest thing first.
Have A Timetable
The timetable helps in completing important things on time and have proper time management. Before starting work, give yourself a deadline to complete that work within the specified time.
Plan Your Day
Always plan your day, what you will be going to do, and what are the most important things you need to focus on. This will help in eliminating unwanted tasks.
Divide Your Work into Small Parts Instead of doing complete work at a time, divide it into small parts. After completing a part of your work take some rest of 10-15 minutes. This will help you in giving your 100% in every work you do.
Have your Pre-requisite
Before starting your studies, always check if you had taken all the things which you will be going to need like a pen, pencil, notebook, etc. Because this may become an obstacle in concentrating on your studies.
Change The Subject in Every 2 Hours
It is noticed that students get easily bored of doing or studying one thing for long. So as to not get bored, they should change the subject every 2 hours to not get easily bored.
Is Distraction a Good Thing?
Sometimes distraction is good, Mainly depends on the condition. For instance, you are driving and if you get distracted, then this may lead to death. But if you are going through some pain and you got distracted, this will surely help you.
If you have noticed or not, but doctors usually use distraction as a tool. When a doctor tries to give an injection to a child, he generally distracts the child by saying something or giving some toys so that child should feel much pain. The same way distraction can help in overcoming and dealing with some unusual situations.
Conclusion
In our increasingly connected world of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and high-speed Internet, distractions are everywhere. One should make a committed effort to stay on task. It is now becoming difficult to be focused and concentrated as new technologies just take our minds and try to distract us.
But one needs to conquer its mind and work on it. In this way, anyone can become concentrated and will enjoy their work fully which will help in avoiding distractions.
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