How to stop getting distracted: Tame your inner voice
Howdy folks, I’ve had my metal detector out this week searching all over the internet for precious metals, you can find my haul below.
How to stop getting distracted: Tame your mind
Lately, I've found myself getting distracted. There are so many exciting things happening in the world making it tough to shut out the noise and lock in.
The usual advice is to 'design a distraction-free environment', but after hitting 'Do Not Disturb' and putting on noise cancelling headphones, the external distractions aren't really the issue.
As with most life advice this type of thing is treating the symptom, not the cause.
Distractions rarely stem from notifications or interruptions, instead it's our own minds wandering.
That little voice in your head searching for dopamine to relieve the uncomfortable reality of concentrating on the work.
The only way to tame this voice is to put a bag over the head of that little guy and slowly put him to sleep. To starve him of oxygen (and yourself of distractions).
Once that inner voice is out cold you're free to get into a flow state. But getting him out cold is the hard part.
I've realised I'm no match for him in the middle of the day. I find myself constantly distracted by the bombardment of inputs, lacking any ability to shut out distractions.
But early in the morning and late in the evening I can catch him off guard.
I've never met someone who does their best work right after lunch. It's always long before the world wakes up or when it's fast asleep.
The time to do your best work is when that inner voice is sleepy. So I've started designing my day around this.
For me, early mornings are when I do my best work. A big dose of caffeine and lo-fi beats will see me accomplish more between 5.30 - 7.30AM than I do between 12 - 5PM.
If I'm lucky, I'll land 2/3 of these distraction free sessions daily: one when that inner voice is snoozing, another post-workout and one more before bed.
Because afternoons are a write off I'll match that energy by doing the less focused lower energy things like reading, life admin and taking calls.
Once I stopped fighting the inner voice 24/7 it's become much easier to stop getting distracted. Instead I focus on winning 2-3 flow sessions a day.
With this approach I'm free to enjoy diving down rabbit holes and getting distracted guilt free.
1. Venkatesh Rao on human nature (quote):
"People change, then forget that they changed, and act as though they always behaved a certain way and could never change again."
2. Business imposter syndrome (tweet): This is such a weird situation that I deeply relate to. For some reason it feels like certain types of businesses are not as legitimate as others. I always think someone doing $10k+/month running a software company is doing better than someone doing the same running a service business. But this is complete nonsense, all businesses that make money are real businesses, not just the ones validated by venture capitalists.
3. How to read more (if you have trouble reading) (article): If I stop reading everything else suffers. But for some reason I often go through reading ruts where I just never have the urge to pick up a book. This article from Dalton Mabery is a solid resource to help get you back into the flow of reading consistently.
4. To Everyone Who Asks for ‘Just a Little’ of Your Time: Here’s What It Costs to Say Yes (article): When Ryan Holiday said "I want as absolutely little in my calendar as possible. I’m meticulous about it. Whatever the least amount possible I can have in my calendar without killing my career—that’s what I want." I felt that.
5. Ray Dalio on how to emulate success (quote):
"Ask yourself what you want, seek out examples of other people who got what they wanted, and try to discern the cause-and-effect patterns behind their achievements so you can apply them to help you achieve your own goals"
6. David Senra on MFM (podcast): Great podcast episode, David Senra was a high level of intensity that gets you fired up. Next I need to checkout his podcast Founders, does anyone have any episode recommendations?
7. The magic of doing $10,000 per hour work (article): Every few months I re-read this post to remind myself that the thing I should do first is the $10,000 per hour work. Great reminder to focus on the highest leverage tasks.
8. Putting yourself in a box: If you lack focus this is a great exercise, figure out what you want to do and what you don't want to do. Everything inside your box is what you should work on, everything outside is a reminder that these are distractions that you either need to avoid or outsource.
End Note
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Have a fantastic week!
- Stephen