Ways to fight distraction:
1) Turn off alarms. Not only do we have access to constant data, it has access to us! With the mobile phone market exploding, we now carry our e-mail, social networking, and instant messaging with us constantly. Do yourself a favor and turn off all the bells, whistles, pings, dings and rings. Seriously, do you need to be alerted that another pharmaceutical company pushing Viagra has just arrived into your mailbox? Do you really need push notification that your NFL team just scored in the redzone? Really? When you add up all the interruptions by alarms, texts, buzzes and dings - it's amazing we can concentrate on anything. Turn off the sounds. It's not that important and neither are you. Just sayin'.
2) Create a "cone of silence." This might be a euphemism for a media and technology fast. Actively and assertively create space for silence. Invest in some earplugs. Our minds crave solitude and meditation in the way ancient people might crave food - rare and fragile commodities in our respective cultures. An even more appropriate fast for our day, not dismissing the benefit of food fasts, might be media and technology. Give it a try and add regular quiet and stillness into your daily routine. Remember when we used to call our devotions "quiet times?" We might want to return to that idea.
3) Schedule social media, rather than letting it invade your schedule. Social media sites and apps can be great tools to stay connected, share resources, and facilitate communication. The downside is, they can be a total distraction and waste of time. I don't need to read a tweet or status update about the latest burrito you ate. (I know, I know. I think I've actually posted that exact update.) Instead of keeping windows and apps open, (and again, the accompanying notifications) schedule time to be social online. Just like you'd schedule a face-to-face meeting, (hey, try that one out!) give yourself blocks of time for social networking. Social networking isn't bad, but the manner and motivations can be quite bad. Think about it, schedule it, and then stick to it.
4) Try single-tasking. Multi-tasking is so in, but so overrated. Instead of getting two or three things done, think of it as less of you being into the things you're doing. Think of it as less enjoyment for the individual tasks. When I watch the football game while checking my fantasy scores, and chatting with a buddy - I am certainly doing a lot. But I am also enjoying each task and event less. I know this for sure, when I'm with my kids I have to start turning the phone off. If I'm all abuzz with my iPhone while I'm playing with them, I'm certainly enjoying them less and they're getting less of my attention. And that's not cool. Wherever you are, be all there, especially with the things that really matter. And, in case you're wondering, @doofenschmirtz89 doesn't matter as much as your family. Oh and I'm not trying to be mean, but if I wanted to "chat" with you, I'd have called you. Call me old school like that. I learned a long time ago that the chat function on Facebook has to be turned off.
5) Experience some "high" art. Trade in Gaga for some Gabrieli. Abandon pop culture to experience some historical greats. One quote from the Horton and Gordon interview that stood out to me was "our cultural habits of inattentiveness are shaping, and making shallow, our view of art." I notice this every time I watch American Idol (yes, I watch it too). I'm glad I will never again have to hear Kara DioGuardi call another Kelly Clarkson cover "brilliant." Please don't tell me another barely pubescent crooner mimicking Brian McKnight is a "genius." Beethoven was a genius. Put down Stieg Larsson and pick up C.S. Lewis, John Knowles, Ernest Hemingway - take your pick. Read something. Feel free to read it slowly. Learn a new word or idea. Read your Bible - reacquaint yourself with memorization. Limit your television viewing. I heard one time that your heart rate is slower watching TV than when you're sleeping. I don't know if that's true, but I'll tell you what I do know. If I want to rest my body, I watch TV. If I want to rest my mind, I read. TV is so dumb, with so many commercial and intellectual interruptions, that when I'm watching, my mind keeps working. I don't get mental rest. I can watch football, LOST, or American idol and get amused. But my mind doesn't get a concentrated rest. It wanders to my to-do list. When I read (without distractions!) I lose myself in the words. I have to concentrate to follow the words and ideas. Let me agree with Horton and Gordon when I suggest we read more, while watching and surfing less.
6) Cancel your subscription. A friend of mine brought my attention to something the other day. We're both foodies so I was surprised to hear that she had canceled her subscription to Bon Appetit. I asked her why she was quitting the magazine. She said it was because she didn't have the time and whenever the magazine arrived and sat there on the coffee table, it reminded her (like an alarm going off!) of something she "had to do." In other words, it was both a distraction and a to-do. I don't need anymore of either! Relating to her feelings, I've decided to let some magazines expire as well. I'm also canceling some RSS Feeds, unsubscribing to some mail lists, and deleting some apps. You get the point. My suggestion is to slow down, minimize distractions, single focus, and re-prioritize. I'm going to stick with just the feeds and/or subscriptions that can be justified according to better priorities. Is it useful? Purposeful? Does it help me to grow, or just to be distracted and amused?
I hope this helps you to kill distraction, rather than being distracted to death. I hope these ideas help you gain some mental space that can be reserved for the God of "quiet" (1 Kings 19:12) who we often experience in stillness.
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