Save time: Starve your distractions to feed your focus
Distractions are a quagmire for a focused and productive person. Most people do not even know that they are distracted because these distractions have become a part of our daily routines and do not seem like a waste of our precious time.
If we observe ourselves, we will find several things on which we waste ample time: Social media, Netflix, YouTube, online games, etc. are a few examples. Not even our older generation is safe from this hazard. Since my parents started using the internet our current usage has increased from 74GB to 120 GB. It will not be wrong to say that we have lost focus of our destination. Technological advancement has been a blessing to some extent, but it also has its adverse impacts. One such effect is that excessive use of gadgets like mobile phones has a detrimental impact on people’s personal and professional life.
Students have deviated from their studies, mothers from their children, fathers from their families, and whatnot. Grandparents wait days to talk to their grandchildren, but the children are busy scrolling through social sites. Bosses amend their schedules, while employees submissions are almost always overdue, clearly, something is wrong with their focus. Modern civilization has been drastically affected by these distractions. These distractions lead to procrastination and loss of focus which ultimately ends in decreased productivity and efficiency. Jacqueline Leo (Founder of The Fiscal Times magazine) stated it well,
“One look at an email can rob you 15 minutes of focus, One call on your cell phone, one tweet, one instant message can destroy your schedule, forcing you to move meetings, or blow off really important things, like love, and friendship” -Jacqueline Leo
What is the solution? Well, this week I practiced the Pomodoro technique. Basically, this technique helps you in accomplishing tasks that you dislike and have been delaying for quite some time. What you must do is; condition your brain by moving all the distractions available in your surroundings far from your reach such as your cell phone, laptop, iPad, etc. in other words, anything that might catch your attention while you work. Then divide your task into 3 to 4 mini-tasks which can be easily completed in 25 minutes keeping in view that you can accomplish more as you will have minimal distractions. Once done you have to fix the timer for 25 minutes and after you complete your first mini task, take a break for 15 to 20 minutes and then again resume and accomplish all the other mini-tasks in a similar manner.
I had 3 unopened cartons of books that contained all my books ranging from A-Level till master’s after we shifted our house recently. I had been procrastinating to place these books in the empty drawers at home. Therefore, after I learned about the Pomodoro technique, I thought about testing it by completing this pending task. The books were around 40 in number and included course books, guides, past papers, and other photocopied material. To start with, firstly I left all my gadgets in the other room and turned off the mobile internet so that I can use the stopwatch for the timer without any other distraction. I put a 25-minute timer on for 4 times and accomplished the task easily. The pictures describe the work done after every 25 minutes. I took 3 breaks in between, First one was a tea break, the second one was an entertainment break in which I saw a 6-minute TedxKinnaird video on “Why Questions Matter?” by Hussain Nadim (An Academician, Scholar, CEO Nerve Center, Recognized in Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 Law and Policy Global Leaders). It was an interesting and mind-opening video, highly recommended. Finally, in the last break, I just scrolled down the social media platforms and answered my WhatsApp messages.
After completing this task in just 1 hour and 40 minutes I felt a sense of accomplishment and a burden revealed from the shoulder. I realized how long I unnecessarily dragged this task and somewhere in my mind it was causing stress, whenever I used to see those boxes, the thought that I also have to do this was putting immense pressure on my mind unknowingly. Similarly, this frequently happens in one’s life when several tasks are piled up due to unnecessary delays and it leaves a lot of stress on one’s mind. Most of the tasks are left for later work considering it is time-consuming but if one does it with complete focus and fewer distractions than it can be accomplished in less time and decrease the burden upon you. Hence, I think that we should practice the Pomodoro technique more often in our daily routine and find out the time-wasters in our life to become more productive and efficient in our personal and professional life. As with complete focus, one can achieve and accomplish anything in life.
“Concentration can be cultivated. One can learn to exercise willpower, discipline one’s body and train one’s mind” — Anil Ambani (Chairman Reliance Group, India)
