Is Distraction Stealing Your Life Away?

Is distraction stealing your life away? Talking with a friend a few days ago, we were discussing the busyness over the Christmas and New Year period and how this can distract us from our true resolutions. Whether you actively participate in the festivities or not, you are bound to be affected by this time of year and through those around you. It’s about this time in January that the fervour is over and life begins to return to a more sedate pace and when a true state of reflection and a perhaps more plausible setting of targets is possible. Remember, even when it comes to choosing what you wish to add or release from your Life in this exciting new year, timing is everything. If you do not take the appropriate time to sit in quiet and conscious reflection and then begin to map out your plan of action, you may experience – yet again – that distraction is stealing your Life away.

Yes, it’s written there in the word itself! Can you see it? Distr-action is there to distract you from taking action. Focus is so easily lost as we are bombarded nowadays with information and calls for action from all sides. But how much of what you do is in alignment with what you really – and I mean REALLY – desire for you and your Life? Whilst humans have developed the ability to multitask in so many ways, the more I have really looked into the importance of focus – the ability to be fully conscious in activity – the more I see the distraction inherent within multitasking. As a massage therapist I learned that touching or massaging two different areas of the body at the same time, causes the brain to ‘defocus’ and creates a – in this case – a deliberate state of distraction. As you are not able to focus on two things at once, with equal attentiveness or consciousness, your cognition will be channeled to the most predominant stimuli being experienced. Which in the instance of massage is relaxation, or in other words relief from tension. So it stands to reason that when you are doing two or even more different tasks at the same time, this causes the brain to defocus and can actually become a distraction that can lead to error or inaccuracy. The ability to maintain an overall main focus is very powerful and creates a force that not many will dare to mess with or confront. This does not mean that focus has to become obsessive and over thousands of year’s the human brain has evolved to make repeated behaviours more habitual, thus streamlining and automating the small stuff. Whilst handy this may not always be optimally beneficial! If you still find yourself having to make the same old same resolutions each year to improve yourself, then it is highly likely that you are allowing distractions like diet, jobs, shopping, relationships, issues of lack around money, health and love to steal your Life away.

So how can you get your Life back? I have found that beginning each day with a declared point of focus helps me to stay calmer and more productive. I keep a sharp eye out for those distractions which creep into conversations, give priority to mobile phone calls, enticing activities that have nothing to do with my daily target. For example, busy with writing my next book for publication later this year, I know that instead of blogging, I wish to focus on writing my book. When I move my focus from writing content that needs to go into my book rather than in a blog or social media, I have to watch it. So I looked for a win-win solution by writing this blog about distractions and touching base with my readers at the beginning of this new year. Then get back to writing focused content for my book.
Make a list of your daily targets and tick them off as you get them. This is taking action. Even if you do not complete your list, keep at it. This is still meant to be fun. It is also a great way to acknowledge and celebrate all that you do achieve. Whatever you do, do it fully present! That way distraction has less chance of sneaking up on you and into your life.

Another great reminder is to notice your breath. Usually when you are in a place of distraction, your body responds to this. So by observing your breathing, you can get an idea of where you are on the scale of allowing yourself to be distracted. The choice to stop and take the action of consciously breathing then allows you to refocus and take the action out of distractions. The act of breathing focuses you back into my body. And then you are able to choose again from a place of focused attention and step out in alignment with your daily aspirations, rather than alongside them. Don’t let distraction steal your focus inappropriately. Follow your breathe – it knows the natural rhythm of the present moment.

Action is something that happens NOW. Whatever comes after that towards reaching a goal is detail. It chops and changes, but when you are totally present, it just becomes a part of the flow. Each moment is tremendously precious, not because you may miss out on doing something, rather because it is a moment of pure creation made available each and every second. Start thinking about it in this way and asking yourself – which helps to keep you present and focused – what would I like to create with this?. Time abounds with creative instances and with your consciousness, you breathe form into being.